docker/cli · error

no tag specified

Error message

no tag specified

What it means

Error "no tag specified" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at cmd/docker-trust/trust/sign.go:155

	if tag == "" {
		if imgRefAndAuth.Digest() != "" {
			return errors.New("cannot use a digest reference for IMAGE:TAG")
		}
		return fmt.Errorf("no tag specified for %s", imgRefAndAuth.Name())
	}
	return nil
}

func checkLocalImageExistence(ctx context.Context, apiClient client.APIClient, imageName string) error {
	_, err := apiClient.ImageInspect(ctx, imageName)
	return err
}

func createTarget(notaryRepo notaryclient.Repository, tag string) (notaryclient.Target, error) {
	target := &notaryclient.Target{}
	var err error
	if tag == "" {
		return *target, errors.New("no tag specified")
	}
	target.Name = tag
	target.Hashes, target.Length, err = getSignedManifestHashAndSize(notaryRepo, tag)
	return *target, err
}

func getSignedManifestHashAndSize(notaryRepo notaryclient.Repository, tag string) (data.Hashes, int64, error) {
	targets, err := notaryRepo.GetAllTargetMetadataByName(tag)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, 0, err
	}
	return getReleasedTargetHashAndSize(targets, tag)
}

func getReleasedTargetHashAndSize(targets []notaryclient.TargetSignedStruct, tag string) (data.Hashes, int64, error) {
	for _, tgt := range targets {
		if isReleasedTarget(tgt.Role.Name) {
			return tgt.Target.Hashes, tgt.Target.Length, nil

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/docker-trust/trust/sign.go:155 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/324edbaf64502e04.json. Report an issue: GitHub.