abiosoft/colima · error

error parsing model info: %w

Error message

error parsing model info: %w

What it means

InspectDockerModel json.Unmarshals the trimmed stdout of docker model inspect into DockerModelInfo. The output was not the expected JSON object: the CLI emitted human-readable text, a warning preamble, or nothing; or a Docker version changed the inspect output schema so fields moved.

Source

Thrown at model/docker.go:107

	if err := guest.RunQuiet("docker", "exec", "docker-model-runner", "ln", blobPath, bundlePath); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to link model file: %w", err)
	}

	return bundlePath, nil
}

// InspectDockerModel returns information about a Docker model.
func InspectDockerModel(modelName string) (*DockerModelInfo, error) {
	guest := lima.New(host.New())
	output, err := guest.RunOutput("docker", "model", "inspect", modelName)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error inspecting model %q: %w", modelName, err)
	}

	var info DockerModelInfo
	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(strings.TrimSpace(output)), &info); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing model info: %w", err)
	}

	return &info, nil
}

// SetupOrUpdateDocker reinstalls Docker Model Runner in the VM.
func SetupOrUpdateDocker() error {
	guest := lima.New(host.New())

	log.Println("reinstalling Docker Model Runner...")

	if err := guest.RunInteractive("docker", "model", "reinstall-runner"); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error reinstalling Docker Model Runner: %w", err)
	}

	log.Println("Docker Model Runner reinstalled")

	// Print installed version

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

1. Capture the raw output manually: colima ssh -- docker model inspect <name> and compare it to the fields DockerModelInfo expects
2. Update colima (which pins matching parsing) and/or the Docker engine in the VM to matching versions
3. If the CLI supports it, request machine-readable output explicitly (docker model inspect --format json or equivalent) in a local patch
4. On persistent mismatch, fall back to parsing docker model ls --json entries for the model

Example fix

// before
var info DockerModelInfo
if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(strings.TrimSpace(output)), &info); err != nil {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing model info: %w", err)
}

// after: keep only the JSON object in the output
var info DockerModelInfo
trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(output)
if i := strings.Index(trimmed, "{"); i > 0 {
    trimmed = trimmed[i:]
}
if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(trimmed), &info); err != nil {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing model info: %w (output: %.200q)", err, output)
}

// Pre-trim CLI chatter so only the JSON object is unmarshalled.
func extractJSON(s string) string {
    if i := strings.Index(s, "{"); i >= 0 {
        if j := strings.LastIndex(s, "}"); j > i {
            return s[i : j+1]
        }
    }
    return s
}

var info DockerModelInfo
if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(extractJSON(output)), &info); err != nil {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing model info: %w (docker model inspect output: %.200q)", err, output)
}

When it happens

Trigger: docker model inspect printing a banner/hint lines before JSON on some Docker versions; inspect writing to stdout an error string instead of failing; empty output when the CLI exits 0 without data; schema drift in newer Docker Model Runner releases.

Common situations: Colima version lagging behind a freshly updated Docker in the VM; locale/TTY-dependent CLI output; models with unusual metadata producing partial JSON.

Related errors

• could not determine hash for model %q
• error inspecting containers: %w
• error decoding docker response
• failed to parse model manifest: %w
• error inspecting model %q: %w

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ccb27cb197d4ddee. Report an issue: GitHub.