docker-agent README

The project's README from github.com/docker/docker-agent. As one markdown file: README.md.

🤖 Docker Agent 🤖

Build, run, and share AI agents with a declarative YAML config, rich tool ecosystem, and multi-agent orchestration.

docker agent in action

What is Docker Agent?

docker-agent lets you create and run intelligent AI agents that collaborate to solve complex problems — no code required.

docker-agent is a docker CLI plugin and can be run with docker agent.

Define agents in YAML, give them tools, and let them work.

agents:
  root:
    model: openai/gpt-5-mini
    description: A helpful AI assistant
    instruction: |
      You are a knowledgeable assistant that helps users with various tasks.
      Be helpful, accurate, and concise in your responses.
    toolsets:
      - type: mcp
        ref: docker:duckduckgo

docker agent run agent.yaml

Key Features

Install

Docker Desktop (4.63+) — docker-agent CLI plugin is pre-installed. Just run docker agent.

Homebrew — brew install docker-agent. Run docker-agent directly or symlink the binary to ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-agent and run docker agent.

Binary releases — Download from GitHub Releases. Symlink the docker-agent binary to ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-agent to be able to use docker agent, or use docker-agent directly.

Set at least one API key (or use Docker Model Runner for local models):

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...        # or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GOOGLE_API_KEY, etc.

See Set Up a Model for the full walkthrough of both paths (cloud API key or local model).

Quick Start

# Run the default agent
docker agent run

# Run from an OCI registry
docker agent run myorg/agent:tag

# Generate a new agent interactively
docker agent new

# Run your own config
docker agent run agent.yaml

More examples in the examples/ directory.

Documentation

📖 Full documentation

Contributing

Read the Contributing guide to get started. We use docker-agent to build docker-agent:

docker agent run ./golang_developer.yaml

Telemetry

We collect anonymous usage data to improve the tool. See Telemetry.

Community

Docker Community Slack · #docker-agent channel

docker-agent (docker/docker-agent)

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Docker-agent
What is this?Docker Agent is a tool for building, running, and sharing AI agents using a declarative YAML config, with built-in tools and multi-agent orchestration — no code required.
Is this a standalone app or a Docker CLI plugin?It's a Docker CLI plugin, so you run it as 'docker agent', though the binary can also be run directly or via Homebrew.
How do I install and run it?If you have Docker Desktop 4.63+, the plugin is pre-installed and you just run 'docker agent'. Otherwise install with 'brew install docker-agent' or download a binary release and symlink it to ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-agent.
Do I need an API key to use it?You need at least one AI provider API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Bedrock, Mistral, xAI) unless you use Docker Model Runner to run models locally.
Is coding required to build an agent?No, agents are defined through declarative YAML configuration rather than code.
Does it track usage data?Yes, it collects anonymous usage telemetry to improve the tool, documented in a dedicated Telemetry page.
Which AI providers does it support?OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, AWS Bedrock, Mistral, xAI, and Docker Model Runner for local models.
How does multi-agent orchestration work?You can create teams of specialized agents that automatically delegate tasks to each other to solve complex problems.
What RAG capabilities are built in?It includes pluggable retrieval using BM25, embeddings, hybrid search, and reranking.
How do I share an agent with others?Agents can be packaged and pushed to any OCI registry, then pulled and run anywhere.
What are similar projects?turnstone, claude-context, evenfire, xerj, ruflo, ordewell, qwen-code, WeKnora
Which topics is it in?bedrock, reranking, xai, oci, hybrid-search, mistral, bm25, telemetry, agentic, yaml, semantic-search, embeddings
Creator
docker
Size
84 MB
Stars
4.5K
Updated
CommitOct 16Releasev1.150.0Oct 09
Age
1y
Commits · 90 Days