allow push docker image as a result of a build.

[aacebedo]

What problem does this solve?

I would like to push a docker image as a result of a release.
There is no publisher docker image, only for oci artifacts

Proposed solution

Push docker image as a step in the release

Alternatives considered

Senantic-release-plus/docker

[mwaldheim]

Thanks — this is a real gap in the current plugin set.

@semrel/updater-docker only updates Dockerfile references, while @semrel/publisher-oci uses ORAS to publish files as OCI artifacts. Neither pushes an image that already exists in a Docker-compatible daemon.

Our proposed minimal plugin is @semrel/publisher-docker:

• required image: an already-built local image reference or image ID;
• required ref: the destination reference, with {version} substitution;
• dry-run: inspect and print the exact tag/push operations without mutation;
• use an already-authenticated Docker-compatible CLI/daemon supplied by CI;
• inspect, tag when necessary, push one destination, and report the resulting
  digest.

The MVP would deliberately not build Dockerfiles, log in, sign images, manage tag policies, or assemble multi-platform manifests.

Could you confirm whether your input is an image already built in the same job/daemon, and whether semrel runs directly on the host or inside its container image? Container use needs an explicit Docker CLI/socket and authentication contract. Until that is implemented, semrel's version/CI output can drive a normal docker tag / docker push step.

[aacebedo]

Yes, I build the image with a previous step. I need however to push it to a repo.

I am using this at the moment.
https://github.com/semantic-release-plus/semantic-release-plus/tree/master/packages/plugins/docker for the same action

[mwaldheim]

Status update: the requested publisher for an image built earlier is implemented in the new official @semrel/publisher-docker (merged implementation PR). The remaining related work is the build/release workflow correction, registry schema integration, and documentation.

The MVP inspects, tags, and pushes the image, reports its immutable digest, supports dry-run, and assumes a pre-authenticated host Docker CLI/daemon. It intentionally does not build images, log in, sign images, or manage channel tags.

The first release is not available yet because PR #8 and the schema/docs reviews remain. There is no promised merge date.

[mwaldheim]

The Docker publisher is now released and available as @semrel/publisher-docker v0.1.1. It is also indexed in the SemRel Registry with binaries and checksums for Linux, macOS, and Windows on AMD64 and ARM64.

This covers the workflow described here: an image built in an earlier step can be inspected, tagged with the SemRel version, pushed through an already-authenticated Docker-compatible CLI/daemon, and reported by immutable digest. Dry-run is supported as well.

Configuration and usage are documented in the publisher README. The MVP intentionally does not build the image, perform registry login, create multi-platform manifests, sign images, or manage channel tags.

Thanks for confirming the already-built-image use case — that input directly shaped this implementation.