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werkator/docs/prs/2026-09-05-PR#000-werkdock-import-verb.md
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mhoennigandClaude Fable 5.1 b8600bb556 werkdock: import the rootfs archive, fall back to load -i on an older werkdock
Werkdock's docker-compat branch names the verb for rootfs archives
'import' (docker import semantics) and keeps 'load -i --name' only as
a compatibility path. Werkator now runs 'werkdock import ARCHIVE IMAGE'
and falls back to 'load -i --name' on exactly the unknown-verb
signature (exit 125, 'unknown command' on stderr), so Werkator and
werkdock can be updated in either order. Any other import failure
propagates as before. The image name stays untagged: it equals
werkator-buildenv-<hash>:latest in werkdock's naming, and the existing
store needs no re-import. PR-doc under docs/prs/ with the PR#000
placeholder.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-09-05 22:49:46 +02:00

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> **WARNING:** This document describes only the change applied in this PR.
> It may already be outdated once the next PR is merged.
> Historic PR-documentation is not maintained along with new PRs — treat it as a snapshot, not as current documentation.
## Related Links
- Werkdock `CHANGELOG.md` on its `docker-compat` branch — the release notes this PR adapts to: `import` replaces `load -i --name` for rootfs archives, `load` is reserved for docker/OCI image archives, image names gained docker-style tags.
- ADR 0008 — the bwrap build runtime; `docs/configuration.md`, notes on `builds.<name>.werkdock`.
## The Problem
Werkdock moves its CLI closer to `docker run --rm`.
For the rootfs archives Werkator uses, the verb is now `werkdock import ARCHIVE IMAGE` (docker import semantics).
`werkdock load -i ARCHIVE --name IMAGE` still works but is a compatibility path with a note on stderr, and is announced to go away once Werkator has switched.
Werkator ships the werkdock binary with its deployment, but nothing forces the two to be updated together: an installation may run a new Werkator against an older werkdock for a while, or the other way round.
## Non-Goals
- No switch of the existence check from `werkdock images` to `werkdock inspect`: `images` prints the bare name for untagged images on every werkdock version, the exact-line match keeps working, and `inspect` would tie Werkator to the new werkdock.
- No tagged image name (`werkator-buildenv:<hash>`): it would re-import every build environment on the webspace and orphan the old image, for no functional gain today.
- None of the new `run` flags (`--mount`, `--entrypoint`, `--network host`): Werkator's invocation needs none of them.
## The Scenarios
### Feature: rootfs archives are imported with werkdock's docker-shaped verb
#### Background
- The build environment is a rootfs archive named by `builds.<name>.werkdock.rootfs`.
- Werkator creates the werkdock image `werkator-buildenv-<hash>` from it once per source.
- Werkdock answers an unknown verb with `werkdock: unknown command "import"` and exit code 125, its code for its own errors.
#### Scenario#000.01: A missing image is imported with `werkdock import`
So that Werkator uses the verb werkdock names for rootfs archives, and the deprecated path can be removed on werkdock's side.
- **Given** `werkdock images` does not list the image
- **When** a build starts
- **Then** Werkator runs `werkdock import ARCHIVE werkator-buildenv-<hash>`
- **and** runs no `werkdock load`.
##### Verified by
- [WerkdockBuildRunnerTest "imports the image once when werkdock does not know it yet"](../../src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/build/WerkdockBuildRunnerTest.kt)
- [WerkdockBuildRunnerTest "downloads a URL rootfs once before importing it"](../../src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/build/WerkdockBuildRunnerTest.kt)
#### Scenario#000.02: An older werkdock without the verb still works
So that Werkator and werkdock can be updated in either order.
- **Given** the installed werkdock answers `import` with `unknown command` and exit 125
- **When** a build starts with a missing image
- **Then** Werkator falls back to `werkdock load -i ARCHIVE --name werkator-buildenv-<hash>`
- **and** logs the fallback.
##### Verified by
- [WerkdockBuildRunnerTest "falls back to load -i --name on a werkdock without the import verb"](../../src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/build/WerkdockBuildRunnerTest.kt)
#### Scenario#000.03: A real import failure is not masked by the fallback
So that a broken archive fails the build with werkdock's message, as before.
- **Given** `werkdock import` fails for any other reason (any other exit code, or exit 125 without `unknown command`)
- **When** a build starts with a missing image
- **Then** the build fails with that command's output
- **and** no `werkdock load` runs.
##### Verified by
- [WerkdockBuildRunnerTest "propagates an import failure that is not a missing verb"](../../src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/build/WerkdockBuildRunnerTest.kt)
#### Scenario#000.04: An existing image is neither imported nor loaded
- **Given** `werkdock images` lists the image
- **When** a build starts
- **Then** neither `import` nor `load` runs.
##### Verified by
- [WerkdockBuildRunnerTest "does not import an image werkdock already has"](../../src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/build/WerkdockBuildRunnerTest.kt)
## The Solution
`WerkdockBuildRunner.ensureImage` calls the new `importImage`: `werkdock import ARCHIVE IMAGE` through the non-throwing `run`, then either returns, falls back to `load -i --name` on exactly the unknown-verb signature (exit 125 plus `unknown command` on stderr), or rethrows the import's result as a `GitCommandException` — the same exception and message the old code produced.
The fallback is keyed on werkdock's own error signature rather than on a version string, because werkdock's version output does not yet distinguish the two builds.
## Open Questions
- When to drop the fallback: once every installation runs a werkdock with `import`, the `load -i --name` branch and its test go, and werkdock can remove the compatibility path.
## Additional Changes
- `docs/configuration.md` and `docs/deployment.md` say "imported" where they said "loaded", and name the fallback and the reason the image name stays untagged.
## Prerequisite PRs
- Werkdock's `docker-compat` branch (repository `mi/werkdock`), which introduces `import`; without it the fallback path runs.
## Follow-up PRs
- Remove the fallback (see Open Questions).