`charmcraft upload` should allow a user to also release the charm
Metadata
Current evaluation
Requests single-command charm upload+release with automatic OCI resource handling. --release flag already exists; remaining gap is resource upload by image reference instead of revision number.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: The core --release flag requested in the title already exists in UploadCommand (added by PR #255, with --resource support from PR #457), but the remaining request — uploading/releasing resources by OCI image reference rather than revision number — is still open and tracked internally as CRAFT-4049. Issue #839 shows automatic upstream-image uploads were previously rejected by design, so the resource-handling scope still needs clarification.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
55
Quick Win:
13
Complexity:
65
Confidence:
78
Actionability:
65
Issue body
### What needs to get done
Currently, to release a charm you have to:
```
charmcraft upload <.charm> # note down the revision number
charmcraft upload-resource <resource> # note down the revision number
charmcraft release ...
```
We should have a way to release a charm right after uploading it; the resource can be uploaded automatically according to the `upstream-image` field in `charmcraft.yaml`.
The approached discussed with @lengau would be to add `--release=latest/edge` flag to the `upload` command. Another option could be to introduce a new command that does both the update and release together.
An example would be something like:
```
`charmcraft upload prometheus.charm prometheus-k8s --resource=prometheus-image:ubuntu/prometheus:9 --release=latest/edge`
```
### Why it needs to get done
In CI, releasing a charm currently translates to those three commands with weird parsing of the revision numbers, and the manual process is extremely error-prone.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ~deepseek/deepseek-pro-latest |
Impact:
55
Quick Win:
13
Complexity:
65
Confidence:
78
Actionability:
65
|
keep open | Requests single-command charm upload+release with automatic OCI resource handling. --release flag already exists; remaining gap is resource upload by image reference instead of revision number. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
19
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
90
Actionability:
80
|
close resolved | The `--release` flag for `charmcraft upload` has been implemented and merged. The remaining request for automatic resource upload via `upstream-image` is a separate enhancement. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
40
Quick Win:
24
Staleness:
55
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
75
Support Request:
10
|
close not a bug | Feature request to add --release flag to charmcraft upload command. The --release flag is already implemented (PR #255), but auto-uploading resources from upstream-image field in charmcraft.yaml remains unimplemented. Last activity Feb 2025. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
75
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Feature request to add a --release flag to charmcraft upload for combining upload and release in CI. Currently has an internal ticket but lacks public triage and prioritization. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
85
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Feature request to add a --release flag to charmcraft upload for streamlined CI workflows. Currently inactive for over a year with no maintainer implementation, though a community workaround exists. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
85
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
5
|
needs triage | Feature request to add a --release flag to charmcraft upload, simplifying CI workflows by combining upload and release steps. Currently unlabelled and unassessed by maintainers. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Related To:
charmcraft#255
(confidence 90%)
PR #255 added the upload --release option, partially addressing the title request.
-
Related To:
charmcraft#457
(confidence 90%)
PR #457 added --resource support to upload --release, but requires revision numbers rather than image references.
-
Related To:
charmcraft#1313
(confidence 85%)
Open issue describing the same remaining UX gap: manual resource revision numbers instead of image references.
-
Related To:
charmcraft#259
(confidence 85%)
Support for attaching resources when releasing, resolved by PR #457.
-
Related To:
charmcraft#839
(confidence 75%)
Automatic resource uploads from upstream-image were rejected by design, informing the remaining scope.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1313 Make it easier to release charms in CI and in general | charmcraft | open | Single-command charm upload and release with OCI resources remains unimplemented; upload accepts only existing resource revisions, so users must upload resources first and track returned IDs. | |
| #126 Add a "--release" option to the "upload" command | charmcraft | closed | Implemented charmcraft upload --release in canonical/charmcraft#255 (merge 9064a3f3, feature bc06a62a); #457 added resource support and shipped in Charmcraft 1.1.2. | |
| #457 Allow including resources when releasing charms directly in the upload command (CRAFT-381). | charmcraft | merged | Merged PR #457 (b5d735b4), adding --resource support to upload --release and fixing #456; the fix shipped in Charmcraft 1.1.2. | |
| #255 Add the option to release when uploading a charm or bundle | charmcraft | merged | Merged PR #255 as 9064a3f3, adding upload-time release channel support for charms and bundles; implementation commit bc06a62a. | |
| #839 Upload resources on charmcraft upload when specified as upstream-resource in the metadata file | charmcraft | closed | Feature request to auto-upload OCI resources during `charmcraft upload` was declined by design: maintainer refused to have Charmcraft copy Docker Hub images into Canonical's registry and cited upload inefficiency; user advised to script it using JSON output. | |
| #1263 `charmcraft upload` should be able to take several `*.charm` files at once | charmcraft | closed | Closed by the reporter as expected behaviour: maintainers explained Charmhub supports charms of different bases per revision, so per-base .charm files are uploaded separately and Juju picks the right one. No code change. | |
| #368 feature request: charmcraft release=last-revision | charmcraft | closed | No code change was needed: charmcraft upload <charm> --release=edge already uploads and releases the newly created revision. |