# spotify/docker-client

INACTIVE: A simple docker client for the JVM

Repository: https://github.com/spotify/docker-client
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/docker-client
Language: Java
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: docker, java, containers
Archived: true
Last push: 2022-01-24T12:57:44+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4473, "days_push": 1682, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1431, forks 535 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:42.454167+00:00)

## What it is
A Java (JVM) client library for the Docker Remote API, allowing programs to pull images, create and manage containers, and inspect Docker state programmatically. Spotify has stopped developing it and recommends alternatives like docker-java.

## Use cases
- control docker containers from java
- pull and run docker images programmatically in jvm apps
- build a container orchestration tool in java
- integrate docker api into a jvm service
- manage container lifecycle from scala or kotlin

## When to choose
- you need a battle-tested Java Docker API client for older Docker versions (17.x) and can maintain it yourself
- you're working with legacy Spotify tooling like Helios

## When to avoid
- you're starting a new project - the project is inactive and no longer accepting fixes
- you need support for recent Docker Engine versions or new API features
- you want an actively maintained alternative like docker-java

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: abandoned
- function: container-runtime, http-client, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: jvm, cross-platform
- tags: docker-api, java-client, deprecated, spotify, containers, devops, docker

## Member repositories
- spotify/docker-client (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:42.454167+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:37:08.707091+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/spotify/docker-client (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:42.454167+00:00, sha d1d75d00fce1)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.