Docker Development Skill

July 11, 2026 · View on GitHub

Agent Skill for Docker image development - Dockerfile best practices, CI testing patterns, and Docker Compose orchestration.

Features

Dockerfile Best Practices - Multi-stage builds, layer optimization, security
CI Testing Patterns - Test Docker images reliably in CI pipelines
Docker Compose - Service orchestration, health checks, networking
Docker Bake - Multi-platform builds with BuildKit
Security - Vulnerability scanning, non-root users, secret management
Windows / WSL2 - Run docker through WSL when Docker Desktop uses the WSL2 backend (separate docker-via-wsl skill)

Skills

This package bundles two skills:

docker-development — Dockerfile, compose, bake, CI testing, and security patterns.
docker-via-wsl — for AI agents running on a Windows host outside WSL: re-issue every docker/docker compose command inside WSL (via wsl.exe) so Docker Desktop's WSL2 backend does not corrupt bind-mount paths.

Automatic Triggers

The docker-development skill activates automatically when working with:

File Pattern	Description
`Dockerfile`, `Dockerfile.`, `.dockerfile`	Container image definitions
`docker-compose.yml`, `compose.yml`	Multi-container orchestration
`docker-bake.hcl`	BuildKit bake configurations
`.dockerignore`	Build context optimization

The docker-via-wsl skill activates when an agent on a Windows shell (Git Bash/MSYS/PowerShell, outside WSL) is about to run any docker command.

Installation

Marketplace (Recommended)

Add the Netresearch marketplace once, then browse and install skills:

# Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add netresearch/claude-code-marketplace

npx (skills.sh)

Install with any Agent Skills-compatible agent:

npx skills add https://github.com/netresearch/docker-development-skill --skill docker-development
npx skills add https://github.com/netresearch/docker-development-skill --skill docker-via-wsl

Download Release

Download the latest release and extract to your agent's skills directory.

Git Clone

git clone https://github.com/netresearch/docker-development-skill.git

Composer (PHP Projects)

composer require netresearch/docker-development-skill

Requires netresearch/composer-agent-skill-plugin.

Usage

The skill activates automatically when working on:

Dockerfile development
Docker Compose configurations
Docker Bake multi-platform builds
CI/CD pipelines for container images
Container troubleshooting

Example Prompts

"Create a multi-stage Dockerfile for a Node.js app"
"Set up GitHub Actions to build and push Docker images"
"Why is my nginx config test failing in CI?"
"Add health checks to my docker-compose.yml"
"Create a docker-bake.hcl for multi-platform builds"

Key Patterns

Testing Images with Entrypoints

# Bypass entrypoint for direct testing
docker run --rm --entrypoint php myimage -v

Testing nginx Configs in Isolation

# Mock upstream DNS
docker run --rm --add-host backend:127.0.0.1 nginx-image nginx -t

Compose Validation in CI

# Create .env before validation
cp .env.example .env
sed -i 's/PLACEHOLDER/test_value/g' .env
docker compose config > /dev/null

References

Extended documentation in the skill references/ directories:

docker-development/references/ci-testing.md - Retro-born CI testing gotchas
docker-via-wsl/references/diagnosis-and-fix.md - Diagnose and fix a wrong bind mount caused by driving Docker from a Windows shell

Contributing

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Submit a pull request

License

This project uses split licensing:

Code (scripts, workflows, configs): MIT
Content (skill definitions, documentation, references): CC-BY-SA-4.0

See the individual license files for full terms.

Author

Netresearch DTT GmbH