moby/moby

Glossary

Project-specific terms used throughout the codebase and this wiki.

Term	Meaning
Moby	The upstream open-source project (this repository). Produces `dockerd` and helpers. The Docker product is built from Moby.
Docker Engine	The shipped product. Specific Engine releases are tagged on this repo as `docker-vX.Y.Z`.
`dockerd`	The daemon binary. Entry point: `cmd/dockerd/main.go`.
`docker-proxy`	Userland port-forwarding helper used by the `bridge` network driver. Source: `cmd/docker-proxy/`.
Engine API	The HTTP API the daemon exposes. Defined in `api/swagger.yaml`. Versioned (`/v1.46/...`). Min version: `1.24` (see `daemon/internal/versions`).
`Daemon`	The central god-object in `daemon/daemon.go`. Owns containers, images, networking, volumes, plugins, swarm.
`ImageService`	Interface declared in `daemon/image_service.go`. Implemented by either the containerd-backed store (`daemon/containerd/`) or the legacy graphdriver-backed one.
containerd	The OCI runtime + image service Moby delegates to for low-level container lifecycle. Wrapped by `daemon/internal/libcontainerd/`.
BuildKit	The modern build engine. Integrated under `daemon/internal/builder-next/`. The legacy "v0" builder is in `daemon/builder/`.
libnetwork	The CNM-based networking library inside this repo: `daemon/libnetwork/`. Used to live at `github.com/docker/libnetwork`.
CNM	"Container Network Model" — libnetwork's three-object abstraction: Sandbox, Endpoint, Network.
Sandbox	A container's network namespace + DNS + routing config. Can hold multiple endpoints. See `daemon/libnetwork/sandbox.go`.
Endpoint	A connection point between a sandbox and a network. See `daemon/libnetwork/endpoint.go`.
Network	A CNM network. Implemented by a driver (`bridge`, `overlay`, `macvlan`, `ipvlan`, `host`, `null`, or remote).
graphdriver	The legacy union-filesystem driver layer (`daemon/graphdriver/`): `overlay2`, `vfs`, `btrfs`, `zfs`, `fuse-overlayfs`, `windows`. Being phased out in favor of containerd snapshotters.
snapshotter	Containerd's filesystem layer abstraction. The Moby integration is in `daemon/snapshotter/`.
layer / `layer.Store`	Legacy layer abstraction: a content-addressable diff applied on top of a parent. See `daemon/internal/layer/`.
distribution	Code that talks to OCI registries (pull/push). Legacy v1 store: `daemon/internal/distribution/`. The containerd path uses containerd's own resolver.
swarm / SwarmKit	The clustering subsystem. The embedded SwarmKit manager + agent live behind `daemon/cluster/`. External library: `github.com/moby/swarmkit/v2`.
service / task	Swarm-mode primitives. A service is the desired-state spec, a task is one running instance.
plugin	Out-of-process extension (logging, network, volume, authz, IPAM). Two flavors: legacy "v1" plugins (HTTP) and "v2" managed plugins. Code: `daemon/pkg/plugin/` and `pkg/plugins/`.
authz / authorization	Pre/post-request authorization plugin chain. Code: `pkg/authorization/`.
log driver	A pluggable destination for container logs. Built-ins under `daemon/logger/`.
volume driver	A pluggable backend for named volumes. Built-in: `local`. Code: `daemon/volume/`.
reexec	Pattern (via `github.com/moby/sys/reexec`) where the binary re-invokes itself to run privileged helpers in a different namespace. Used heavily in `dockerd` and graphdrivers.
OCI	Open Container Initiative — the runtime + image specs Moby implements.
NRI	Node Resource Interface — containerd's plugin API for runtime hooks. Wired in via `daemon/internal/nri/`.
HCS / hcsshim	Windows host-compute-system shim used by the Windows graph and runtime drivers.
`hack/`	The catch-all directory for dev/CI scripts. `hack/make.sh` is the entry point. Validation lives in `hack/validate/`.
DCO	Developer Certificate of Origin sign-off enforced on every commit. See `docs/contributing/`.
`integration-cli`	Deprecated legacy E2E test suite. Frozen — no new tests accepted. New tests go under `integration/`.

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