This error occurs when a container image reference has invalid format.
Kubernetes cannot parse image reference. Must follow [REGISTRY/]REPOSITORY[:TAG] format.
Review pod YAML image field syntax and format
Image must follow [REGISTRY/]REPOSITORY[:TAG] format
Remove invalid characters and fix format
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
Image parsing strict per OCI Spec. Docker Hub normalizes to docker.io/library. Use lowercase for registry.
kubectl run test --image=nginx to verify