When trying to use an invalid flag, the CLI currently prints the a short
error message, instructions to use the `--help` flag to learn about the
correct usage, followed by the command's usage output.
While this is a common convention, and may have been a nice gesture when
docker was still young and only had a few commands and options ("you did
something wrong, but here's an overview of what you can use"), that's no
longer the case, and many commands have a _very_ long output.
The result of this is that the error message, which is the relevant
information in this case - "You mis-typed something" - is lost in the
output, and hard to find (sometimes even requiring scrolling back).
The output is also confusing, because it _looks_ like something ran
successfully (most of the output is not about the error!).
Even further; the suggested resolution (try `--help` to see the correct
options) is rather redundant, because running teh command with `--help`
produces _exactly_ the same output as was just showh, baring the error
message. As a fun fact, due to the usage output being printed, the
output even contains not one, but _two_ "call to actions";
- `See 'docker volume --help'.` (under the erro message)
- `Run 'docker volume COMMAND --help' for more information on a command.`
(under the usage output)
In short; the output is too verbose, confusing, and doesn't provide
a good UX. Let's reduce the output produced so that the focus is on the
important information.
This patch:
- Changes the usage to the short-usage.
- Prefixes the error message with the binary / root-command name
(usually `docker:`) to be consistent with `unknon command`, and helps
to distinguish where the message originated from (the `docker` CLI in
this case).
- Adds an empty line between the error-message and the "call to action"
(`Run 'docker volume --help' ...` in the example below). This helps
separating the error message ("unkown flag") from the call-to-action.
Before this patch:
docker volume --no-such-flag
unknown flag: --no-such-flag
See 'docker volume --help'.
Usage: docker volume COMMAND
Manage volumes
Commands:
create Create a volume
inspect Display detailed information on one or more volumes
ls List volumes
prune Remove unused local volumes
rm Remove one or more volumes
update Update a volume (cluster volumes only)
Run 'docker volume COMMAND --help' for more information on a command.
With this patch:
docker volume --no-such-flag
docker: unknown flag: --no-such-flag
Usage: docker volume COMMAND
Run 'docker volume --help' for more information
Signed-off-by: Sebastiaan van Stijn <github@gone.nl>
Docker CLI
About
This repository is the home of the Docker CLI.
Development
docker/cli is developed using Docker.
Build CLI from source:
docker buildx bake
Build binaries for all supported platforms:
docker buildx bake cross
Build for a specific platform:
docker buildx bake --set binary.platform=linux/arm64
Build dynamic binary for glibc or musl:
USE_GLIBC=1 docker buildx bake dynbinary
Run all linting:
docker buildx bake lint shellcheck
Run test:
docker buildx bake test
List all the available targets:
make help
In-container development environment
Start an interactive development environment:
make -f docker.Makefile shell
Legal
Brought to you courtesy of our legal counsel. For more context, see the NOTICE document in this repo.
Use and transfer of Docker may be subject to certain restrictions by the United States and other governments.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your use and/or transfer does not violate applicable laws.
For more information, see https://www.bis.doc.gov
Licensing
docker/cli is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for the full license text.