Allow users to specify custom KNOWN_GOOD_PIP_URL for air-gapped CI/CD pipelines

Metadata

Project: charmcraft
Number: #2225
Type: issue
State: open
Author: TresSims
Labels: —
Created: 2025-03-17 01:29 PM UTC
Updated: 2025-08-15 03:17 PM UTC
Closed: —

Current evaluation

Feature request to add a flag (e.g. --pip-url) so charmcraft builds can fetch pip from a custom/local URL instead of the hardcoded pythonhosted.org link, for air-gapped CI/CD. Maintainer replied with a charmcraft.yaml workaround and said it is unlikely to be implemented soon; the hardcoded URL still exists in code.

Suggested action: keep open

Reason: Maintainer @lengau triaged it (2025-06-07), acknowledged the limitation, and provided a working workaround (a nil-plugin part replacing the pip wheel in /usr/share/python-wheels/), but the hardcoded KNOWN_GOOD_PIP_URL at charmcraft/charm_builder.py:46 is still present at HEAD, so the request remains valid and not obsolete. Inactivity alone (~12.5 months) does not make it irrelevant, so keep_open rather than close_stale.

Impact: 35 Quick Win: 21.0 Staleness: 65 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 80 Support Request: 20

Issue body

### What needs to get done Modify the Charmcraft build process to introduce a new flag (e.g., --pip-url) that allows users to specify a custom URL for retrieving pip instead of relying on the hardcoded PythonHosted.com link. This will enable users to utilize locally cached or managed package repositories, improving flexibility and reducing external dependencies. ### Why it needs to get done In some secure environments it is preferable to use locally cached packages for enhanced security. Without the ability to point the build process to locally cached versions of required dependencies, it is not possible to implement DevOps workflows for charm development.

Evaluation history

Date	Model	Scores	Action	Summary
2026-09-01 12:07 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.8-27b	Impact: 35 Quick Win: 21.0 Staleness: 65 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 80 Support Request: 20	keep open	Feature request to add a flag (e.g. --pip-url) so charmcraft builds can fetch pip from a custom/local URL instead of the hardcoded pythonhosted.org link, for air-gapped CI/CD. Maintainer replied with a charmcraft.yaml workaround and said it is unlikely to be implemented soon; the hardcoded URL still exists in code.
2026-07-22 12:29 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 90 Complexity: 20 Confidence: 90 Support Request: 10	close not a bug	Feature request to add a custom pip URL flag for air-gapped CI/CD environments. Maintainer declined implementation, citing low priority, and provided a charmcraft.yaml workaround.
2026-07-07 07:56 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 75 Complexity: 15 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 10	close not a bug	Feature request to add a custom pip URL flag for air-gapped environments. Maintainer declined implementation, citing low priority, but provided a charmcraft.yaml workaround. Open but inactive.
2026-07-05 01:57 AM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 85 Complexity: 20 Confidence: 90 Support Request: 10	close not a bug	Feature request to add a custom pip URL flag for air-gapped environments. A maintainer declined the request and provided a charmcraft.yaml configuration workaround.
2026-06-15 08:57 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 75 Complexity: 20 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 15	close not a bug	Charmcraft feature request to add a --pip-url flag for air-gapped CI/CD pipelines. Maintainer indicates implementation is unlikely soon, offering a charmcraft.yaml workaround instead.

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