Vercel Container Registry adds public repository support

What changed

Vercel Container Registry added public repository access on August 7, 2026. Previously, the registry's sharing feature worked by designating up to 100 teams to grant read access. As the number of teams to share with grew, users had to manage the team list manually, and there was no way to open images to an unspecified group of Vercel users.

With this update, switching a repository to "public" allows any team with a Vercel account to pull and use the image without any additional permission setup. Unlike the previous team-based sharing, there is no cap on how many can access a public repository. Repositories remain private by default, and an explicit setting change is required to make one public.

Scope and limits of public access

Public access is designed to be read-only. Pulling and using images is allowed, but pushing new images, deleting existing ones, or otherwise modifying repository contents is not permitted. This clearly limits public repositories to functioning solely as an image distribution channel.

Images made public also integrate with Vercel Sandbox. When calling Sandbox.create(), passing a team-scoped image reference in the format their-team/their-project/their-repository:latest to the image field will load the public image. Vercel described this as "the same way shared images work in sandboxes." Public access is limited to "teams with a Vercel account." External users without a Vercel account cannot access public repositories.

How to configure it: dashboard, CLI, API

Repository visibility can be changed in three ways. The first is through the project dashboard. Navigating to Images → repository → Settings → Public Access brings up a screen for setting visibility, and confirming the change requires typing the repository name directly. This confirmation step serves as a safeguard against accidentally making a repository public.

The second method is via the Vercel CLI. The following commands can be used to switch a repository to public or restore it to private, respectively.

vercel vcr config <repository> --public true
vercel vcr config <repository> --public false

The third method is through the REST API. Vercel stated that the same visibility settings can be configured via the API, with details available in the official Vercel Container Registry documentation.

Broader context

Vercel describes itself as "agentic infrastructure for every app and agent," positioning itself as a platform where people and agents build software together. The container registry is an infrastructure component aligned with this direction. Vercel Sandbox is an isolated environment where agents execute code, and it runs based on container images. The newly added public registry feature appears to be aimed at scenarios where multiple teams share a common base image to standardize agent environments, or distribute images externally.

This announcement did not come in isolation. Around the same time, GitHub Copilot released an API update that tracks usage separately by agent, and OpenAI previewed improvements to GPT-5.6 Sol for Plus and Pro users alongside plans to switch the default model for free users — part of a broader wave of agent-focused infrastructure and tooling updates. Vercel's public container registry feature appears to be part of this trend, aimed at reducing friction in image sharing between teams.