`--force` Considered Harmful™

Metadata

Project: charmcraft
Number: #1543
Type: issue
State: open
Author: lengau
Labels: —
Created: 2024-02-22 02:47 PM UTC
Updated: 2025-08-15 03:18 PM UTC
Closed: —

Current evaluation

Feature request to replace the ambiguous --force CLI option in charmcraft commands (pack, init, analyse) with descriptive parameters like --override-linters, suppress it from help, and warn on use. Still unimplemented in current code; no labels, no assignee, awaiting maintainer decision on CLI guidelines.

Suggested action: needs triage

Reason: The issue has no labels, no assignee, and the only maintainer activity is a question to @sergiusens about CLI guidelines (2024-02-22) that went unanswered, so it has not been triaged or prioritized. The requested change is still unimplemented: --force remains in pack (lifecycle.py), init, and analyse, and no --override-linters or deprecation warning exists in the codebase. It is a valid, well-scoped enhancement that needs a maintainer to decide on naming conventions before work can proceed.

Impact: 30 Quick Win: 18.0 Staleness: 55 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 75 Support Request: 5

Issue body

### What needs to get done Replace all `--force` command line options with more descriptive parameters. Suppress `--force` from the help text and warn the user against its usage when used (though still allow its use for now). For example in the `pack` command, `--force` should be replaced with `--override-linters` ### Why it needs to get done `--force` Considered Harmful™

Evaluation history

Date	Model	Scores	Action	Summary
2026-09-01 12:34 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.8-27b	Impact: 30 Quick Win: 18.0 Staleness: 55 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 75 Support Request: 5	needs triage	Feature request to replace the ambiguous --force CLI option in charmcraft commands (pack, init, analyse) with descriptive parameters like --override-linters, suppress it from help, and warn on use. Still unimplemented in current code; no labels, no assignee, awaiting maintainer decision on CLI guidelines.
2026-07-22 11:48 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 75 Complexity: 30 Confidence: 70 Support Request: 0	needs triage	Feature request to replace generic --force CLI flags with descriptive alternatives. Unlabelled, unassigned, and inactive for over a year pending maintainer guidance on CLI guidelines.
2026-07-07 10:51 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 85 Complexity: 45 Confidence: 70 Support Request: 10	needs triage	Proposes replacing generic --force CLI flags with descriptive alternatives across commands. Currently unlabelled and awaiting CLI design guidelines after a maintainer inquiry 10 months ago.
2026-07-05 04:37 AM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 85 Complexity: 45 Confidence: 80 Support Request: 5	needs triage	Proposes replacing all --force CLI flags with descriptive alternatives, suppressing them from help, and adding warnings. Currently awaiting CLI design guidelines and maintainer action.
2026-06-16 01:17 AM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 85 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 75 Support Request: 10	needs triage	Replace generic --force CLI flags with descriptive alternatives. Suppress from help, warn on use, retain for compatibility. Awaiting CLI design guidelines to standardize replacements. Open and awaiting design review.

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