wagoodman/dive · error

cannot determine image provider for build: %w

Error message

cannot determine image provider for build: %w

What it means

Returned by `dive build` when dive.GetImageResolver(opts.Analysis.Source) cannot map the configured source to an image provider. The source option (--source) selects which engine supplies images; resolution fails when the value is not one of the supported providers (docker, podman) or the provider cannot be used in this environment.

Source

Thrown at cmd/dive/cli/internal/command/build.go:33

	// reserved for future use of build-only flags
}

func Build(app clio.Application) *cobra.Command {
	opts := &buildOptions{
		Application: options.DefaultApplication(),
	}
	return app.SetupCommand(&cobra.Command{
		Use:                "build [any valid `docker build` arguments]",
		Short:              "Builds and analyzes a docker image from a Dockerfile (this is a thin wrapper for the `docker build` command).",
		DisableFlagParsing: true,
		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
			if err := setUI(app, opts.Application); err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("failed to set UI: %w", err)
			}

			resolver, err := dive.GetImageResolver(opts.Analysis.Source)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("cannot determine image provider for build: %w", err)
			}

			ctx := cmd.Context()

			img, err := adapter.ImageResolver(resolver).Build(ctx, args)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("cannot build image: %w", err)
			}

			return run(cmd.Context(), opts.Application, img, resolver)
		},
	}, opts)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to d6c691947f)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped message for the accepted source values
2. Use --source docker or --source podman explicitly
3. Verify the chosen engine is installed and its socket/CLI is reachable (docker version / podman version)
4. Remove stale --source flags copied from other environments

Example fix

# before
dive build --source dockr .

# after
dive build --source docker .

# pin the source to an engine that exists on this host
command -v docker >/dev/null && SRC=docker || SRC=podman
dive build --source "$SRC" .

resolver, err := dive.GetImageResolver(opts.Analysis.Source)
if err != nil {
    // invalid/missing provider: fall back to probing installed engines
    if command -v docker; then opts.Analysis.Source = "docker"; resolver, err = dive.GetImageResolver("docker") }
    if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("cannot determine image provider for build: %w", err) }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing --source with an unsupported/misspelled value, or selecting a provider whose engine is unavailable; GetImageResolver then returns an error before any build runs.

Common situations: Typo in --source (e.g. --source dockr); new users assuming dive build works without any container engine installed; configs written for podman used on docker-only hosts.

Related errors

• cannot determine image provider to fetch from: %w
• no results returned
• cannot build image: %w
• cannot load image: %w
• cannot analyze image: %w

AI-assisted analysis of wagoodman/dive@d6c691947f (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a69af03b3a396eb1. Report an issue: GitHub.