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Support `--help` flag for craftctl

View original Github issue

Metadata

Project
craft-parts
Number
#319
Type
issue
State
open
Author
merlijn-sebrechts
Labels
—
Created
Updated
Closed
—

Current evaluation

Feature request to add a --help flag to craftctl that prints supported commands (default, set, get). No maintainer response or labels; only a Jira sync bot comment. Code still lacks the flag, but docs (PR #1091) now document the commands.

Suggested action: needs triage

Reason: The issue has no labels, no assignee, and zero maintainer engagement — the only comment is the Jira sync bot from 2024-05-17. The --help flag is still absent from craft_parts/ctl.py (main() only prints a bare usage string when no args are given), so the request remains valid and untriaged. PR #1091 revamped the craftctl how-to docs, partially addressing the discoverability concern, but the specific CLI flag was never implemented.

Impact: 20 Quick Win: 17.0 Staleness: 75 Complexity: 15 Confidence: 75 Support Request: 10

Issue body

I wrote [a reference doc](https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/using-the-craftctl-tool/32664) to explain the current functionality of `craftctl` from the snapcraft perspective. I had to look through the code to see what commands craftctl supports and which arguments. It might be useful to have a `--help` flag which simply prints the currently supported functionality.

Evaluation history

Date Model Scores Action Summary
qwen/qwen3.8-27b
Impact: 20
Quick Win: 17.0
Staleness: 75
Complexity: 15
Confidence: 75
Support Request: 10
needs triage Feature request to add a --help flag to craftctl that prints supported commands (default, set, get). No maintainer response or labels; only a Jira sync bot comment. Code still lacks the flag, but docs (PR #1091) now document the commands.
qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b
Staleness: 95
Complexity: 5
Confidence: 85
Support Request: 10
close stale Request to add a --help flag to craftctl to display supported commands and arguments. Currently inactive for over a year with only an automated Jira sync comment.
qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6
Staleness: 90
Complexity: 10
Confidence: 80
Support Request: 10
needs triage Request to add a --help flag to the craftctl CLI tool to display supported commands and arguments. Currently unlabelled and unassessed by maintainers for over three years.
qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6
Staleness: 92
Complexity: 15
Confidence: 85
Support Request: 20
close stale Add a --help flag to craftctl to display supported commands and arguments. Internal Jira ticket created, but remains unassigned and inactive for over a year. Awaiting triage or implementation.

Update history

No update history recorded yet.

Related work

  • Related To: canonical/craft-parts#1091 (confidence 70%)

    Merged docs PR that revamped the craftctl how-to guide, documenting the default/set/get commands — partially addresses the discoverability motivation behind this feature request, though it does not add a --help flag to the tool itself.

Related issues

Issue Project State Summary Similarity
#200 Register the `help` command craft-cli open Feature request to register 'help' as a first-class command in craft-cli so 'craft help help' works instead of erroring with 'command help not found'. No labels, no comments, no activity since creation ~2.8 years ago; still unimplemented in current code.
72%