buildx "multiple platforms feature is currently not supported for docker driver": fix

buildx "multiple platforms feature is currently not supported for docker driver": fix

TL;DR: The default buildx driver can only build your machine's architecture. Create a builder that uses the container driver with docker buildx create --use, then rerun the same --platform command. Multi-arch builds work immediately.

ERROR: multiple platforms feature is currently not supported for docker driver. Switch to a different driver (eg. "docker-container")

Steps

1. Confirm the driver. Run docker buildx ls; the active builder shows docker as its driver.

Expected: You see why the platform flag was rejected.

1. Create a container-driver builder and switch to it:

docker buildx create --name multiarch --use
docker buildx inspect --bootstrap

Expected: Inspect shows the driver as docker-container and the builder as active.

1. Rerun your build with the platform list. For local testing keep --load to a single platform; multi-arch output needs --push to a registry.

Expected: The build completes for every listed architecture.

1. In GitHub Actions, add the setup-buildx action before the build step instead of managing builders by hand.

Expected: The action log shows a builder being created and the build proceeds.

1. If the runner cannot do privileged containers, the container driver is unavailable. Fall back to one job per architecture or move the build to a self-hosted runner.

Expected: You have a working multi-arch path instead of a dead end.

Use this when

• docker buildx build --platform fails with the docker-driver message

Not for this skill when

• Pulling fails with no matching manifest. That is a runtime architecture issue, not the build driver
• The build is just slow under qemu. That is emulation cost, not this error
• --load fails with two platforms. Multi-platform output cannot load into the local daemon; push instead

Variant phrasings

multiple platforms feature is currently not supported for docker driver

Same error without the ERROR prefix, seen in some CI logs.

Why it happens

The docker driver builds through the classic builder inside the daemon, which only knows the host architecture. The docker-container driver runs BuildKit in a container with cross-compilation support, which is what the --platform list needs.

Edge cases

• Builder names must be unique per machine; CI runners that persist between jobs can collide on a hardcoded name
• --push needs a registry login first or the push step fails after a successful build
• Provenance and attestation flags need a recent BuildKit; old builders reject them

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstsUaSl7C9ekkc059YrWsww