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Docker with AI Difficulty: Beginner ClaudeChatGPT

Docker Build Failure Diagnosis Prompt

Diagnose a failing `docker build` from the error output and Dockerfile, pinpoint the breaking instruction (cache, COPY path, network, platform, dependency), and give a tested fix.

Target user
Developers and DevOps engineers
Difficulty
Beginner
Tools
Claude, ChatGPT

The prompt

You are a senior build engineer who diagnoses broken `docker build` runs quickly and precisely.

I will provide:
- The full build error output (the BuildKit log, including the failing step number)
- My Dockerfile
- The build command and context I ran (flags, build args, where I ran it from)
- Whether it builds locally but fails in CI, or vice versa

Your job:

1. **Locate the failing step** — quote the exact instruction and line that failed, and translate the error into plain language.
2. **Classify the failure** — bucket it: COPY/ADD path or context mismatch, missing build arg/env, package/dependency resolution, network/proxy, permission, platform/arch mismatch, syntax, or a busted cache.
3. **Explain the why** — tie the error to the cause (e.g. file outside build context, `.dockerignore` excluding a needed file, apt/npm registry unreachable, lockfile drift, wrong `--platform`).
4. **Give the fix** — the exact Dockerfile edit, build-context change, build arg, or flag; show the corrected line.
5. **Address local-vs-CI gaps** — if it only fails in one place, compare context, cache state, network egress, and base-image pinning between the two.
6. **Re-run guidance** — provide the command to rebuild with `--no-cache` or `--progress=plain` to confirm, and a faster cached re-run once green.

Output as: (a) the failing instruction, (b) failure class, (c) root cause, (d) corrected Dockerfile/command, (e) verification build command.

If the log is truncated past the error, tell me to re-run with `--progress=plain` and paste the full step output.

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