Dockerfile Optimise

This is a comprehensive reference of 48 Docker optimization rules pulled straight from official Docker docs, organized into 8 priority-ranked categories from layer caching to security hardening. It's designed to trigger when you're writing or reviewing Dockerfiles, giving you specific patterns like cache mounts for package managers, multi-stage build strategies, and secret mount handling. The rules come with impact ratings (CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM) so you know what actually matters for build time and image size versus what's just polish. Honestly most useful as a systematic checklist when you're past the "just get it working" stage and want to do things properly, especially the cache invalidation and base image selection guidance that people usually learn through pain.

skills.sh installs: 351
GitHub stars: 222
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add pproenca/dot-skills --skill dockerfile-optimise --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Dockerfile Optimization Best Practices

Comprehensive Dockerfile optimization guide sourced exclusively from official Docker documentation. Contains 48 rules across 8 categories, prioritized by impact to guide automated refactoring and code generation.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

Writing new Dockerfiles or modifying existing ones
Optimizing Docker build times (layer caching, cache mounts, context management)
Reducing Docker image size (multi-stage builds, minimal base images)
Hardening container security (secret mounts, non-root users, attestations)
Setting up CI/CD pipelines with Docker builds
Reviewing Dockerfiles for anti-patterns

Rule Categories by Priority

Priority	Category	Impact	Prefix
1	Layer Caching & Ordering	CRITICAL	`cache-`
2	Multi-Stage Builds	CRITICAL	`stage-`
3	Base Image Selection	HIGH	`base-`
4	Build Context Management	HIGH	`ctx-`
5	Security & Secrets	HIGH	`sec-`
6	Dependency Management	MEDIUM-HIGH	`dep-`
7	Instruction Patterns	MEDIUM	`inst-`
8	Quality & Validation	MEDIUM	`lint-`