remote-build: add support for `--build-for`
Metadata
Current evaluation
remote-build still rejects --build-for; this untriaged feature request would enable architecture-selective Launchpad builds and reduce queue-related build time.
Suggested action: needs triage
Reason: The report provides an exact failing command and a concrete use case, while the current parser only defines --recover, --launchpad-accept-public-upload, and --launchpad-timeout, and start_builds is called without an architecture filter. However, the issue has no labels, maintainer comments, assignee, implementation, or follow-up, so it has not been assessed or prioritized.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
48
Quick Win:
20
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
90
Actionability:
74
Issue body
### What needs to get done
Like snapcraft, charmcraft should support the `--build-for` arg for remote build.
```
> charmcraft remote-build --build-for=s390x --launchpad-accept-public-upload
Usage: charmcraft [options] command [args]...
Try 'charmcraft remote-build -h' for help.
Error: unrecognized arguments: --build-for=s390x
```
### Why it needs to get done
For testing a subset of charms, it would be handy if we didn't need to wait for all of them to be built remotely.
The amd64 and arm64 remotes are often busy, and github has amd64 and arm64 runners.
Building remotely can take an hour, vs. locally ~5 min.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
48
Quick Win:
20
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
90
Actionability:
74
|
needs triage | remote-build still rejects --build-for; this untriaged feature request would enable architecture-selective Launchpad builds and reduce queue-related build time. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
11
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
70
Actionability:
60
|
needs triage | Feature request to add --build-for argument to charmcraft remote-build command for building specific architectures remotely | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
27
Staleness:
75
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Feature request to add --build-for flag to charmcraft remote-build for building a subset of architectures, mirroring snapcraft. No maintainer response or labels in 319 days; remote-build still lacks the flag in current code. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
75
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Feature request to add --build-for argument to charmcraft remote-build for targeting specific architectures. Unlabelled, no maintainer response, inactive for ~9 months. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
90
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Feature request to add --build-for argument to charmcraft remote-build for targeting specific architectures. Currently unlabelled and inactive for 264 days with no maintainer response. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
80
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Feature request to add --build-for argument to charmcraft remote-build for multi-architecture builds. Unlabelled, no maintainer response, open for ~8.5 months. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #5435 remote build: deprecate `--build-for` | snapcraft | open | Triaged enhancement to warn on remote-build --build-for and hide it from help; it remains open, with current code still exposing and documenting the option. | |
| #2780 remote-build: option renames for arch, user, and accept-public-upload | snapcraft | merged | Merged #2780 renamed remote-build --arch to --build-on and Launchpad-prefixed the user and public-upload options (commits 6ef1767ba, b8e7121e2). | |
| #6090 feat(remote-build/legacy): improve error when building with --build-for | snapcraft | merged | Merged PR #6090 improved legacy remote-builder errors for core20, clarifying that --build-for requires shorthand architectures because of Launchpad limitations. It addresses #5817 and supersedes #5819. | |
| #5819 fix(legacy): accept --build-for on long-form architecture remote build | snapcraft | closed | PR #5819 was closed as superseded by merged PR #6090 (commit 527ff6d2c), which improved the legacy remote-builder’s --build-for error handling instead. |