> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://felimet-hub.jmcores.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Docker Hub and Image Sources

> What Docker Hub is, the registry concept, trust tiers for official vs community images, login and push/pull, and pull rate limits.

`Docker` `Docker Hub`

Where the images you `docker pull` come from, and how to judge whether one is trustworthy.

## Registry and naming

Docker Hub is Docker's cloud image **registry** (a central store of images, much like npm is for Node packages). Each image lives in a repository, and **tags** within a repo distinguish versions. Full naming format:

```
[registry]/[user or org]/[repo]:[tag]

python:3.12-slim                  # Docker Official Image (registry and library prefix omitted)
someuser/myapp:v1.0               # personal / org repo
myregistry.local:5000/test:1.0    # self-hosted registry
```

Omitting `:tag` equals `:latest`; **avoid latest** in Dockerfiles and production (see [Choosing images](/en/notes/docker/dockerfile/images/)).

## Three trust tiers

Not every image is trustworthy. Look at three tiers:

| Tier                   | How to spot it                                                  | Maintainer                                                           |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Docker Official Images | No user prefix (`python`, `ubuntu`, `postgres`), official badge | Curated by Docker, follows Dockerfile best practices, near-zero CVEs |
| Verified Publisher     | "Verified Publisher" badge, vendor name in the path             | Commercial vendor reviewed by Docker                                 |
| Community images       | Format `username/image`, no badge                               | Individual users; judge by download count and reputation             |

Steps: check the path format (user prefix or not), confirm the badge on the Hub page, then look at download count and update frequency.

## Public vs private

|            | Public                    | Private                             |
| ---------- | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Visibility | Anyone can pull, no login | Only authorized accounts            |
| Free plan  | Unlimited public repos    | 1 private repo (free personal plan) |

## Login, push, pull

```bash theme={null}
docker pull python:3.12-slim                 # pull an official image
docker pull someuser/myapp:v1.0              # pull a user repo

docker login                                 # log in (device code flow, browser confirm)
echo "$DOCKER_PASSWORD" | docker login -u "$DOCKER_USERNAME" --password-stdin   # CI, keeps password out of shell history

docker tag myapp:latest user/myapp:v1.0      # tag into the right format before push
docker push user/myapp:v1.0                  # push to your own repo
```

Official security advice: configure a credential store rather than leaving credentials in plaintext in `~/.docker/config.json`.

## Pull rate limits (as of 2026-06)

| Account type                       | Pull limit                      | Window      |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------- |
| Anonymous (not logged in)          | 100 per IPv4 or IPv6 /64 subnet | Per 6 hours |
| Authenticated free account         | 200                             | Per 6 hours |
| Paid plans (Pro / Team / Business) | Unlimited                       | —           |

<Warning>
  Exceeding the limit returns HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests). CI is the most likely to hit it; standard fixes: `docker login` then pull (raises you from 100 to 200), upgrade to a paid plan, or run a local pull-through cache (the official `registry` image in proxy mode).
</Warning>

## Next

* [Docker CLI commands](/en/notes/docker/guide/cli/): full usage of pull / push / images.
* [Choosing a prebuilt image](/en/notes/docker/dockerfile/images/): trust tiers and Python version variants.

Reference: [docs.docker.com/docker-hub/usage](https://docs.docker.com/docker-hub/usage/)