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docker buildx bake

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| Description | Build from a file | | Usage | docker buildx bake [OPTIONS] [TARGET...] | | Aliases<br>An alias is a short or memorable alternative for a longer command. | docker buildx f |

Description

Bake is a high-level build command. Each specified target runs in parallel as part of the build.

Read High-level build options with Bake guide for introduction to writing bake files.

Note

buildx bake command may receive backwards incompatible features in the future if needed. We are looking for feedback on improving the command and extending the functionality further.

Options

Option	Default	Description
--allow		Allow build to access specified resources
--call	build	Set method for evaluating build (check, outline, targets)
--check		Shorthand for --call=check
-f, --file		Build definition file
--list		List targets or variables
--load		Shorthand for --set=*.output=type=docker. Conditional.
--metadata-file		Write build result metadata to a file
--no-cache		Do not use cache when building the image
--print		Print the options without building
--progress	auto	Set type of progress output (auto, none, plain, quiet, rawjson, tty). Use plain to show container output
--provenance		Shorthand for --set=*.attest=type=provenance
--pull		Always attempt to pull all referenced images
--push		Shorthand for --set=*.output=type=registry. Conditional.
--sbom		Shorthand for --set=*.attest=type=sbom
--set		Override target value (e.g., targetpattern.key=value)
--var		Set a variable value (e.g., name=value)

Examples

Allow extra privileged entitlement (--allow)

--allow=ENTITLEMENT[=VALUE]

Entitlements are designed to provide controlled access to privileged operations. By default, Buildx and BuildKit operates with restricted permissions to protect users and their systems from unintended side effects or security risks. The --allow flag explicitly grants access to additional entitlements, making it clear when a build or bake operation requires elevated privileges.

In addition to BuildKit's network.host and security.insecure entitlements (see docker buildx build --allow), Bake supports file system entitlements that grant granular control over file system access. These are particularly useful when working with builds that need access to files outside the default working directory.

Bake supports the following filesystem entitlements:

• --allow fs=<path|*&gt; - Grant read and write access to files outside of the working directory.
• --allow fs.read=<path|*&gt; - Grant read access to files outside of the working directory.
• --allow fs.write=<path|*&gt; - Grant write access to files outside of the working directory.

The fs entitlements take a path value (relative or absolute) to a directory on the filesystem. Alternatively, you can pass a wildcard (*) to allow Bake to access the entire filesystem.

Example: fs.read

Given the following Bake configuration, Bake would need to access the parent directory, relative to the Bake file.

target "app" {
  context = "../src"
}

Assuming docker buildx bake app is executed in the same directory as the docker-bake.hcl file, you would need to explicitly allow Bake to read from the ../src directory. In this case, the following invocations all work:

$ docker buildx bake --allow fs.read=* app
$ docker buildx bake --allow fs.read=../src app
$ docker buildx bake --allow fs=* app

Example: fs.write

The following docker-bake.hcl file requires write access to the /tmp directory.

target "app" {
  output = "/tmp"
}

Assuming docker buildx bake app is executed outside of the /tmp directory, you would need to allow the fs.write entitlement, either by specifying the path or using a wildcard:

$ docker buildx bake --allow fs=/tmp app
$ docker buildx bake --allow fs.write=/tmp app
$ docker buildx bake --allow fs.write=* app

Override the configured builder instance (--builder)

Same as buildx --builder.

Invoke a frontend method (--call)

Same as build --call.

Call: check (--check)

Same as build --check.

Specify a build definition file (-f, --file)

Use the -f / --file option to specify the build definition file to use. The file can be an HCL, JSON or Compose file. If multiple files are specified, all are read and the build configurations are combined.

Alternatively, the environment variable BUILDX_BAKE_FILE can be used to specify the build definition to use. This is mutually exclusive with -f / --file; if both are specified, the environment variable is ignored. Multiple definitions can be specified by separating them with the system's path separator (typically ; on Windows and : elsewhere), but can be changed with BUILDX_BAKE_PATH_SEPARATOR.

