# P3GLEG/Whaler

Program to reverse Docker images into Dockerfiles

Repository: https://github.com/P3GLEG/Whaler
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/whaler
Language: Go
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: security-tools, security, docker-security, reverse-engineering, docker-image, dockerfile, secrets, passwords
Last push: 2026-04-08T19:28:12+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 57/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 76, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3011, "days_push": 147, "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 1192, forks 102 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:56.256545+00:00)

## What it is
Whaler is a Go CLI tool that reverse engineers Docker images back into the Dockerfiles that created them. It also extracts files added via ADD/COPY instructions, scans for potential secret files, and reports image metadata like exposed ports, run user, and environment variables.

## Use cases
- reconstruct a Dockerfile from a docker image
- find secrets hidden in docker image layers
- extract files added by COPY or ADD instructions
- inspect environment variables and ports in an image
- audit third-party docker images before use
- analyze how a published image was built

## When to avoid
- you need to build or lint Dockerfiles rather than reconstruct them from images
- you need runtime container scanning rather than static image analysis
- you want a GUI-based image explorer

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: reverse-engineering, security, developer-tools, cli
- domain: security, reverse-engineering, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cli, go
- tags: docker-image-analysis, dockerfile-reconstruction, secret-detection, container-security, image-layers, containers, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- P3GLEG/Whaler (main) score 57

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:56.256545+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 2026-08-30T06:22:28.056951+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/P3GLEG/Whaler (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:56.256545+00:00, sha bf7b9dadb06d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.