GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

getting imageID for %q: %w

Error message

getting imageID for %q: %w

What it means

pullArtifact decides whether to use a locally built image; when useLocalImg is true it queries the local Docker daemon for the image ID via client.ImageID. If that lookup fails, the task creation aborts with 'getting imageID for %q'. It wraps Docker daemon/API errors for the specific tag.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/actions/docker/exec_env.go:203

	return ts, tracked, nil
}

func (e ExecEnv) pullArtifact(ctx context.Context, out io.Writer, allbuilds map[string]graph.Artifact, useLocalImg bool, cfg latest.VerifyContainer) (*graph.Artifact, error) {
	ba, foundInBuiltImgs := allbuilds[cfg.Image]
	tag := cfg.Image
	imgID := ""
	var err error

	if foundInBuiltImgs {
		tag = ba.Tag
		useLocalImg = true
	}

	if useLocalImg {
		imgID, err = e.client.ImageID(ctx, tag)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("getting imageID for %q: %w", tag, err)
		}
	}

	notFoundLocally := imgID == ""

	if notFoundLocally {
		if err = e.client.Pull(ctx, out, tag, v1.Platform{}); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
	}

	return &graph.Artifact{
		ImageName: cfg.Image,
		Tag:       tag,
	}, nil
}

func (e ExecEnv) TrackContainerFromBuild(art graph.Artifact, cID string, cName string) {

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Check docker images for the exact tag; rebuild it (skaffold build) if it was pruned.
2. Verify docker info works and DOCKER_HOST/docker context match the daemon where the build ran.
3. Confirm the tag string in skaffold.yaml matches the built artifact tag exactly (no typo in registry or repo).

Example fix

// before
skaffold verify  # fails: image pruned after build
// after
docker system df  # avoid aggressive prune, or rebuild:
skaffold build && skaffold verify

// Confirm the tag exists locally before running actions
docker image inspect <tag> > /dev/null || skaffold build

try {
  await skaffold.verify(...);
} catch (e) {
  if (/getting imageID for/.test(String(e))) {
    execSync('skaffold build'); // image likely pruned; rebuild then retry
    await skaffold.verify(...);
    return;
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: createTasks -> pullArtifact with a locally-built artifact tag; docker ImageID (docker inspect) fails because the daemon is down, the image was pruned between build and run, or the tag reference is malformed.

Common situations: Docker daemon restarted / image pruned (docker system prune) after build; building in one context (remote DOCKER_HOST) and running actions in another; tag with wrong registry/repo casing.

Related errors

• creating skaffold network %s: %w
• %q running container image %q errored during run with status
• docker deployment not supported alongside cluster deployment
• INIT_DOCKER_NETWORK_CONTAINER_DOES_NOT_EXIST
• executing build: %w

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ee8303a59c69eb76. Report an issue: GitHub.