Docker Engine API
By Docker Inc
Published: 2026-02-20 · Archived: 2026-04-06 00:52:58 UTC
Docker provides an API for interacting with the Docker daemon (called the Docker Engine API), as well as SDKs
for Go and Python. The SDKs allow you to efficiently build and scale Docker apps and solutions. If Go or Python
don't work for you, you can use the Docker Engine API directly.
For information about Docker Engine SDKs, see Develop with Docker Engine SDKs.
The Docker Engine API is a RESTful API accessed by an HTTP client such as wget or curl , or the HTTP
library which is part of most modern programming languages.
You can view the reference for the latest version of the API or choose a specific version.
The version of the Docker Engine API you should use depends upon the version of your Docker daemon and
Docker client.
A given version of the Docker Engine SDK supports a specific version of the Docker Engine API, as well as all
earlier versions. If breaking changes occur, they are documented prominently.
The Docker daemon and client don't necessarily need to be the same version at all times. However, keep
the following in mind.
If the daemon is newer than the client, the client doesn't know about new features or deprecated
API endpoints in the daemon.
If the client is newer than the daemon, the client can request API endpoints that the daemon
doesn't know about.
A new version of the API is released when new features are added. The Docker API is backward-compatible, so
you don't need to update code that uses the API unless you need to take advantage of new features.
To see the highest version of the API your Docker daemon and client support, use docker version :
You can specify the API version to use in any of the following ways:
When using the SDK, use the latest version. At a minimum, use the version that incorporates the API
version with the features you need.
When using curl directly, specify the version as the first part of the URL. For instance, if the endpoint is
/containers/ you can use /v1.54/containers/ .
To force the Docker CLI or the Docker Engine SDKs to use an older version of the API than the version
reported by docker version , set the environment variable DOCKER_API_VERSION to the correct version.
https://docs.docker.com/engine/api/v1.41/#operation/ImageBuild
Page 1 of 4

This works on Linux, Windows, or macOS clients.
While the environment variable is set, that version of the API is used, even if the Docker daemon supports
a newer version. This environment variable disables API version negotiation, so you should only use it if
you must use a specific version of the API, or for debugging purposes.
The Docker Go SDK allows you to enable API version negotiation, automatically selects an API version
that's supported by both the client and the Docker Engine that's in use.
For the SDKs, you can also specify the API version programmatically as a parameter to the client
object. See the Go constructor or the Python SDK documentation for client .
API version matrix
Docker version Maximum API version Change log
29.2 1.53 changes
29.1 1.52 changes
29.0 1.52 changes
28.5 1.51 changes
28.4 1.51 changes
28.3 1.51 changes
28.2 1.50 changes
28.1 1.49 changes
28.0 1.48 changes
27.5 1.47 changes
27.4 1.47 changes
27.3 1.47 changes
27.2 1.47 changes
27.1 1.46 changes
27.0 1.46 changes
26.1 1.45 changes
26.0 1.45 changes
25.0 1.44 changes
https://docs.docker.com/engine/api/v1.41/#operation/ImageBuild
Page 2 of 4

Docker version Maximum API version Change log
24.0 1.43 changes
23.0 1.42 changes
20.10 1.41 changes
19.03 1.40 changes
18.09 1.39 changes
18.06 1.38 changes
18.05 1.37 changes
18.04 1.37 changes
18.03 1.37 changes
18.02 1.36 changes
17.12 1.35 changes
17.11 1.34 changes
17.10 1.33 changes
17.09 1.32 changes
17.07 1.31 changes
17.06 1.30 changes
17.05 1.29 changes
17.04 1.28 changes
17.03.1 1.27 changes
17.03 1.26 changes
1.13.1 1.26 changes
1.13 1.25 changes
1.12 1.24 changes
Deprecated API versions
API versions before v1.44 are deprecated. You can find archived documentation for deprecated versions of the
API in the code repository on GitHub:
https://docs.docker.com/engine/api/v1.41/#operation/ImageBuild
Page 3 of 4

Documentation for API versions 1.24–1.43.
Documentation for API versions 1.18–1.23.
Documentation for API versions 1.17 and before.
Source: https://docs.docker.com/engine/api/v1.41/#operation/ImageBuild
https://docs.docker.com/engine/api/v1.41/#operation/ImageBuild
Page 4 of 4