wagoodman/dive · error

cannot determine image provider for build

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.

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
• cannot analyze image
• cannot build image
• cannot load image
• could not determine docker host

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

Appendix: 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)