Inspect and Logs

Use docker ps to list running containers (names and IDs). When you need deeper information about a container’s state, mounts, configuration, or networking, use docker inspect with the container name or ID. docker inspect returns detailed metadata in JSON format.

docker inspect always returns a JSON array (even for a single container). To extract specific fields or to pretty-print the output, use tools like jq or Docker’s --format option with Go templates.

Inspect: get container metadata

Basic inspect command:

docker inspect <container-name-or-id>

Example: inspect a container named blissful_hopper

docker inspect blissful_hopper

Sample (truncated) JSON output:

[
  {
    "Id": "35505f7810d17291261a43391d4b6c0846594d415c...",
    "Name": "/blissful_hopper",
    "Path": "python",
    "Args": ["app.py"],
    "State": {
      "Status": "running",
      "Running": true
    },
    "Mounts": [],
    "Config": {
      "Entrypoint": ["python", "app.py"]
    },
    "NetworkSettings": { /* ... */ }
  }
]

Extract specific fields with `--format`

If you need a single field (for example the container status or IP), use --format with Go templates to avoid parsing the full JSON:

# Get the container's status
docker inspect --format='{{.State.Status}}' blissful_hopper

# Get the container's IP address (for default bridge or user-defined networks)
docker inspect --format='{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' blissful_hopper

In documentation or automation, wrap Go templates and examples in code formatting to avoid rendering issues, e.g. {{.State.Status}}.

Quick command reference

Command	Purpose	Example
`docker ps`	List running containers (name, ID, image, status)	`docker ps -a`
`docker inspect`	Show detailed JSON metadata for a container	`docker inspect blissful_hopper`
`docker inspect --format`	Extract a specific field using Go templates	`docker inspect --format='{{.State.Status}}' blissful_hopper`
`jq`	Filter/format JSON output from `docker inspect`	`docker inspect blissful_hopper \| jq '.[0].Config'`

Logs: view container stdout/stderr

Docker captures a container’s stdout and stderr and exposes it via docker logs (works for running and exited containers). Note that logs are available only through the configured logging driver — some drivers may forward logs to external systems and not keep them locally.

Some logging drivers (or custom logging configurations) send logs to external services and may not make them available via docker logs. Verify the container’s LogConfig (via docker inspect) if you can’t retrieve logs with docker logs.

Basic usage:

# View all logs
docker logs blissful_hopper

# Follow logs (like tail -f)
docker logs -f blissful_hopper

# Tail only the last N lines
docker logs --tail 100 blissful_hopper

# Follow logs and show timestamps
docker logs -f --timestamps blissful_hopper

Example of typical log output (application messages):

2026-10-07T12:00:00.000000000Z Starting web server on port 8080
2026-10-07T12:00:02.123456789Z Received request: GET /health
2026-10-07T12:00:02.123567890Z Response: 200 OK

Tips for troubleshooting and analysis:

Use -f to stream logs in real time while debugging.
Combine --tail with -f to limit initial output for large logs.
Pipe logs to standard Unix tools: docker logs CONTAINER | grep ERROR, or to jq when logs are JSON: docker logs CONTAINER | jq '.'.
Inspect LogConfig in docker inspect to confirm where logs are being sent.

Examples: combine inspect + logs

Confirm container status before viewing logs:

docker inspect --format='{{.State.Status}}' blissful_hopper
docker logs -f blissful_hopper

Get container IP and then check application logs:

docker inspect --format='{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' blissful_hopper
docker logs --tail 200 blissful_hopper

Links and references

Docker CLI: ps
Docker CLI: inspect
Docker CLI: logs
jq — lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor
Go templates in Docker --format (see docker inspect --help)

That’s all for this article.

Introduction

Docker Commands

Docker Images

Docker Compose

Docker Engine, Storage

Docker Networking

Docker Registry

Docker on Mac & Windows

Container Orchestration - Docker Swarm & Kubernetes

Conclusion

Docker Run Commands

Inspect: get container metadata

Extract specific fields with `--format`

Quick command reference

Logs: view container stdout/stderr

Examples: combine inspect + logs

Links and references

Watch Video

Practice Lab

​Inspect: get container metadata

​Extract specific fields with --format

​Quick command reference

​Logs: view container stdout/stderr

​Examples: combine inspect + logs

​Links and references

Watch Video

Practice Lab

Inspect: get container metadata

Extract specific fields with `--format`

Quick command reference

Logs: view container stdout/stderr

Examples: combine inspect + logs

Links and references