Docker Image Full Reference Regex for JavaScript

What this pattern does

This page provides a comprehensive, battle-tested regular expression for matching docker image full reference, ported and verified for JavaScript. A rigorously tested regex reduces debugging time and protects your application from edge-case failures. The snippet below is ready to drop into your JavaScript project — whether you're validating in an Express middleware, a Next.js API route, or a client-side form.

Javascript Implementation

// Docker Image Full Reference
// ReDoS-safe | RegexVault — Dev & Systems > Docker

const dockerImageFullReferenceRegex = /^(?:(?:[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9\-._]*(?::[0-9]+)?)\/)?(?:[a-z][a-z0-9\-._]*\/)?[a-z][a-z0-9\-._]*(?::([a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9._\-]{0,127})|@(sha256:[a-fA-F0-9]{64}))?$/;

function validateDockerImageFullReference(input: string): boolean {
  return dockerImageFullReferenceRegex.test(input);
}

// Example
console.log(validateDockerImageFullReference("nginx")); // true

Test Cases

When to use this pattern

This pattern is drawn from the Dev & Systems > Docker category and carries a ReDoS-safe certification. That matters for JavaScript developers because especially critical in long-running Node.js event loops where a ReDoS vulnerability can block the entire process. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.

Common Pitfalls

Technical Notes

Group 1 = tag, group 2 = digest. Docker resolves bare names like 'nginx' to 'docker.io/library/nginx:latest'. Always specify the full reference in IaC and CI/CD pipelines.