Nx Release Forces Docker Build/Publish When Using @nx/docker

[patriklarssson]

Description

I'm using nx release together with @nx/docker for versioning and releasing my applications.
However, I can’t figure out a clean way to use nx release when I have @nx/docker installed — especially when I only want to create a tag and skip Docker-related steps.

Currently, whenever I run a release, Nx automatically builds and publishes the Docker image to my registry, even if I only want to create a GitHub tag and skip the image publishing.

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💡 Example Scenario

For example, I want to:

1. Run nx release to create a new version tag in GitHub.
2. Not build or publish any Docker image yet.

However, because @nx/docker is configured, Nx tries to build and publish the image regardless, which makes simple tag creation impossible without publishing artifacts.

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⚙️ Expected Behavior

I should be able to:

• Run nx release with @nx/docker installed.
• Choose to only create a tag (e.g., via a flag or configuration option).
• Skip Docker build and publish steps entirely when not desired.

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❌ Actual Behavior

When @nx/docker is installed, Nx release automatically triggers Docker build and publish actions, even if I only intend to tag a release.

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🧩 Possible Solutions / Suggestions

• Add an option to skip Docker build/publish during nx release, such as:

  nx release --skip-docker