docker/cli · error

invalid publish opts format (should be name=value but got '%

Error message

invalid publish opts format (should be name=value but got '%s')

What it means

Error "invalid publish opts format (should be name=value but got '%s')" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at cli/command/container/opts.go:908

	if ep.MacAddress != "" {
		ma, err := net.ParseMAC(strings.TrimSpace(ep.MacAddress))
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is not a valid mac address", ep.MacAddress)
		}
		epConfig.MacAddress = network.HardwareAddr(ma)
	}
	return epConfig, nil
}

func convertToStandardNotation(ports []string) ([]string, error) {
	optsList := []string{}
	for _, publish := range ports {
		if strings.Contains(publish, "=") {
			params := map[string]string{"protocol": "tcp"}
			for param := range strings.SplitSeq(publish, ",") {
				k, v, ok := strings.Cut(param, "=")
				if !ok || k == "" {
					return optsList, fmt.Errorf("invalid publish opts format (should be name=value but got '%s')", param)
				}
				params[k] = v
			}
			optsList = append(optsList, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s/%s", params["published"], params["target"], params["protocol"]))
		} else {
			optsList = append(optsList, publish)
		}
	}
	return optsList, nil
}

func parseLoggingOpts(loggingDriver string, loggingOpts []string) (map[string]string, error) {
	loggingOptsMap := opts.ConvertKVStringsToMap(loggingOpts)
	if loggingDriver == "none" && len(loggingOpts) > 0 {
		return map[string]string{}, fmt.Errorf("invalid logging opts for driver %s", loggingDriver)
	}
	return loggingOptsMap, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/command/container/opts.go:908 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/7f202d00eba3b3cb.json. Report an issue: GitHub.