MacOS Docker CLI "docker desktop start -d" fails to start Docker Desktop

[chrisgeo]

Description

On macOS 26 (26.3) Docker Desktop 4.6x.x (current 4.63.0), the Docker Desktop CLI plugin fails to start Docker.

Boot log attached.

docker.destkop.nostart.log

Reproduce

1. Install clean MacOS Docker Desktop App on macOS 26
2. In a terminal: docker desktop start -d
3. docker desktop logs displays errors from boot.

Expected behavior

docker desktop start -d should start the macOS desktop client.

docker version

Client:
 Version:           29.2.1
 API version:       1.53
 Go version:        go1.25.6
 Git commit:        a5c7197
 Built:             Mon Feb  2 17:16:37 2026
 OS/Arch:           darwin/arm64
 Context:           desktop-linux

Server: Docker Desktop 4.63.0 (220185)
 Engine:
  Version:          29.2.1
  API version:      1.53 (minimum version 1.44)
  Go version:       go1.25.6
  Git commit:       6bc6209
  Built:            Mon Feb  2 17:16:47 2026
  OS/Arch:          linux/arm64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          v2.2.1
  GitCommit:        dea7da592f5d1d2b7755e3a161be07f43fad8f75
 runc:
  Version:          1.3.4
  GitCommit:        v1.3.4-0-gd6d73eb8
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0

docker info

Client:
 Version:    29.2.1
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  agent: create or run AI agents (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.27.1
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-agent
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.18.0
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-ai
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.31.1-desktop.1
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v5.0.2
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.47
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-debug
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.3.0
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-desktop
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-extension
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-init
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.40.1
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-mcp
  model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.1.1
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-model
  offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.5.56
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-offload
  pass: Docker Pass Secrets Manager Plugin (beta) (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.0.24
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-pass
  sandbox: Docker Sandbox (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.12.0
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-sandbox
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-sbom
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.20.0
    Path:     /Users/chris/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-scout

Server:
 Containers: 10
  Running: 0
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 10
 Images: 12
 Server Version: 29.2.1
 Storage Driver: overlayfs
  driver-type: io.containerd.snapshotter.v1
 Logging Driver: json-file
 Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs
 Cgroup Version: 2
 Plugins:
  Volume: local
  Network: bridge host ipvlan macvlan null overlay
  Log: awslogs fluentd gcplogs gelf journald json-file local splunk syslog
 CDI spec directories:
  /etc/cdi
  /var/run/cdi
 Discovered Devices:
  cdi: docker.com/gpu=webgpu
 Swarm: inactive
 Runtimes: io.containerd.runc.v2 runc
 Default Runtime: runc
 Init Binary: docker-init
 containerd version: dea7da592f5d1d2b7755e3a161be07f43fad8f75
 runc version: v1.3.4-0-gd6d73eb8
 init version: de40ad0
 Security Options:
  seccomp
   Profile: builtin
  cgroupns
 Kernel Version: 6.12.72-linuxkit
 Operating System: Docker Desktop
 OSType: linux
 Architecture: aarch64
 CPUs: 4
 Total Memory: 7.654GiB
 Name: docker-desktop
 ID: 4daa1e1e-51a7-4cc8-abaf-0f7c5c5f57be
 Docker Root Dir: /var/lib/docker
 Debug Mode: false
 HTTP Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 HTTPS Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 No Proxy: hubproxy.docker.internal
 Labels:
  com.docker.desktop.address=unix:///Users/chris/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/docker-cli.sock
 Experimental: false
 Insecure Registries:
  hubproxy.docker.internal:5555
  ::1/128
  127.0.0.0/8
 Live Restore Enabled: false
 Firewall Backend: iptables

Additional Info

No response

[prashxant]

@chrisgeo can i work on this issue ?

[thaJeztah]

The docker desktop commands are provided by a closed source CLI plugin, which is not maintained in this repository; let me move this ticket to the desktop-feedback issue tracker

[prashxant]

@thaJeztah, so it's adios to this issue?

[thaJeztah]

w.r.t. contributing a fix; yes, unless you join docker and become a colleague 😅

[prashxant]

@thaJeztah would love an internship to learn from great minds like yours. I guess you could do that