Docker Desktop silently modifies shell configuration

[DexM]

Bug report

1. Every time I start/restart my macbook, Docker Desktop asks for root password, this did not happen before and it's quite annoying
2. Every time I start/restart my macbook, Docker Desktop modifies my shell configuration files by adding ~/.docker/bin to the PATH. I have already configured my shell to have this folder in the path. Docker Desktop shouldn't just randomly screw up configuration files on user machine!

Platform

macOS

Version information

Client:
 Version:           29.7.2
 API version:       1.55
 Go version:        go1.26.5
 Git commit:        a7dcaa6
 Built:             Wed Aug  5 18:27:50 2026
 OS/Arch:           darwin/arm64
 Context:           desktop-linux

Server: Docker Desktop 4.89.0 (238018)
 Engine:
  Version:          29.7.2
  API version:      1.55 (minimum version 1.40)
  Go version:       go1.26.5
  Git commit:       6a43e3d
  Built:            Wed Aug  5 18:28:35 2026
  OS/Arch:          linux/arm64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          v2.3.3
  GitCommit:        aad11006b869517fcd3009450b6f82da282e1a9b
 runc:
  Version:          1.4.3
  GitCommit:        v1.4.3-0-gbb14dabe
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0

Diagnostics ID

No response

[rdctmeconomou]

Every time Docker Desktop 4.89.0 (238018) starts, it adds the following to .bash_profile, .cshrc, .profile, and .tcshrc:

# The following lines were added by Docker Desktop to add commands to your PATH.
export PATH="$PATH:/Users/rdctmeconomou/.docker/bin"
# End of Docker Desktop section.

That's invalid csh/tcsh syntax, so in addition to being redundant, Docker Desktop breaks my shell configuration every time it starts. I can't tell how to disable it.

[thomas-corte]

I've had the same issue for a couple of days now.

chmod -w .tcshrc

is a workaround to keep docker from doing this, but of course you'll have to remove the write protection every time you're editing .tcshrc.

[bsousaa]

Can you please test with Desktop 4.90?

[thomas-corte]

I'm using 4.90.0 (238679) on Mac with Apple silicon and the problem still exists. It added this to my ~/.tcshrc:

# The following lines were added by Docker Desktop to add commands to your PATH.
export PATH="$PATH:/Users/thomas/.docker/bin"
# End of Docker Desktop section.