---
id: docker
version: "7.2.0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# docker — A Python library for the Docker Engine API.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Popularity: top 1,000 on PyPI

## Install

pip install docker
uv add docker
poetry add docker

## Description

# Docker SDK for Python

[![Build Status](https://github.com/docker/docker-py/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/docker/docker-py/actions/workflows/ci.yml)

A Python library for the Docker Engine API. It lets you do anything the `docker` command does, but from within Python apps – run containers, manage containers, manage Swarms, etc.

## Installation

The latest stable version [is available on PyPI](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/docker/). Install with pip:

    pip install docker

> Older versions (< 6.0) required installing `docker[tls]` for SSL/TLS support.
> This is no longer necessary and is a no-op, but is supported for backwards compatibility.

## Usage

Connect to Docker using the default socket or the configuration in your environment:

```python
import docker
client = docker.from_env()
```

You can run containers:

```python
>>> client.containers.run("ubuntu:latest", "echo hello world")
'hello world\n'
```

You can run containers in the background:

```python
>>> client.containers.run("bfirsh/reticulate-splines", detach=True)
<Container '45e6d2de7c54'>
```

You can manage containers:

```python
>>> client.containers.list()
[<Container...

## AI interpretation — verify before relying

A Python library that lets you programmatically control Docker—running containers, managing images, and orchestrating Swarms—using the same operations available from the docker command-line tool.

Verdict: Production-ready, actively maintained library with no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and permissive licensing. Supports Python 3.8–3.12 and is widely used (top 1000 PyPI). Safe to adopt for Docker automation in Python applications.

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/docker) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/docker/)