What causes "--show-digest is not yet supported with --tree" in docker/cli?

Drop --digests when using --tree

--show-digest is not yet supported with --tree

Error message

--show-digest is not yet supported with --tree

What it means

Third check in shouldUseTree(): the `--tree` view does not yet render the digests column, so `--show-digest` (the `--digests` flag) is incompatible and rejected.

Solutions

Drop --digests when using --tree
Use the tabular view (`--tree` off) to see digests
Run two separate invocations for tree vs digest output

Example fix

// before
docker images --tree --digests
// after
docker images --digests

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if options.tree && options.showDigests {
    return errors.New("--show-digest is not supported with --tree")
}

Prevention

Do not combine --tree with --digests
Run a separate `docker images --digests` when digest data is needed
Audit scripts that always request digests before enabling --tree

When it happens

Trigger: `docker images --tree --digests`.

Common situations: Auditing/inspection scripts that always request digests combined with the tree view.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of docker/cli@4f84911bfe (2026-08-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8fec5716e68e2978. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at cli/command/image/list.go:164

	return len(images), nil
}

func shouldUseTree(options imagesOptions) (bool, error) {
	if options.quiet {
		if options.tree {
			return false, errors.New("--quiet is not yet supported with --tree")
		}
		return false, nil
	}
	if options.noTrunc {
		if options.tree {
			return false, errors.New("--no-trunc is not yet supported with --tree")
		}
		return false, nil
	}
	if options.showDigests {
		if options.tree {
			return false, errors.New("--show-digest is not yet supported with --tree")
		}
		return false, nil
	}
	if options.format != "" {
		if options.tree {
			return false, errors.New("--format is not yet supported with --tree")
		}
		return false, nil
	}
	return true, nil
}

// isDangling is a copy of [formatter.isDangling].
func isDangling(img image.Summary) bool {
	if len(img.RepoTags) == 0 {
		return true
	}
	return len(img.RepoTags) == 1 && img.RepoTags[0] == "<none>:<none>" && len(img.RepoDigests) == 1 && img.RepoDigests[0] == "<none>@<none>"

View on GitHub (pinned to 4f84911bfe)