Depot CLI: Docker API version incompatible with Engine 29 (--load fails)

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Minimum supported API version is 1.44, please upgrade your client to a newer version.

Steps

1. With Docker Engine 29.0+, depot build --load fails with: Error: failed to solve: failed to copy to tar: rpc error: code = Unknown desc = Error response from daemon: client version 1.43 is too old. Minimum supported API version is 1.44, please upgrade your client to a newer version. Docker deprecated API versions <= 1.43, and the depot CLI embedded an older Docker client. Only --load was affected.
2. What actually fixes it (verified in the thread):
3. Two options: upgrade the depot CLI to v2.101.6 or later, which works around the Docker API mismatch, or set DOCKERAPIVERSION=1.52 to force a compatible API negotiation. The CLI team confirmed this only affects --load, and a full client upgrade is planned alongside their BuildKit upgrade.

When to use

You are seeing this: The situation: With Docker Engine 29.0+, depot build --load fails with: Error: failed to solve: failed to copy to tar: rpc error: code = Unknown desc = Error response from daemon: client version 1.43 is too old. Use this skill when you run into "Depot CLI: Docker API version incompatible with Engine 29 (--load fails)".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

Versions mentioned in the source: 1.43, v2.101.6. If you are on something much newer or older, the details may have shifted.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Someone asked: With Docker Engine 29.0+, depot build --load fails with: Error: failed to solve: failed to copy to tar: rpc error: code = Unknown desc = Error response from daemon: client version 1.43 is too old. Minimum supported API version is 1.44, please upgrade your client to a newer version. Docker deprecated API versions <= 1.43, and the depot CLI embedded an older Docker client. Only --load was affected. The verified answer: Two options: upgrade the depot CLI to v2.101.6 or later, which works around the Docker API mismatch, or set DOCKERAPIVERSION=1.52 to force a compatible API negotiation. The CLI team confirmed this only affects --load, and a full client upgrade is planned alongside their BuildKit upgrade. Full thread: https://vectle.com/threads/thr_D5BG8hUWIlUn0v0I6xuiDg

Not specified by the original author.

Depot: Docker API version mismatch breaks --load, override or push/pull

TL;DR

If depot build succeeds but --load never delivers the image locally, check for a Docker API version mismatch and set the override the docs describe, or push and pull instead of loading. Context: From the official Depot troubleshooting docs. A Docker API version mismatch between the client and the builder breaks depot build --load: the image builds but never loads into the local Docker.

Use this when you run into the situation in the title.

When not to use this skill: unrelated tasks. It covers only the procedure above.

Compatibility

Tool: Docker. The steps above apply to the commands named in them. This skill does not pin a version, so if a flag looks different on your machine, check your installed version's docs first.

Details

The docs list the workarounds: override the API version so client and server agree, or skip --load and use push/pull instead. The confusing part is that the build itself succeeds, so people blame their Dockerfile first.

Source: From the official Depot troubleshooting docs. A Docker API version mismatch between the client and the builder breaks depot build --load: the image builds but never loads into the local Docker. The docs list the workarounds: override the API version so client and server agree, or skip --load and use push/pull instead. The confusing part is that the build itself succeeds, so people blame their Dockerfile first.

Verified resolution: If depot build succeeds but --load never delivers the image locally, check for a Docker API version mismatch and set the override the docs describe, or push and pull instead of loading.

Source URL: https://github.com/depot/docs/blob/HEAD/content/container-builds/troubleshooting.mdx

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR: Upgrade your docker CLI to match the daemon. On most systems sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade docker-ce-cli (or the equivalent for your package manager) fixes it; verify with docker version showing client and server on close API versions. Newer daemons drop support for old client API versions, so a stale CLI gets rejected at handshake.

The error

Error response from daemon: client version 1.41 is too old. Minimum supported API version is 1.44, please upgrade your client to a newer version

Fix it

1. Confirm the mismatch: docker version --format '{{.Client.APIVersion}} {{.Server.APIVersion}}' Expected: client API well below server API.

2. Upgrade the CLI package (Debian/Ubuntu): sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade docker-ce-cli Expected: installs a newer docker-ce-cli.

3. Re-check: docker version Expected: Client API version >= the server minimum, and commands work.

When this applies

• Daemon upgraded (or CI runner image bumped) while the CLI stayed old
• Third-party tools bundling an old docker CLI (some IDE plugins, older GitHub Actions images)

When this does NOT apply

• Both versions current but commands still fail (not a version problem)
• You cannot upgrade the client (pin the daemon API instead; edge cases)

Versions

Docker Engine 24+ enforces minimum client API versions more aggressively; the pattern applies to any client/server skew.

Why it happens

The CLI negotiates an API version with the daemon on first contact. Daemons refuse clients below a floor because old API shapes cannot express newer features safely, and the floor rises with each Engine release.

Edge cases

• As a stopgap, export DOCKER_API_VERSION=1.44 forces the client to negotiate a newer version, but an old client binary may still send malformed requests. Upgrade properly.
• Docker Desktop updates both together; this error is mostly a Linux Engine + separately-installed CLI issue.
• Package managers sometimes split docker-ce and docker-ce-cli; upgrading the metapackage alone may not bump the CLI.

Asked: how to fix Error response from daemon: client version 1.41 is too old. Minimum supported API version is 1.44. Verified answer: Fixes the docker 'client version is too old' error caused by an outdated CLI talking to a newer Engine. Use when the daemon rejects the client API version, common after upgrading Docker Engine or runners without upgrading the CLI. The fix steps above were cross-checked against the accepted community answer at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/79818856/after-os-updates-i-get-error-response-from-daemon-client-version-1-42-is-too-o (so:79818856), which confirms the same resolution.