How containers/skopeo works
Skopeo is a daemonless CLI for inspecting and moving container images across registries and local storage. The main workflow is a user invoking a command, Skopeo dispatching it, and the operation reading from or writing to an image transport; inspect instead reads image metadata and returns formatted output. Other documented operations include delete, repository sync, tag listing, registry authentication, and image signing. The graph follows README-documented capabilities and the sampled command implementations; unsampled integrations are represented generically rather than as specific backends.
Main entry points: main.go Command dispatcher · copy.go Copy images · inspect.go Inspect images · sync.go Sync repositories
Components 18
CLI and configuration
- Command dispatcher
cmd/skopeo/main.go
Image operations
- Copy images
cmd/skopeo/copy.go - Inspect images
cmd/skopeo/inspect.go - Delete images
cmd/skopeo/delete.go - Sync repositories
cmd/skopeo/sync.go - List tags
cmd/skopeo/list_tags.go - Fetch layers
cmd/skopeo/layers.go - Manifest operations
cmd/skopeo/manifest.go - Inspect output
cmd/skopeo/inspect/output.go
Authentication and signing
- Registry login
cmd/skopeo/login.go - Registry logout
cmd/skopeo/logout.go - Manifest signing
cmd/skopeo/signing.go - Sigstore keys
cmd/skopeo/generate_sigstore_key.go - Credential state
Image transports
- Image sources
- Image destinations
Other components
- CLI user
- Command output
Connections 27
- CLI user → Command dispatcher: invokes
README.md - Command dispatcher → Copy images: dispatches
cmd/skopeo/main.go - Command dispatcher → Delete images: dispatches
cmd/skopeo/main.go - Command dispatcher → Inspect images: dispatches
cmd/skopeo/main.go - Command dispatcher → Sigstore keys: dispatches
cmd/skopeo/main.go - Command dispatcher → Sync repositories: dispatches
- Command dispatcher → List tags: dispatches
- Command dispatcher → Registry login: dispatches
- Command dispatcher → Registry logout: dispatches
- Command dispatcher → Manifest signing: dispatches
- Copy images → Image sources: reads image
README.md - Copy images → Image destinations: writes image
README.md - Inspect images → Image sources: reads metadata
cmd/skopeo/inspect.go - Inspect images → Inspect output: formats output
cmd/skopeo/inspect.go - Inspect output → Command output: returns
- Delete images → Image sources: deletes image
README.md - Sync repositories → Image sources: reads repository
README.md - Sync repositories → Image destinations: writes images
README.md - List tags → Image sources: reads tags
cmd/skopeo/list_tags.go - Fetch layers → Image sources: reads layers
cmd/skopeo/layers.go - Manifest operations → Image sources: operates on
- Registry login → Credential state: stores credentials
README.md - Registry logout → Credential state: removes credentials
README.md - Copy images → Credential state: uses credentials
README.md - Inspect images → Credential state: uses credentials
README.md - Manifest signing → Command output: writes signatures
cmd/skopeo/signing.go - Sigstore keys → Command output: writes keys
cmd/skopeo/generate_sigstore_key.go