install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install docker-agent

provider-native install command

overview

Package summary

Agent Builder and Runtime by Docker Engineering

Project links

Commands and aliases

docker-agent

history

Project history and usage

Docker Agent is Docker's open source CLI for defining, running, and sharing AI agents from YAML or HCL configuration. The upstream README describes it as a docker CLI plugin that can run as docker agent, with multi-agent orchestration, MCP toolsets, provider-agnostic model support, RAG, and OCI registry distribution.

Project history

Docker Agent is a recent Docker Engineering project that applies Docker packaging habits to AI-agent workflows: declarative configuration, a CLI entry point, reusable toolsets, and distribution through registries. Its docs position it explicitly as an agent runner rather than a hosted SaaS or code framework.

Adoption history

The README documents three adoption channels: preinstallation in Docker Desktop 4.63 and later, Homebrew installation, and binary releases from GitHub. That makes it unusual among early AI-agent CLIs because Docker is trying to make the agent runtime feel like another Docker workflow rather than a separate Python or Node stack.

How it is used

Users write an agent.yaml file with model, instructions, and toolsets, then run it with docker agent run or docker-agent directly. The docs and README highlight coding agents, operations and SRE tasks, multi-agent teams, filesystem and shell tools, MCP integrations, local models through Docker Model Runner, and pushing or pulling agents through OCI registries.

Why package nerds care

For package-manager users, Docker Agent is notable because it packages a fast-moving AI-agent runtime as a CLI plugin in the Docker ecosystem. Its significance is still emerging, but it is a clear example of AI tooling being distributed through the same channels as container developer tools.

Timeline

2026: Upstream docs describe Docker Agent as a Docker tool for running AI agents from configuration.
2026: The README documents Docker Desktop 4.63+ bundling, Homebrew installation, and GitHub binary releases.
2026: The batch input lists Homebrew and winget package-manager entries.

Related projects

Docker Agent overlaps with Docker Model Runner, Docker's MCP catalog, general MCP servers, local-model runtimes, and AI coding-agent CLIs, but its official framing is Docker-native agent configuration and distribution.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: yellow

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

Risk classifier

yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime

Why

generalized runtime or code generation signal

Signals

text:runtime

Install behavior

No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ./agent.yaml

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`docker-agent`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-08-03

manager version1.119.0

manager updated2026-07-30

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:docker-agent
Version	1.119.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://docker.github.io/docker-agent/
Repository	https://github.com/docker/docker-agent
Last updated	2026-07-30T09:08:08Z
Pulse	updated
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/docker-agent.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
pkgdb category and tag curation

Install docker-agent with Homebrew