Dive — Explore Docker Image Layers and Optimize Size

Introduction

Dive provides an interactive terminal UI for exploring the contents of a Docker image, showing you exactly what files each layer adds, modifies, or removes. Most developers have no idea why their Docker images are so large — Dive reveals the answer layer by layer.

With over 54,000 GitHub stars, Dive has become the standard tool for Docker image analysis. It helps developers reduce image sizes (often by 50-80%), improve build cache efficiency, and understand the impact of each Dockerfile instruction.

What Dive Does

Dive reads a Docker image and presents two side-by-side views: the layer list (showing each Dockerfile instruction and its size) and a file tree (showing the filesystem at any layer). It highlights added, modified, and removed files, calculates wasted space, and provides an efficiency score.

Architecture Overview

[Docker Image]
        |
   [Dive Analysis Engine]
   Reads image manifest
   and layer tarballs
        |
+-------+-------+
|               |
[Layer View]    [File Tree View]
Each layer with Each layer's
size, command   filesystem
and efficiency  with changes
        |
   [Interactive TUI]
   Navigate layers
   Browse files
   See what changed
        |
   [Efficiency Report]
   Wasted space
   Image score
   Optimization hints

Self-Hosting & Configuration

# Analyze any Docker image
dive python:3.12-slim
dive node:20-alpine
dive my-registry.com/my-app:v2.1

# Build and dive in one command
dive build -t my-optimized-app:latest .

# CI integration (.dive-ci config)
cat > .dive-ci << EOF
rules:
  lowestEfficiency: 0.95
  highestWastedBytes: 20MB
  highestUserWastedPercent: 0.10
EOF

# Run in CI mode
CI=true dive my-app:latest --ci-config .dive-ci
# Exit code 0 = pass, 1 = fail

# Use with Docker Compose
CI=true dive $(docker compose images -q web)

Key Features

• Layer Explorer — see exactly what each Dockerfile instruction adds
• File Tree — browse the filesystem at any layer
• Change Detection — highlights added, modified, and removed files
• Wasted Space — identifies duplicate files across layers
• Efficiency Score — rates your image optimization (0-100%)
• CI Integration — fail builds if image efficiency drops below threshold
• Build Integration — dive build combines docker build + analysis
• Multiple Sources — supports Docker, Podman, and exported tar files

Comparison with Similar Tools

FAQ

Q: How do I navigate the Dive interface? A: Tab switches between layer and file views. Arrow keys navigate. Space expands directories. Ctrl+A shows only added files. Ctrl+R shows only removed files.

Q: What is a good efficiency score? A: 95%+ is excellent. 90-95% is good. Below 90% means significant wasted space — usually from files added and then deleted in later layers (use multi-stage builds to fix this).

Q: How do I reduce my Docker image size? A: Use Dive to find large or unnecessary files, then: use multi-stage builds, start from slim/alpine base images, combine RUN commands to reduce layers, and add a .dockerignore file.

Q: Can Dive analyze Podman images? A: Yes. Set the DIVE_SOURCE environment variable to podman, or use the --source flag: "dive --source podman my-image:latest".

Sources

• GitHub: https://github.com/wagoodman/dive
• Created by Alex Goodman
• License: MIT