# genuinetools/img

Standalone, daemon-less, unprivileged Dockerfile and OCI compatible container image builder.

Repository: https://github.com/genuinetools/img
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/img
Homepage: https://blog.jessfraz.com/post/building-container-images-securely-on-kubernetes/
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: docker, buildkit, runc, rootless, containers, cli, linux, opencontainers
Last push: 2024-05-19T22:07:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3190, "days_push": 836, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3989, forks 232 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:31.778070+00:00)

## What it is
img is a standalone, daemon-less, unprivileged CLI tool for building Dockerfile- and OCI-compatible container images, built on top of BuildKit. It mirrors the docker build/tag/push/pull command UX while running without a Docker daemon or root privileges.

## Use cases
- build container images without a docker daemon
- build docker images as an unprivileged user
- build container images securely inside kubernetes
- replace docker build in CI scripts with a rootless builder
- push and pull OCI images from a registry without docker
- unpack a container image to a rootfs

## When to choose
- you need rootless, daemon-less image builds on Linux
- you want BuildKit's cache efficiency and concurrent stage execution without running dockerd
- you're building images inside Kubernetes without mounting the docker socket
- you want a drop-in replacement for docker build/tag/push commands

## When to avoid
- you need full Docker feature parity like docker run or compose
- you're on macOS or Windows without a Linux environment
- you want a tool with frequent updates and large active community
- you already use podman or buildah for rootless builds

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: build-tool, cli, container-runtime, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, cloud-computing
- platform: cli, go
- tags: container-images, rootless, daemonless, buildkit, oci, dockerfile, unprivileged, containers, devops, linux, docker, kubernetes

## Member repositories
- genuinetools/img (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:31.778070+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 2026-08-29T18:24:13.667892+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/genuinetools/img (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:31.778070+00:00, sha 0d1f6714d8af)
  - homepage: https://blog.jessfraz.com/post/building-container-images-securely-on-kubernetes/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:17:24.000603+00:00, sha c2ac15aa7284)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.