{"slug": "can-pull-some-models-but-not-others-apparently-authorization-issue", "title": "Can pull some models, but not others, apparently authorization issue", "summary": "Docker's model pull command fails with an 'insufficient_scope: authorization failed' error because the command resolves against Docker Hub (docker.io) instead of Hugging Face, according to a technical analysis. The fix is to use the 'hf.co/' prefix in the pull command, as documented by Docker, to route the request to Hugging Face. The analysis also notes that the repository 'ecastera/eva-dolphin-llama3-8b-spanish' appears to be a PEFT/LoRA adapter artifact, which may present a separate compatibility issue.", "body_md": "Hmm… for now, the entry-point problem looks pretty simple, but there may still be another trap after that:\n\nThe first thing I would try is this:\n\n```\ndocker model pull hf.co/ecastera/eva-dolphin-llama3-8b-spanish\n```\n\nThe reason is that the error you posted does **not appear to be coming from Hugging Face at all**.\n\nYour log says:\n\n```\nresolving docker.io/ecastera/eva-dolphin-llama3-8b-spanish:latest\n...\ninsufficient_scope: authorization failed\n```\n\nSo at that point Docker Model Runner is trying to resolve the name under **Docker Hub ( docker.io)**, not under Hugging Face.\n\nDocker’s current [ docker model pull documentation](https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/model/pull/) makes the source distinction explicit. For example:\n\n```\n# Docker Hub\ndocker model pull ai/smollm2\n\n# Hugging Face\ndocker model pull hf.co/bartowski/Llama-3.2-1B-Instruct-GGUF\n```\n\nSo I would treat `hf.co/`\n\nhere less as “the final fix” and more as the **cheapest useful routing test**: first make sure the request is actually going to the source you intended.\n\nThat also explains why changing or recreating `HF_TOKEN`\n\nwould probably not help with the particular error in the post: the failing request shown in the log has not reached Hugging Face yet.\n\n`HF_TOKEN`\n\nis still a real and relevant [Hugging Face authentication mechanism](https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub/en/quick-start), so if the corrected command later reaches HF and gives an HF-side 401/403, *then* token/access becomes the right branch to investigate.\n\nA small decision tree might be:\n\n```\ndocker model pull hf.co/ecastera/eva-dolphin-llama3-8b-spanish\n|\n+-- pull succeeds\n|      |\n|      +-- run succeeds\n|      |      -> probably done\n|      |\n|      +-- run/load fails\n|             -> now look at model format / backend / LoRA handling\n|\n+-- Hugging Face-side 401 / 403\n|      -> now inspect HF_TOKEN / gated or private access\n|\n+-- a different pull/import error\n       -> that new error identifies the next failing layer\n```\n\nSo even if the error *changes*, that is useful information rather than necessarily a failed fix.\n\nThere is, however, a second reason I would not assume this specific model is finished once the `hf.co/`\n\nissue is fixed: the **current repository looks much more like a PEFT/LoRA adapter artifact than a self-contained 8B checkpoint**.\n\nSo, in short, I think there are probably **two separate questions hiding here**:\n\n``` php\n1. Why is the command currently failing with \"authorization\"?\n   -> because the posted command is resolving against docker.io,\n      not Hugging Face.\n\n2. Will this particular HF repository run directly once routing is fixed?\n   -> maybe, but the current repo is a PEFT/LoRA adapter-shaped artifact,\n      so that is a separate compatibility question.\n```\n\nFor the first one, the one-line test is:\n\n```\ndocker model pull hf.co/ecastera/eva-dolphin-llama3-8b-spanish\n```\n\nIf that changes the current `docker.io/... insufficient_scope`\n\nerror into something else, I would consider that progress: the new error should tell you which layer is actually next.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/can-pull-some-models-but-not-others-apparently-authorization-issue", "canonical_source": "https://discuss.huggingface.co/t/can-pull-some-models-but-not-others-apparently-authorization-issue/178890#post_2", "published_at": "2026-08-19 22:32:01+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-19 22:42:57.432984+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Docker", "Hugging Face", "ecastera/eva-dolphin-llama3-8b-spanish", "HF_TOKEN"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/can-pull-some-models-but-not-others-apparently-authorization-issue", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/can-pull-some-models-but-not-others-apparently-authorization-issue.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/can-pull-some-models-but-not-others-apparently-authorization-issue.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/can-pull-some-models-but-not-others-apparently-authorization-issue.jsonld"}}