docker/cli · error

too many colons

Error message

too many colons

What it means

Error "too many colons" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at internal/volumespec/volumespec.go:72

}

func populateFieldFromBuffer(char rune, buffer []rune, volume *VolumeConfig) error {
	strBuffer := string(buffer)
	switch {
	case len(buffer) == 0:
		return errors.New("empty section between colons")
	// Anonymous volume
	case volume.Source == "" && char == endOfSpec:
		volume.Target = strBuffer
		return nil
	case volume.Source == "":
		volume.Source = strBuffer
		return nil
	case volume.Target == "":
		volume.Target = strBuffer
		return nil
	case char == ':':
		return errors.New("too many colons")
	}
	for option := range strings.SplitSeq(strBuffer, ",") {
		switch option {
		case "ro":
			volume.ReadOnly = true
		case "rw":
			volume.ReadOnly = false
		case "nocopy":
			volume.Volume = &VolumeOpts{NoCopy: true}
		default:
			if isBindOption(option) {
				volume.Bind = &BindOpts{Propagation: option}
			}
			// ignore unknown options
		}
	}
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at internal/volumespec/volumespec.go:72 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/ecd8889d0173406e.json. Report an issue: GitHub.