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fix(desktop): start Docker Desktop when it is installed, install it when it is not; never Podman in its place - #831

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@dustywusty

@dustywusty dustywusty commented Oct 23, 2026 •

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What

On macOS and Windows, OpenBot Desktop's container engine is Docker Desktop:

  • Installed but not running: it is opened and waited for.
  • Missing: Docker's own installer (4.96.3, pinned to the digests Docker publishes) is downloaded with progress, installed without accepting Docker's terms, and opened so the person accepts those terms themselves in Docker's window.
  • Linux: unchanged.

Why

With Docker Desktop installed but quit, setup found no answering engine and installed Podman behind an administrator prompt. That left a second engine on a machine that already had Docker, and local CopilotKit Intelligence (k3d) does not run on it.

What is kept

  • A Podman the person already has is still used.
  • A stopped docker with no Docker Desktop (OrbStack, Colima) is left for its owner to start, with a message saying so; it is not replaced.

For reviewers: a decision, not only a fix

Desktop no longer installs Podman as the fallback. Podman stays the answer for organisations that cannot use Docker Desktop under its licence, which requires a paid subscription at larger companies, but setup will not choose it for them. Please weigh in if that should be a setting instead.

Test

New docker_desktop.rs tests cover six cases: an answering Docker is used as it is; an installed but stopped Docker Desktop is started, not replaced; a missing one is installed, then started; one that never answers says so after a time limit; the installers are pinned to Docker's published digests; and an installed app is found in any of its usual places. The full desktop Rust suite passes (553 + 148).

…hen it is not; never Podman in its place

With Docker Desktop installed but quit, setup found no answering engine and installed Podman behind
an administrator prompt: a second engine on a machine that already had Docker, and one local
Intelligence refuses. On macOS and Windows the engine is now Docker Desktop. Installed and stopped,
it is opened and waited for. Missing, Docker's own installer (4.96.3, pinned to the digests Docker
publishes) is downloaded with progress, installed without accepting Docker's terms, and opened so
the person accepts them in Docker's window. A Podman somebody already has is still used; a stopped
docker with no Docker Desktop (OrbStack, Colima) is left for its owner to start. Linux is unchanged.

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