Dagger certainly can build a container image natively, without requiring a Dockerfile. It also can build a docker image from a Dockerfile, thanks to a built-in compatibility bridge.

Dagger doesn't expose a raw buildkit socket, but it exposes a cleaner API that has 99% feature parity. Hitting the remaining 1% is rare, but it does happen :) Is there a specific buildkit feature you were looking for? Perhaps we can add it.

Here's an example from the CLI (keeping in mind that there are SDKs for Go, Python, Typescript, PHP and Java with 1-1 feature parity to the CLI):

1. Natively (without Dockerfile):

  #!/usr/bin/env dagger
  
  container |
  from alpine |
  with-exec apk add golang |
  with-directory /src . |
  with-workdir /src |
  with-exec go build |
  publish myregistry.tld/myimage:mytag

  #!/usr/bin/env dagger
  
  host |
  directory . |
  docker-build |
  publish myregistry.tld/myimage:mytag

  #!/usr/bin/env dagger
  
  git https://github.com/your/repo |
  branch main |
  tree |
  docker-build |
  publish myregistry.tld/myimage:mytag