Use buildx history

Inspect BuildCharts runs, replay logs, and debug builds with docker buildx history.

docker buildx history is one of the best ways to troubleshoot a BuildCharts build after docker buildx bake has finished.

BuildCharts already leans on this data:

• buildcharts summary reads the latest Buildx history
• Buildx history records let you inspect completed builds without rerunning them immediately

When to use it

Use buildx history when you need to:

• see which build record failed
• inspect build metadata and outputs
• print full step logs again
• open a build record in Docker Desktop
• import a .dockerbuild artifact from CI into Docker Desktop

List recent builds

Start by listing completed build records for the active builder:

docker buildx history ls

Useful variants:

docker buildx history ls --local
docker buildx history ls --filter status=error
docker buildx history ls --no-trunc

This helps you find the build ID you want to inspect.

Inspect a build record

Once you have a build ID, inspect it:

docker buildx history inspect <BUILD_ID>

You can also inspect the most recent build by omitting the ID:

docker buildx history inspect

Or use a relative offset such as ^1 for the previous build:

docker buildx history inspect ^1

Inspection is useful for checking status, duration, inputs, platforms, outputs, and attached artifacts.

Replay build logs

To print the logs of a completed build:

docker buildx history logs <BUILD_ID>

Examples:

docker buildx history logs
docker buildx history logs ^1
docker buildx history logs ^1 --progress rawjson

This is the fastest way to revisit step output after a Bake run has already finished.

Open the build in Docker Desktop

If you use Docker Desktop, open a build record in the Builds UI:

docker buildx history open <BUILD_ID>

You can also open the latest build directly:

docker buildx history open

This is useful when you want to inspect logs, dependencies, artifacts, and traces visually.

Import a CI build into Docker Desktop

If your CI system exports a .dockerbuild bundle, you can import it locally:

docker buildx history import --file ./artifacts/buildcharts.dockerbuild

That gives you local access to the imported record in Docker Desktop for debugging.

This fits well with BuildCharts because buildcharts summary exports:

.buildcharts/output/buildcharts.dockerbuild

Suggested troubleshooting flow

1. Run buildcharts generate.
2. Run docker buildx bake --file .buildcharts/docker-bake.hcl.
3. Run docker buildx history ls to locate the build record.
4. Run docker buildx history inspect <BUILD_ID> for metadata.
5. Run docker buildx history logs <BUILD_ID> for full logs.
6. If needed, run buildcharts summary to export a BuildCharts summary and .dockerbuild artifact.

Related pages

• Common issues
• CLI reference
• Generate