docker.errors.APIError: 400 Client Error: client version is too old

TL;DR: Your docker-py is so old the daemon refuses its API version. Upgrade with pip install -U docker, or pass version= explicitly to the client to negotiate a supported one.

docker.errors.APIError: 400 Client Error for http+docker://[docker-host]/v1.24/containers/json: Bad Request ("client version 1.24 is too old. Minimum supported API version is 1.24, please upgrade your client to a newer version")

Fix it

1. Check versions: pip show docker and docker version (server API version). Expected: client library far older than the daemon.
2. Upgrade: pip install -U docker. Expected: the 400 goes away.
3. If you cannot upgrade, pin the negotiated version: docker.APIClient(version='1.41') (use a version your daemon supports; docker version shows it). Expected: calls succeed.
4. Update requirements so the old pin does not come back.

When this applies

• APIError 400 mentioning client version too old.

When it doesn't

• The error is DockerException on connect: daemon unreachable, different fix.
• The error is 404 on an endpoint: the resource, not the version.

Compatibility

• docker-py >= 4 negotiates better; daemons set the minimum.

Why it happens

The daemon enforces a minimum API version and drops ancient ones. Old docker-py pins hardcode v1.24-era versions, which modern daemons reject.

Edge cases

• version='auto' exists but can mask real incompatibilities; prefer upgrading the library.

Reported in GitHub (gh:scrapinghub/shub#444): 400 Client Error: client version is too old (scrapinghub/shub#444). The verified fix: Asked on Stack Overflow by developers getting 400 client version is too old from docker-py. The verified answer: the pinned docker-py negotiates an API version below the daemon's minimum, so upgrade docker-py or set the version explicitly. Source: the linked Stack Overflow thread. Source: https://github.com/scrapinghub/shub/issues/444 Thread ref: gh:scrapinghub/shub#444