error getting credentials - err: exec: "docker-credential-desktop": executable file not found in $PATH — how to fix

error getting credentials - err: exec: "docker-credential-desktop": executable file not found in $PATH, out: ``
failed to solve: error getting credentials - err: exit status 1, out: ``

Quick fix: Open ~/.docker/config.json and remove (or fix) the "credsStore": "desktop" line, then run docker login again. If the helper should exist, make sure it is on PATH (e.g. /Applications/Docker.app/Contents/Resources/bin on macOS) or install docker-credential-pass/secretservice on Linux.

What it means

Before talking to a registry, Docker reads ~/.docker/config.json. If it contains "credsStore": "X", Docker runs a program called docker-credential-X to get the password. When that program is missing, not on PATH, or crashes, you get error getting credentials, even for public images.

Look at the file:

cat ~/.docker/config.json

{
  "auths": { "https://index.docker.io/v1/": {} },
  "credsStore": "desktop"
}

Helpers you might see: desktop (Docker Desktop), osxkeychain (macOS), wincred (Windows), pass / secretservice (Linux), ecr-login, gcloud.

Cause 1: leftover Docker Desktop config (WSL, uninstalled Desktop, switched to Colima/OrbStack/Docker Engine)

The config still points to docker-credential-desktop but that binary is gone. Remove the line:

cp ~/.docker/config.json ~/.docker/config.json.bak
# remove the credsStore key (needs jq)
jq 'del(.credsStore)' ~/.docker/config.json.bak > ~/.docker/config.json
docker login

Or edit by hand and delete the "credsStore": "desktop" line (watch the trailing comma; check the result in the JSON formatter). Without a helper, docker login stores a base64-encoded (not encrypted) credential in config.json and warns about it. That is fine for a throwaway box; on a workstation prefer a real helper.

In WSL, also check for "credsStore": "desktop.exe" — that works only when Docker Desktop's WSL integration is enabled.

Cause 2: the helper exists but is not on PATH

On macOS this happens with a Docker Desktop install whose CLI tools aren't linked, often in IDEs or shells with a minimal PATH:

ls /Applications/Docker.app/Contents/Resources/bin/docker-credential-*
export PATH="$PATH:/Applications/Docker.app/Contents/Resources/bin"

Docker Desktop → Settings → Advanced lets you choose System vs User installation of the CLI tools. Re-applying the setting re-creates the symlinks.

Cause 3: the helper fails (`exit status 1`)

If the helper runs but errors (locked keychain, no D-Bus session over SSH, pass not initialised), the message ends with exit status 1. Test it directly:

echo "https://index.docker.io/v1/" | docker-credential-desktop get

macOS over SSH: the keychain is locked; run security unlock-keychain or switch to osxkeychain in a GUI session.
Linux pass: initialise with gpg --generate-key then pass init <gpg-id>.
Headless Linux with secretservice: there is no keyring daemon; use pass or drop credsStore.

Cause 4: sudo uses a different config

sudo docker ... reads /root/.docker/config.json. Either fix that file too, or add yourself to the docker group so you don't need sudo.

Cause 5: credHelpers for a specific registry

"credHelpers": {"123.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com": "ecr-login"} needs docker-credential-ecr-login installed (apt install amazon-ecr-credential-helper or brew install docker-credential-helper-ecr). Install it or remove that entry.

Last updated 2026-11-05.