The Dockerfile declares VOLUME /opt/data and the published
docker-compose flow bind-mounts ./data:/opt/data for runtime
state. Because .dockerignore did not list data/, any file the
container writes under /opt/data leaks back into the build
context on the next `docker compose build`.
This becomes a hard failure when the container writes a
dangling symlink there — e.g. PulseAudio's XDG runtime entry
(data/.config/pulse/<host>-runtime -> /tmp/pulse-*) whose
target only exists inside the container. Docker's tar packer
cannot resolve the broken symlink on the host and aborts
context load with `invalid file request`.
Excluding data/ keeps build context clean, shrinks the context
tarball (logs/, sessions/, memories/ no longer shipped), and
matches the intent already expressed in .gitignore.
- Combine apt-get update and install into single RUN with cache clearing
- Remove APT lists after installation
- Add --no-cache-dir to pip install
- Add --prefer-offline --no-audit to npm install
- Create .dockerignore to exclude unnecessary files from build context
- Update docker-publish.yml workflow to tag images with release names
- Ensure buildx caching is used (type=gha)
Adds a complete Docker packaging for Hermes Agent:
- Dockerfile based on debian:13.4 with all deps
- Entrypoint that bootstraps .env, config.yaml, SOUL.md on first run
- CI workflow to build, test, and push to DockerHub
- Documentation for interactive, gateway, and upgrade workflows
Closes#850, #913.
Changes vs original PR:
- Removed pre-created legacy cache/platform dirs from entrypoint
(image_cache, audio_cache, pairing, whatsapp/session) — these are
now created on demand by the application using the consolidated
layout from get_hermes_dir()
- Moved docs from docs/docker.md to website/docs/user-guide/docker.md
and added to Docusaurus sidebar
Co-authored-by: benbarclay <benbarclay@users.noreply.github.com>