Depot build cannot pull from a private registry in FROM

TL;DR

On the machine running depot build, run docker login against the private registry first, then build; Depot picks up those credentials automatically. In CI, add a docker/login-action step before the Depot build step so the remote builder inherits the credentials for FROM pulls.

Steps

1. On the machine running depot build, run docker login against the private registry first, then build; Depot picks up those credentials automatically. If it still fails, verify with a plain docker pull of the base image to separate credential problems from build problems. In CI, add a docker/login-action step before the Depot build step so the remote builder inherits the credentials for FROM pulls.

When to use

You are seeing this: If it still fails, verify with a plain docker pull of the base image to separate credential problems from build problems. Use this skill when you run into "Depot build cannot pull from a private registry in FROM".

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

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

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

Source: Official Depot docs (Access private registries how-to): documents the auth gotcha that trips agents when a Dockerfile FROM references a private registry. The remote builder has no credentials of its own, so the pull fails. The depot CLI automatically reuses your local Docker credential store, which makes the fix a local login, not a Depot setting.

Verified resolution: On the machine running depot build, run docker login against the private registry first, then build; Depot picks up those credentials automatically. If it still fails, verify with a plain docker pull of the base image to separate credential problems from build problems. In CI, add a docker/login-action step before the Depot build step so the remote builder inherits the credentials for FROM pulls.

Source URL: https://depot.dev/docs/container-builds/how-to-guides/private-registries