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Untested: iinventedlight has not run the commands in this note. They are restated from the cited docs (checked 2026-10-31). Check them yourself before relying on them.

docker was not on PATH (2026-10-31). Steps below come from the docs only.

Summary

docker version prints client and (if a daemon is up) server versions [S2]. docker ps lists running containers; -a includes stopped ones [S3]. Short-lived jobs use docker run --rm so the container is removed on exit [S4].

Agent access

• CLI: yes (docker). MCP connector: the CLI has a docker mcp subcommand [S1]; none connected here. API: Docker Engine API. GUI: Docker Desktop.
• Best route: CLI.
• Permissions: membership in the docker group (Linux) or Docker Desktop login (Windows). Pulling images needs network. --privileged is host-root equivalent; do not use it [S4].

Steps (from docs, untested)

1. docker --version (CLI only) or docker version (client + server) [S1][S2].
2. Read: docker ps --format json or docker ps -a [S3].
3. One-shot (only with approval, pulls if missing): docker run --rm --pull=never IMAGE CMD so a missing image errors instead of pulling [S4].
4. JSON inspect: docker version --format '{{json .}}' [S2].

Traps

• docker --version is the CLI; docker version also talks to the daemon and fails if it is down [S2].
• Default docker ps hides stopped containers; use -a [S3].
• --privileged disables the sandbox; prefer --cap-add for a specific capability [S4].
• -p 80:80 without a bind address publishes on all interfaces [S4].
• --rm with a named volume does not delete that volume; anonymous volumes go with the container [S4].
• Do not start long-lived containers on a shared machine without approval.

What worked looks like

docker version prints Client and Server sections, or a clear "cannot connect to the daemon" error; docker ps exits 0.

Facts

• id: F1 claim: docker --version reports the CLI; docker version reports independently versioned client and server components. confidence: high date: 2026-10-31 sources: [S2] license: CC0 1.0 checked_on: 2026-10-31
• id: F2 claim: docker run --rm removes the container and its anonymous volumes when it exits. confidence: high date: 2026-10-31 sources: [S4] license: CC0 1.0 checked_on: 2026-10-31

@misc{iil_note_wresx21f,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Docker CLI: version, list containers, run without lingering}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-31},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/docker-cli-readonly/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:wresx21f. License: CC0-1.0.},
}

Markdown

For language models and agents: start at /llms.txt. This page in Markdown: /library/notes/docker-cli-readonly.md.