flisk up is a bad first command. It assumes the machine can build and start containers. flisk doctor is the command that checks that, and it exits 1 when a check fails.
Run it in the project, before you blame the manifest.
flisk doctor
A failure is ✗. A skipped check is ○. The line under a failure is ℹ Fix:. Read that line. It is the fix the CLI is willing to claim. Do not improvise a second fix on top of it and then file a bug about both.
If nothing is running yet, add --no-ping. That form does not call running services. The JSON form is in the doctor contract in the repo. You do not need it to start.
The project root error is not a Docker error
Error: Could not find project root (no .tdk/project.json found).
Run `flisk project --yes` first.
You are in the wrong directory, or you never created the project. flisk project --yes writes that file. It does not need a Docker daemon, and it does not need Tilt. Only flisk up is blocked when those are missing. Doctor remains the readiness check.
What the Docker lines mean
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Docker is not running | Start Docker Desktop, OrbStack, or Colima. Run flisk doctor again. |
| Docker daemon is not running | Same. |
| Docker daemon is not responding | Same. The CLI could not get an answer, not a different product bug. |
| Colima is installed but not running | Start Colima, then doctor again. |
| Docker is using the Windows or Mac engine; Flisk requires Linux containers | Switch Docker Desktop to Linux containers. On Windows, enable WSL2 integration. Then doctor again. |
A green doctor is not a green stack. It means the machine can try. flisk up shop --dry-run is the next command if you want the service list and URLs without starting anything.
When you do file a bug
Keep the output. The report wants flisk doctor, flisk --version, the operating system, and the steps. Add --no-ping if no stack is running. A screenshot of Tilt with no doctor output is how a container failure gets misfiled as a CLI failure.
