container-publish

Q: How do I install container-publish?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/codewithmukesh/dotnet-claude-kit --skill container-publish in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/container-publish/ (personal) or .claude/skills/container-publish/ (project).

by codewithmukeshBackend & APIs

Dockerfile-less containerization using the .NET 10 SDK container publishing feature. Covers MSBuild properties, chiseled images, multi-arch builds, and registry publishing — all without writing a Dockerfile. Load this skill when the user wants to containerize without a Dockerfile, or mentions "dotnet publish container", "PublishContainer", "ContainerRepository", "ContainerFamily", "chiseled", "distroless", "container publish", "SDK container", "no Dockerfile", or "containerize without Docker".

Installs: 2.9K
Last 24h: +55
Trending rank: #3167
Security: Not audited

Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/codewithmukesh/dotnet-claude-kit --skill container-publish

01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads container-publish automatically when relevant.
03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Container Publishing (No Dockerfile)

Core Principles

No Dockerfile needed — The .NET 10 SDK builds OCI-compliant container images directly from dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer. No Dockerfile to write or maintain.
Chiseled images for production — Use noble-chiseled base images: no shell, no package manager, 7 Linux components vs 100+. Smallest attack surface.
Non-root by default — .NET 10 container images run as the app user automatically. Never override to root in production.
Configuration in the .csproj — All container settings are MSBuild properties, versioned with your project. No separate files to drift.

Patterns

Minimal Container Publish

No project file changes needed. Just publish:

dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64

This creates a container image in your local Docker daemon using the default aspnet:10.0 base image.

Production-Ready .csproj Configuration

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework>
    <ContainerRepository>mycompany/myapp-api</ContainerRepository>
    <ContainerFamily>noble-chiseled</ContainerFamily>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <ContainerPort Include="8080" Type="tcp" />
    <ContainerEnvironmentVariable Include="ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS" Value="8080" />
    <ContainerEnvironmentVariable Include="DOTNET_EnableDiagnostics" Value="0" />
    <ContainerLabel Include="org.opencontainers.image.vendor" Value="MyCompany" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

Publishing to a Registry

Authenticate with docker login first, then specify the registry:

# GitHub Container Registry
docker login ghcr.io
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64 \
    -p ContainerRegistry=ghcr.io \
    -p ContainerImageTag=1.0.0

# Azure Container Registry
az acr login --name myregistry
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64 \
    -p ContainerRegistry=myregistry.azurecr.io

# Docker Hub (requires username prefix in repository)
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64 \
    -p ContainerRegistry=docker.io \
    -p ContainerRepository=myuser/myapp

Multi-Architecture Images

Build images for multiple platforms with a single publish:

<PropertyGroup>
    <RuntimeIdentifiers>linux-x64;linux-arm64</RuntimeIdentifiers>
    <ContainerRuntimeIdentifiers>linux-x64;linux-arm64</ContainerRuntimeIdentifiers>
</PropertyGroup>

dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer

This produces an OCI Image Index — registries serve the correct architecture automatically.

Multiple Tags

# Bash — note the quoting for semicolons
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64 \
    -p ContainerImageTags='"1.0.0;latest"'

Or in the project file:

<ContainerImageTags>1.0.0;latest</ContainerImageTags>

Save as Tarball (No Docker Required)

No container runtime needed on the build machine. Useful for CI scanning:

dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64 \
    -p ContainerArchiveOutputPath=./images/myapp.tar.gz

# Scan with Trivy before pushing
trivy image --input ./images/myapp.tar.gz

Chiseled Image Variants

ContainerFamily	Use Case	Shell	Size
(default)	General purpose (Debian)	Yes	~220 MB
`noble-chiseled`	Production (no shell)	No	~110 MB
`noble-chiseled-extra`	Production with localization (ICU)	No	~120 MB
`alpine`	Small size, has shell	Yes	~112 MB

<!-- Standard chiseled (InvariantGlobalization=true) -->
<ContainerFamily>noble-chiseled</ContainerFamily>

<!-- Chiseled with ICU for localization -->
<ContainerFamily>noble-chiseled-extra</ContainerFamily>

For Native AOT, the SDK auto-selects chiseled-aot:

<PublishAot>true</PublishAot>
<!-- SDK picks runtime-deps:10.0-noble-chiseled-aot automatically -->

CI/CD with GitHub Actions

jobs:
  publish:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      packages: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
      - uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v5
        with:
          dotnet-version: '10.0.x'
      - uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      - run: |
          dotnet publish src/MyApp.Api/MyApp.Api.csproj \
            /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64 \
            -p ContainerRegistry=ghcr.io \
            -p ContainerRepository=${{ github.repository_owner }}/myapp \
            -p ContainerImageTag=${{ github.sha }}

Anti-patterns

Don't Use the Deprecated Property Names

<!-- BAD — ContainerImageName is deprecated -->
<ContainerImageName>myapp</ContainerImageName>

<!-- GOOD — use ContainerRepository -->
<ContainerRepository>myapp</ContainerRepository>

Don't Use PublishProfile=DefaultContainer

# BAD — old approach, inconsistent across project types
dotnet publish -p:PublishProfile=DefaultContainer

# GOOD — use the MSBuild target directly
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer

Don't Forget to Target Linux

# BAD on Windows — may produce a Windows container
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer

# GOOD — explicitly target Linux
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64

Don't Skip Authentication Before Push

# BAD — fails with CONTAINER1013 error
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer -p ContainerRegistry=ghcr.io

# GOOD — authenticate first
docker login ghcr.io
dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer -p ContainerRegistry=ghcr.io

Don't Use SDK Publishing When You Need OS Packages

<!-- BAD — SDK container publish cannot run apt-get or install native packages -->
<!-- There is no RUN equivalent -->

<!-- GOOD — create a custom base image with a Dockerfile first, then reference it -->
<ContainerBaseImage>myregistry/custom-base:1.0</ContainerBaseImage>

Decision Guide

Scenario	Recommendation
Standard ASP.NET Core API	SDK container publishing with `noble-chiseled`
Worker service / console app	SDK container publishing (native .NET 10 support)
Needs native OS packages	Dockerfile (or custom base image + SDK publishing)
Azure Functions	Dockerfile (not supported by SDK publishing)
CI without Docker daemon	Tarball output with `ContainerArchiveOutputPath`
Multi-arch deployment (x64 + arm64)	`ContainerRuntimeIdentifiers` property
Production image size	`noble-chiseled` (~110 MB) or Native AOT (~10 MB)
Local development	`dotnet publish /t:PublishContainer --os linux --arch x64`
Registry push	`ContainerRegistry` + `docker login`

FAQ

What does the container-publish skill do?

How do I install container-publish?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/codewithmukesh/dotnet-claude-kit --skill container-publish in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/container-publish/ (personal) or .claude/skills/container-publish/ (project).

Which AI agents can use container-publish?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is container-publish safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains container-publish?

It is published by codewithmukesh in codewithmukesh/dotnet-claude-kit. It has 2,857 recorded installs.