agentkernel images & build

Manage Docker images and build custom images from Dockerfiles.

Subcommands

Command	Description
`build -t <name> <context> [--dockerfile PATH]`	Build a custom image from Dockerfile
`images list [--all]`	List Docker images with sandbox usage
`images local-list`	List locally built custom images
`images local-delete <name>`	Delete a locally built image
`images local-sync`	Sync metadata with actual Docker images
`images prune [--agentkernel-only]`	Remove unused images
`images pull <IMAGE>`	Pre-pull a Docker image

Examples

Build a custom image

Build custom images with your tools pre-installed:

# Build from Dockerfile in current directory
agentkernel build -t my-tools .

# Build with a specific Dockerfile
agentkernel build -t python-ml ./docker --dockerfile ./docker/Dockerfile.ml

Example Dockerfile:

FROM python:3.12-alpine
RUN pip install numpy pandas scikit-learn

Use custom images in sandboxes:

agentkernel sandbox create ml-sandbox --image my-tools
agentkernel sandbox start ml-sandbox
agentkernel exec ml-sandbox -- python3 -c "import numpy; print(numpy.__version__)"

List locally built images

$ agentkernel images local-list
NAME       SIZE      BUILT AT             DOCKER TAG
my-tools   145MB     2025-01-20 10:30:00  agentkernel-my-tools
python-ml  312MB     2025-01-20 11:00:00  agentkernel-python-ml

Delete a local image

agentkernel images local-delete my-tools

Sync local image metadata

If you manually delete Docker images, sync the metadata:

agentkernel images local-sync

List images

# Show agentkernel-related images only
$ agentkernel images list
No agentkernel images found. Use --all to show all images.

# Show all Docker images with usage info
$ agentkernel images list --all
REPOSITORY:TAG                           IMAGE ID        USED BY            SIZE
python:3.12-alpine                       82585c9f05cf    1 sandbox        79.7MB
alpine:3.20                              a4f4213abb84    2 sandboxes      13.7MB
node:22-alpine                           d7119ab9e005    unused            307MB

3 images, 3 sandbox references

The "USED BY" column shows how many sandbox configs reference each image.

Pre-pull an image

agentkernel images pull python:3.12-alpine
agentkernel images pull node:22-alpine

Pre-pulling avoids download delays during create or run.

Prune unused images

# Remove dangling Docker images
agentkernel images prune

# Remove only agentkernel-built images not used by any sandbox
agentkernel images prune --agentkernel-only