You can pass the names of the targets to build, to build only specific target(s). The following example builds the db and webapp-release targets that are defined in the docker-bake.dev.hcl file:

# docker-bake.dev.hcl
group "default" {
  targets = ["db", "webapp-dev"]
}

target "webapp-dev" {
  dockerfile = "Dockerfile.webapp"
  tags = ["docker.io/username/webapp"]
}

target "webapp-release" {
  inherits = ["webapp-dev"]
  platforms = ["linux/amd64", "linux/arm64"]
}

target "db" {
  dockerfile = "Dockerfile.db"
  tags = ["docker.io/username/db"]
}

$ docker buildx bake -f docker-bake.dev.hcl db webapp-release

See the Bake file reference for more details.

List targets and variables (--list)

The --list flag displays all available targets or variables in the Bake configuration, along with a description (if set using the description property in the Bake file).

To list all targets:

List targets

$ docker buildx bake --list=targets
TARGET              DESCRIPTION
binaries
default             binaries
update-docs
validate
validate-golangci   Validate .golangci.yml schema (does not run Go linter)

To list variables:

$ docker buildx bake --list=variables
VARIABLE      TYPE      VALUE                DESCRIPTION
REGISTRY      string    docker.io/username   Registry and namespace
IMAGE_NAME    string    my-app               Image name
GO_VERSION              <null>
DEBUG         bool      false                Add debug symbols

Variable types will be shown when set using the type property in the Bake file.

The --list=variables option displays variables defined in the Bake file, including their descriptions and default values.

Example: listing variables with descriptions

variable "GO_VERSION" {
  default     = "1.22"
  description = "Go version used for building the application"
}

$ docker buildx bake --list=variables

NAME          DESCRIPTION                                      DEFAULT
GO_VERSION    Go version used for building the application     1.22

By default, the output of docker buildx bake --list is presented in a table format. Alternatively, you can use a long-form CSV syntax and specify a format attribute to output the list in JSON.

$ docker buildx bake --list=type=targets,format=json

Load images into Docker (--load)

The --load flag is a convenience shorthand for adding an image export of type docker:

--load   ≈   --set=*.output=type=docker

However, its behavior is conditional:

• If the build definition has no output defined, --load adds type=docker.
• If the build definition’s outputs are docker, image, registry, oci, --load will add a type=docker export if one is not already present.
• If the build definition contains local or tar outputs, --load does nothing. It will not override those outputs.

For example, with the following bake file:

target "default" {
  output = ["type=tar,dest=hi.tar"]
}

With --load:

$ docker buildx bake --load --print
...
"output": [\
  {\
    "dest": "hi.tar"\
    "type": "tar",\
   }\
]

The tar output remains unchanged.

Write build results metadata to a file (--metadata-file)

Similar to buildx build --metadata-file but writes a map of results for each target such as:

# docker-bake.hcl
group "default" {
  targets = ["db", "webapp-dev"]
}

target "db" {
  dockerfile = "Dockerfile.db"
  tags = ["docker.io/username/db"]
}

target "webapp-dev" {
  dockerfile = "Dockerfile.webapp"
  tags = ["docker.io/username/webapp"]
}

