docker/cli · error

invalid proto, expected tcp: %s

Error message

invalid proto, expected tcp: %s

What it means

Error "invalid proto, expected tcp: %s" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at opts/hosts.go:105

	}
	if addr == "" {
		addr = defaultAddr
	}
	return fmt.Sprintf("%s://%s", proto, addr), nil
}

// ParseTCPAddr parses and validates that the specified address is a valid TCP
// address. It returns a formatted TCP address, either using the address parsed
// from tryAddr, or the contents of defaultAddr if tryAddr is a blank string.
// tryAddr is expected to have already been Trim()'d
// defaultAddr must be in the full `tcp://host:port` form
func ParseTCPAddr(tryAddr string, defaultAddr string) (string, error) {
	if tryAddr == "" || tryAddr == "tcp://" {
		return defaultAddr, nil
	}
	addr := strings.TrimPrefix(tryAddr, "tcp://")
	if strings.Contains(addr, "://") || addr == "" {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid proto, expected tcp: %s", tryAddr)
	}

	defaultAddr = strings.TrimPrefix(defaultAddr, "tcp://")
	defaultHost, defaultPort, err := net.SplitHostPort(defaultAddr)
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}
	// url.Parse fails for trailing colon on IPv6 brackets on Go 1.5, but
	// not 1.4. See https://github.com/golang/go/issues/12200 and
	// https://github.com/golang/go/issues/6530.
	if strings.HasSuffix(addr, "]:") {
		addr += defaultPort
	}

	u, err := url.Parse("tcp://" + addr)
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at opts/hosts.go:105 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/81a5bf1163fad978.json. Report an issue: GitHub.