docker: unknown command: docker %s Run 'docker --help' for

Error message

docker: unknown command: docker %s

Run 'docker --help' for more information

What it means

Error "docker: unknown command: docker %s Run 'docker --help' for more information" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at cli-plugins/manager/cobra.go:55

			}
			rootCmd.AddCommand(&cobra.Command{
				Use:                p.Name,
				Short:              p.ShortDescription,
				Hidden:             p.Hidden,
				Run:                func(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) {},
				Annotations:        annotations,
				DisableFlagParsing: true,
				RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
					flags := rootCmd.PersistentFlags()
					flags.SetOutput(nil)
					if err := flags.Parse(args); err != nil {
						return err
					}
					if flags.Changed("help") {
						cmd.HelpFunc()(rootCmd, args)
						return nil
					}
					return fmt.Errorf("docker: unknown command: docker %s\n\nRun 'docker --help' for more information", cmd.Name())
				},
				ValidArgsFunction: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, toComplete string) ([]string, cobra.ShellCompDirective) {
					// Delegate completion to plugin
					cargs := []string{p.Path, cobra.ShellCompRequestCmd, p.Name} //nolint:prealloc // no need to over-complicate things.
					cargs = append(cargs, args...)
					cargs = append(cargs, toComplete)
					origArgs := os.Args
					os.Args = cargs
					defer func() {
						os.Args = origArgs
					}()
					runCommand, runErr := PluginRunCommand(dockerCLI, p.Name, cmd)
					if runErr != nil {
						return nil, cobra.ShellCompDirectiveError
					}
					runErr = runCommand.Run()
					if runErr == nil {
						os.Exit(0) // plugin already rendered complete data

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli-plugins/manager/cobra.go:55 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/f3123ed27dc2731d.json. Report an issue: GitHub.