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colima

Use when Docker commands fail with "Cannot connect to Docker daemon", when starting/stopping container environments, or when managing multiple Docker contexts on macOS - provides Colima lifecycle management, profile handling, SSH commands, and troubleshooting

personAuthor: jakexiaohubgithub
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Colima

Overview

Colima provides container runtimes (Docker, Containerd) on macOS with minimal setup. It runs a Linux VM and exposes Docker via contexts.

Use this skill when:

  • Docker commands fail ("Cannot connect to Docker daemon")
  • Starting/stopping container runtime on macOS
  • Managing multiple Docker profiles/contexts
  • Troubleshooting container environment issues
  • Need SSH agent forwarding for Docker builds

Not for: Docker Compose, Kubernetes clusters, or Linux environments.

Quick Reference

| Operation | Command | |-----------|---------| | Start | colima start or colima start <profile> | | Start with SSH agent | colima start <profile> -s | | Stop | colima stop or colima stop --force | | Status | colima status -p <profile> | | List profiles | colima list | | SSH into VM | colima ssh or colima ssh -- <cmd> | | SSH with chained commands | colima ssh -- bash -c "cmd1 && cmd2" | | Get socket path | colima status -p <profile> --json \| jq -r .docker_socket |

Docker Context Basics

Colima creates Docker contexts per profile:

  • Profile default → context colima
  • Profile work → context colima-work
# Switch context (global - affects all terminals)
docker context use colima-work

# Override per-session
export DOCKER_CONTEXT=colima-work

# Override per-command
docker --context colima-work ps

For details, see references/docker-contexts.md.

Common Issues

Docker daemon not connecting?

  1. colima status - is it running?
  2. docker context list - right context selected?
  3. See references/troubleshooting.md for more

Need more VM resources?

colima stop && colima start --cpu 4 --memory 8

"Broken" status after restart?

colima stop --force && colima start

References

  • references/ssh-commands.md - SSH command syntax, chaining, escaping
  • references/docker-contexts.md - Context switching, DOCKER_HOST, socket paths
  • references/profile-management.md - Creating, configuring, deleting profiles
  • references/troubleshooting.md - Common issues and solutions
  • references/common-options.md - Flags, VM types, resource configuration

Upstream Documentation

Local copies of official Colima docs (from github.com/abiosoft/colima):

  • references/colima-upstream/README.md - Official README with features and usage
  • references/colima-upstream/FAQ.md - Official FAQ and troubleshooting
  • references/colima-upstream/INSTALL.md - Installation options