docker/cli · error

invalid image reference for service %s: no image specified

Error message

invalid image reference for service %s: no image specified

What it means

Error "invalid image reference for service %s: no image specified" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at cli/command/stack/loader.go:57

	}

	dicts := getDictsFrom(configDetails.ConfigFiles)
	unsupportedProperties := loader.GetUnsupportedProperties(dicts...)
	if len(unsupportedProperties) > 0 {
		_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(streams.Err(), "Ignoring unsupported options: %s\n\n",
			strings.Join(unsupportedProperties, ", "))
	}

	deprecatedProperties := loader.GetDeprecatedProperties(dicts...)
	if len(deprecatedProperties) > 0 {
		_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(streams.Err(), "Ignoring deprecated options:\n\n%s\n\n",
			propertyWarnings(deprecatedProperties))
	}

	// Validate if each service has a valid image-reference.
	for _, svc := range config.Services {
		if svc.Image == "" {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid image reference for service %s: no image specified", svc.Name)
		}
		if _, err := reference.ParseAnyReference(svc.Image); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid image reference for service %s: %w", svc.Name, err)
		}
	}

	return config, nil
}

func getDictsFrom(configFiles []composetypes.ConfigFile) []map[string]any {
	dicts := make([]map[string]any, 0, len(configFiles))
	for _, configFile := range configFiles {
		dicts = append(dicts, configFile.Config)
	}

	return dicts
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/command/stack/loader.go:57 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/90fc68f5bf2d7f09.json. Report an issue: GitHub.