docker/cli · error

bad format for path: %s

Error message

bad format for path: %s

What it means

Error "bad format for path: %s" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at cli/command/container/opts.go:1098

		// Windows does validation entirely server-side
		return val, nil
	}
	return "", fmt.Errorf("unknown server OS: %s", serverOS)
}

// validateLinuxPath is the implementation of validateDevice knowing that the
// target server operating system is a Linux daemon.
// It will make sure 'val' is in the form:
//
//	[host-dir:]container-path[:mode]
//
// It also validates the device mode.
func validateLinuxPath(val string, validator func(string) bool) (string, error) {
	var containerPath string
	var mode string

	if strings.Count(val, ":") > 2 {
		return val, fmt.Errorf("bad format for path: %s", val)
	}

	split := strings.SplitN(val, ":", 3)
	if split[0] == "" {
		return val, fmt.Errorf("bad format for path: %s", val)
	}
	switch len(split) {
	case 1:
		containerPath = split[0]
		val = path.Clean(containerPath)
	case 2:
		if isValid := validator(split[1]); isValid {
			containerPath = split[0]
			mode = split[1]
			val = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", path.Clean(containerPath), mode)
		} else {
			containerPath = split[1]
			val = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", split[0], path.Clean(containerPath))

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/command/container/opts.go:1098 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of docker/cli@e9452d6e78 (2026-08-01). Data as JSON: /data/errors/3c092346d70a4c9e.json. Report an issue: GitHub.