docker/cli · error

%s is not a manifest

Error message

%s is not a manifest

What it means

Error "%s is not a manifest" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at internal/registryclient/fetcher.go:41

// fetchManifest pulls a manifest from a registry and returns it. An error
// is returned if no manifest is found matching namedRef.
func fetchManifest(ctx context.Context, repo distribution.Repository, ref reference.Named) (types.ImageManifest, error) {
	manifest, err := getManifest(ctx, repo, ref)
	if err != nil {
		return types.ImageManifest{}, err
	}

	switch v := manifest.(type) {
	// Removed Schema 1 support
	case *schema2.DeserializedManifest:
		return pullManifestSchemaV2(ctx, ref, repo, *v)
	case *ocischema.DeserializedManifest:
		return pullManifestOCISchema(ctx, ref, repo, *v)
	case *manifestlist.DeserializedManifestList:
		return types.ImageManifest{}, fmt.Errorf("%s is a manifest list", ref)
	}
	return types.ImageManifest{}, fmt.Errorf("%s is not a manifest", ref)
}

func fetchList(ctx context.Context, repo distribution.Repository, ref reference.Named) ([]types.ImageManifest, error) {
	manifest, err := getManifest(ctx, repo, ref)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	switch v := manifest.(type) {
	case *manifestlist.DeserializedManifestList:
		return pullManifestList(ctx, ref, repo, *v)
	default:
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unsupported manifest format: %v", v)
	}
}

func getManifest(ctx context.Context, repo distribution.Repository, ref reference.Named) (distribution.Manifest, error) {
	manSvc, err := repo.Manifests(ctx)

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at internal/registryclient/fetcher.go:41 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/02f489a09f6a60f1.json. Report an issue: GitHub.