Manual
The manual provider is a value you maintain by hand. It resolves to whatever is already on the target line and publishes it under an id for followers to read. It contacts no upstream and never rewrites its own line.
# clover: provider=manual id=nginx
ARG NGINX_VERSION=1.27.3
Use it to anchor a dependency graph at a value no registry can resolve: a version you bump deliberately, a private artifact with no queryable registry, or a reference you have chosen to pin by hand. The value moves only when a person edits the line. On each run Clover republishes it so followers and side values stay in step.
Keys
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
provider | manual |
id | Publish the line’s value under this name for followers. Required, since a manual root that publishes nothing has no effect. |
find | Pin which token on the line is the value, when its shape is ambiguous |
A manual marker takes none of the selection keys (constraint, include/exclude, track, behind, prerelease), since there is no candidate set to choose from, only the value already written.
Following a manual value
A follower reads the published id and renders it onto its own line, so several references move together when you bump the root by hand:
# clover: provider=manual id=nginx
ARG NGINX_VERSION=1.27.3
# clover: from=nginx
image: nginx:1.27.3
Side values work too. A follower can project a sha256 for the manual version, sourced from a sha256-url templated with <version>, so a checksum tracks the hand-set version without a registry.
What it does not do
You own the value, so a manual marker never edits its own line. It only reads and republishes it, leaving the line byte-for-byte unchanged (including a secure @sha256: pin) and reporting it as up to date.