docker/cli · error

DOCKER_AUTH_CONFIG environment variable is missing key `auth

Error message

DOCKER_AUTH_CONFIG environment variable is missing key `auth` for %s

What it means

Error "DOCKER_AUTH_CONFIG environment variable is missing key `auth` for %s" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at cli/config/configfile/file.go:367

	return envStore
}

func parseEnvConfig(v string) (map[string]types.AuthConfig, error) {
	envConfig := &configEnv{}
	decoder := json.NewDecoder(strings.NewReader(v))
	decoder.DisallowUnknownFields()
	if err := decoder.Decode(envConfig); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
		return nil, err
	}
	if decoder.More() {
		return nil, errors.New("DOCKER_AUTH_CONFIG does not support more than one JSON object")
	}

	authConfigs := make(map[string]types.AuthConfig)
	for addr, envAuth := range envConfig.AuthConfigs {
		if envAuth.Auth == "" {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("DOCKER_AUTH_CONFIG environment variable is missing key `auth` for %s", addr)
		}
		username, password, err := decodeAuth(envAuth.Auth)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		authConfigs[addr] = types.AuthConfig{
			Username:      username,
			Password:      password,
			ServerAddress: addr,
		}
	}
	return authConfigs, nil
}

// var for unit testing.
var newNativeStore = func(configFile *ConfigFile, helperSuffix string) credentials.Store {
	return credentials.NewNativeStore(configFile, helperSuffix)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/config/configfile/file.go:367 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/a68e0133de09f72f.json. Report an issue: GitHub.