Error response from daemon: client version 1.41 is too old. Minimum supported API version is 1.44

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.

1. 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.

1. 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.