---
title: "Import a container image from a registry"
method: POST
path: "/images/import"
tags: ["images"]
---

# Import a container image from a registry

`POST /images/import`

Imports the OCI image filesystem content of from a specified registry.

Important limitations and behavior:

- Only the image root filesystem (files and directories) is imported. This is like to the output of
  `docker export` and does not preserve layers metadata.
- Most image configuration and manifest data are ignored. Metadata such as `LABEL`,
  `ENTRYPOINT`, `CMD`, `WORKDIR`, `EXPOSE` and other image configuration directives
  will **NOT be imported or applied**.
- `ENV` variables defined in the image **are imported** and automatically applied to the
  instance environment when `shell` is set to `true`. When `shell` is `false`, image
  environment variables are not inherited and must be passed explicitly via the `env` field.
- The result is a flat rootfs snapshot with preserved environment variables.
- If the specified tag already exists in the public images, the imported image will replace it.
  To avoid this, you can tag the existing image with a different tag for use it later.
  You also can use image UUIDs it is not changing for imported and existend image.
- In case the remote image is unchanged and already imported, the operation will complete and the same UUID
  will be returned without re-importing the image.

The request creates an import operation which runs asynchronously.

## Request body

- ImageImportRequest
  - `registry` object, required
    - `url` string, required — URL of the container registry
    - `credentials` object
      - `username` string — Username for the registry authentication
      - `password` string, password — Password for the registry authentication
  - `tag` string, nullable — Tag to identify the image when listing publicly available images. If omitted, the image will be private and only accessible by ID.
  - `timeout` integer — Maximum time in seconds to wait for the import operation to complete

## Response `201`

Created - The request has been accepted for processing

- object
  - `uuid` string, uuid, required — A UUID string

## Other responses

- `400` — Bad Request - Invalid request parameters
- `401` — Unauthorized - Invalid or missing authentication credentials. Either the `Authorization` bearer token is missing or invalid, or the `Project` header is missing.
- `403` — Forbidden - Token does not have sufficient permissions
- `404` — Not Found - The requested resource does not exist

---

[API](https://skmtc.net/nebius/apis/nebius-openai-compatible-inference-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.net/nebius/apis/nebius-openai-compatible-inference-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-staging.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/nebius/nebius-openai-compatible-inference-api/revisions/0fb323abba3c/schema)