docker/cli · info · cancelledErr

builder prune has been cancelled

Error message

builder prune has been cancelled

What it means

docker builder prune asks for interactive confirmation before deleting build cache unless --force is given. When the user answers 'no' (or the prompt is declined), runPrune returns a cancelledErr wrapping this message, which the CLI maps to a cancelled-operation exit rather than performing any prune. The cancelledErr type implements a Cancelled() marker so upstream code exits without treating it as a hard failure.

Source

Thrown at cli/command/builder/prune.go:84

const (
	normalWarning   = `WARNING! This will remove all dangling build cache. Are you sure you want to continue?`
	allCacheWarning = `WARNING! This will remove all build cache. Are you sure you want to continue?`
)

func runPrune(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, options pruneOptions) (spaceReclaimed uint64, output string, err error) {
	pruneFilters := command.PruneFilters(dockerCli, options.filter.Value())

	warning := normalWarning
	if options.all {
		warning = allCacheWarning
	}
	if !options.force {
		r, err := prompt.Confirm(ctx, dockerCli.In(), dockerCli.Out(), warning)
		if err != nil {
			return 0, "", err
		}
		if !r {
			return 0, "", cancelledErr{errors.New("builder prune has been cancelled")}
		}
	}

	resp, err := dockerCli.Client().BuildCachePrune(ctx, client.BuildCachePruneOptions{
		All:           options.all,
		ReservedSpace: options.reservedSpace.Value(),
		Filters:       pruneFilters,
	})
	if err != nil {
		return 0, "", err
	}
	report := resp.Report
	if len(report.CachesDeleted) > 0 {
		var sb strings.Builder
		sb.WriteString("Deleted build cache objects:\n")
		for _, id := range report.CachesDeleted {
			sb.WriteString(id)
			sb.WriteByte('\n')

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

Solutions

1. Pass --force (-f) to skip the confirmation prompt in scripts and CI
2. If cancellation was intentional, no action needed — nothing was deleted
3. In automation, check for the cancelled marker/exit code and treat it as a no-op rather than a failure

Example fix

# before
docker builder prune --all
# after (non-interactive)
docker builder prune --all --force

When it happens

Trigger: Running docker builder prune (or docker buildx prune via this path) without --force and responding 'N'/enter at the 'Are you sure you want to continue?' prompt; also when prompt.Confirm returns false because stdin is closed or non-interactive.

Common situations: CI scripts running docker builder prune without -f, where stdin is not a TTY so the confirmation defaults to no; users cancelling after seeing the 'remove all build cache' warning with -a; automation wrappers not passing --force.

Related errors

• container prune has been cancelled
• system prune has been cancelled
• volume prune has been cancelled
• containers prune has been cancelled
• image prune has been cancelled

AI-assisted analysis of docker/cli@e9452d6e78 (2026-08-01). Data as JSON: /data/errors/b4835649dc69a15d.json. Report an issue: GitHub.