$ docker buildx bake --load --metadata-file metadata.json .
$ cat metadata.json

{
  "buildx.build.warnings": {},
  "db": {
    "buildx.build.provenance": {},
    "buildx.build.ref": "mybuilder/mybuilder0/0fjb6ubs52xx3vygf6fgdl611",
    "containerimage.config.digest": "sha256:2937f66a9722f7f4a2df583de2f8cb97fc9196059a410e7f00072fc918930e66",
    "containerimage.descriptor": {
      "annotations": {
        "config.digest": "sha256:2937f66a9722f7f4a2df583de2f8cb97fc9196059a410e7f00072fc918930e66",
        "org.opencontainers.image.created": "2022-02-08T21:28:03Z"
      },
      "digest": "sha256:19ffeab6f8bc9293ac2c3fdf94ebe28396254c993aea0b5a542cfb02e0883fa3",
      "mediaType": "application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json",
      "size": 506
    },
    "containerimage.digest": "sha256:19ffeab6f8bc9293ac2c3fdf94ebe28396254c993aea0b5a542cfb02e0883fa3"
  },
  "webapp-dev": {
    "buildx.build.provenance": {},
    "buildx.build.ref": "mybuilder/mybuilder0/kamngmcgyzebqxwu98b4lfv3n",
    "containerimage.config.digest": "sha256:9651cc2b3c508f697c9c43b67b64c8359c2865c019e680aac1c11f4b875b67e0",
    "containerimage.descriptor": {
      "annotations": {
        "config.digest": "sha256:9651cc2b3c508f697c9c43b67b64c8359c2865c019e680aac1c11f4b875b67e0",
        "org.opencontainers.image.created": "2022-02-08T21:28:15Z"
      },
      "digest": "sha256:6d9ac9237a84afe1516540f40a0fafdc86859b2141954b4d643af7066d598b74",
      "mediaType": "application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json",
      "size": 506
    },
    "containerimage.digest": "sha256:6d9ac9237a84afe1516540f40a0fafdc86859b2141954b4d643af7066d598b74"
  }
}

Note

Build record provenance (buildx.build.provenance) includes minimal provenance by default. Set the BUILDX_METADATA_PROVENANCE environment variable to customize this behavior:

• min sets minimal provenance (default).
• max sets full provenance.
• disabled, false or 0 does not set any provenance.

Note

Build warnings (buildx.build.warnings) are not included by default. Set the BUILDX_METADATA_WARNINGS environment variable to 1 or true to include them.

Don't use cache when building the image (--no-cache)

Same as build --no-cache. Don't use cache when building the image.

Print the options without building (--print)

Prints the resulting options of the targets desired to be built, in a JSON format, without starting a build.

$ docker buildx bake -f docker-bake.hcl --print db
{
  "group": {
    "default": {
      "targets": [\
        "db"\
      ]
    }
  },
  "target": {
    "db": {
      "context": "./",
      "dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
      "tags": [\
        "docker.io/tiborvass/db"\
      ]
    }
  }
}

Set type of progress output (--progress)

Same as build --progress.

Create provenance attestations (--provenance)

Same as build --provenance.

Always attempt to pull a newer version of the image (--pull)

Same as build --pull.

Push images to a registry (--push)

The --push flag follows the same logic as --load:

• If no outputs are defined, it adds a type=image,push=true export.
• For existing image outputs, it sets push=true.
• If outputs are set to local or tar, it does not override them.

Create SBOM attestations (--sbom)

Same as build --sbom.

Override target configurations from command line (--set)

--set targetpattern.key[.subkey]=value

Override target configurations from command line. The pattern matching syntax is defined in https://golang.org/pkg/path/#Match.

$ docker buildx bake --set target.args.mybuildarg=value
$ docker buildx bake --set target.platform=linux/arm64
$ docker buildx bake --set foo*.args.mybuildarg=value   # overrides build arg for all targets starting with 'foo'
$ docker buildx bake --set *.platform=linux/arm64       # overrides platform for all targets
$ docker buildx bake --set foo*.no-cache                # bypass caching only for targets starting with 'foo'
$ docker buildx bake --set target.platform+=linux/arm64 # appends 'linux/arm64' to the platform list
$ docker buildx bake --set target.contexts.bar=../bar   # overrides 'bar' named context

Note

--set is a repeatable flag. For array fields such as tags, repeat --set to provide multiple values or use the += operator to append without replacing. Array literal syntax like --set target.tags=[a,b] is not supported.

You can override the following fields:

• annotations
• attest
• args
• cache-from
• cache-to
• call
• context
• contexts
• dockerfile
• entitlements
• extra-hosts
• labels
• load
• no-cache
• no-cache-filter
• output
• platform
• pull
• push
• secrets
• ssh
• tags
• target

You can append using += operator for the following fields:

• annotations¹
• attest¹
• cache-from
• cache-to
• entitlements¹
• no-cache-filter
• output
• platform
• secrets
• ssh
• tags

Note

¹ These fields already append by default.