docs: Status of `parts` field in `charmcraft.yaml` is misleading
Metadata
Current evaluation
Documentation incorrectly lists the charmcraft.yaml parts field as recommended instead of base-dependent, and the team is currently discussing whether to mark it as required or update the reference before a comprehensive review.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: The issue has been triaged, acknowledged by maintainers, and tracked via an internal Jira ticket (CHARMCRAFT-683). Maintainers have discussed the resolution path and indicated it will be addressed during a comprehensive documentation review or Kitbash integration. It should remain open until the internal work is completed or the documentation is updated.
Staleness:
35
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
0
Issue body
*Please describe the question or issue you're facing with "charmcraft.yaml file - Charmcraft 4.1.0 documentation".*
The documentation says that the `parts` field has a status of `recommended`, but according to [this message on Matrix](https://matrix.to/#/!LhFxJIPEcCacgdMghH:ubuntu.com/$jBmv75eFdU5t3rU6ih35fnIlZmS8bJaI2Y3GLT9jBhY?via=ubuntu.com&via=matrix.org&via=canonical.com), the status of `parts` actually depends on the base, and it is required for newer bases.
The documentation should be updated to reflect that the status of `parts` depends on the base, and the documentation should detail that dependency. Maybe something like
```
``parts``
---------
**Status:** Base-dependent
* Bases older than <insert_base>: Recommended
* Bases <insert_base> and newer: Required
```
---
*Reported from: https://documentation.ubuntu.com/charmcraft/stable/reference/files/charmcraft-yaml-file/
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-15 12:51:37.513933+00:00 | qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
35
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
0
|
keep open | Documentation incorrectly lists the charmcraft.yaml parts field as recommended instead of base-dependent, and the team is currently discussing whether to mark it as required or update the reference before a comprehensive review. |
| 2026-06-15 12:49:18.147154+00:00 | pending | — | — | — |