OCI Image Index Specification

The image index is a higher-level manifest which points to specific image manifests, ideal for one or more platforms. While the use of an image index is OPTIONAL for image providers, image consumers SHOULD be prepared to process them.

This section defines the application/vnd.oci.image.index.v1+json media type. For the media type(s) that this document is compatible with, see the matrix.

Image Index Property Descriptions

schemaVersion int

This REQUIRED property specifies the image manifest schema version. For this version of the specification, this MUST be 2 to ensure backward compatibility with older versions of Docker. The value of this field will not change. This field MAY be removed in a future version of the specification.
mediaType string

This property is reserved for use, to maintain compatibility. When used, this field contains the media type of this document, which differs from the descriptor use of mediaType.
manifests array of objects

This REQUIRED property contains a list of manifests for specific platforms. While this property MUST be present, the size of the array MAY be zero.

Each object in manifests includes a set of descriptor properties with the following additional properties and restrictions:
- mediaType string
  
  This descriptor property has additional restrictions for manifests. Implementations MUST support at least the following media types:
  - application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json
  Image indexes concerned with portability SHOULD use one of the above media types. Future versions of the spec MAY use a different mediatype (i.e. a new versioned format). An encountered mediaType that is unknown SHOULD be safely ignored.
- platform object
  
  This OPTIONAL property describes the minimum runtime requirements of the image. This property SHOULD be present if its target is platform-specific.
  - architecture string
    
    This REQUIRED property specifies the CPU architecture. Image indexes SHOULD use, and implementations SHOULD understand, values listed in the Go Language document for GOARCH.
  - os string
    
    This REQUIRED property specifies the operating system. Image indexes SHOULD use, and implementations SHOULD understand, values listed in the Go Language document for GOOS.
  - os.version string
    
    This OPTIONAL property specifies the version of the operating system targeted by the referenced blob. Implementations MAY refuse to use manifests where os.version is not known to work with the host OS version. Valid values are implementation-defined. e.g. 10.0.14393.1066 on windows.
  - os.features array of strings
    
    This OPTIONAL property specifies an array of strings, each specifying a mandatory OS feature. When os is windows, image indexes SHOULD use, and implementations SHOULD understand the following values: - win32k: image requires win32k.sys on the host (Note: win32k.sys is missing on Nano Server) When os is not windows, values are implementation-defined and SHOULD be submitted to this specification for standardization.
  - variant string
    
    This OPTIONAL property specifies the variant of the CPU. Image indexes SHOULD use, and implementations SHOULD understand, values listed in the following table. When the variant of the CPU is not listed in the table, values are implementation-defined and SHOULD be submitted to this specification for standardization.
    
    ISA/ABI architecture variant
    
    ARM 32-bit, v6 arm v6
    
    ARM 32-bit, v7 arm v7
    
    ARM 32-bit, v8 arm v8
    
    ARM 64-bit, v8 arm64 v8
  - features array of strings
    
    This property is RESERVED for future versions of the specification.
annotations string-string map

This OPTIONAL property contains arbitrary metadata for the image index. This OPTIONAL property MUST use the annotation rules.

See Pre-Defined Annotation Keys.

Example Image Index

Example showing a simple image index pointing to image manifests for two platforms:

{
  "schemaVersion": 2,
  "manifests": [
    {
      "mediaType": "application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json",
      "size": 7143,
      "digest": "sha256:e692418e4cbaf90ca69d05a66403747baa33ee08806650b51fab815ad7fc331f",
      "platform": {
        "architecture": "ppc64le",
        "os": "linux"
      }
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json",
      "size": 7682,
      "digest": "sha256:5b0bcabd1ed22e9fb1310cf6c2dec7cdef19f0ad69efa1f392e94a4333501270",
      "platform": {
        "architecture": "amd64",
        "os": "linux"
      }
    }
  ],
  "annotations": {
    "com.example.key1": "value1",
    "com.example.key2": "value2"
  }
}