Suggest an editImprove this articleRefine the answer for “What does "build context" mean?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.Approval requiredContentWhat you’re changing🇺🇸EN🇺🇦UAPreviewTitle (EN)Short answer (EN)**Build context** is the folder (directory) whose contents Docker passes into the image build process. **Key point:** build context is the set of files and folders passed into `docker build`, from which Docker can pull data during the image build.Shown above the full answer for quick recall.Answer (EN)Image**Build context** is the folder (directory) whose contents Docker passes into the image build process. In simple terms, everything inside that folder can be used by Docker inside the `Dockerfile` (for example, in a `COPY` or `ADD` instruction). ### **What it looks like** If you run the command: ```bash docker build -t myimage . ``` The dot `.` is the **build context**, meaning the *current folder*. Docker sends its contents to the daemon, and from there pulls files for the build. ### **Why build context is needed** - so Docker knows which files can be copied into the image (`COPY . /app`) - so it doesn't give access to the entire filesystem - so the build stays reproducible and bounded ### **An important rule (junior level)** If the build context has a lot of unnecessary files (logs, large archives, node_modules, etc.), the build will: - run slower - take up more space - take longer to send data to Docker That's why `.dockerignore` is used, to exclude the unneeded from the context. ### **Summary in one phrase** > Build context is the set of files and folders passed into `docker build`, from which Docker can pull data during the image build. If you want, in the next message I can explain `.dockerignore` just as briefly and with an example.For the reviewerNote to the moderator (optional)Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.