overlay-packages is not documented in rockcraft.yaml reference
Metadata
Current evaluation
overlay-packages (and other overlay part properties) are missing from the rockcraft.yaml reference docs; maintainer noted the fix belongs in craft-parts' part_properties.rst. Still open with no follow-up.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: Maintainer tigarmo triaged this (2024-02-16) and identified the fix location as craft-parts' docs/base/part_properties.rst, but no PR or follow-up has addressed it since. The rockcraft.yaml reference still pulls part properties from craft-parts (docs/conf.py includes common/craft-parts/reference/part_properties.rst), and overlay parameters are only documented in the explanation section, so the gap likely persists. Low complexity doc fix that remains valid.
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
24.0
Staleness:
55
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
5
Issue body
### Request type
Fix
### What needs to get done
overlay-packages in a part appears to be commonly used - eg. here: https://github.com/canonical/ceph-containers/blob/234fd0c1d9d5770fb6497750c0504a4ec501b718/rockcraft.yaml#L33
However, this is not referenced in the reference documentation for rockcraft.yaml: https://canonical-rockcraft.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/part_properties/#part-properties
With more searching around, I see there are things like the overlay step which has overlay-packages, overlay-script, etc. referenced: https://canonical-rockcraft.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/explanation/overlay-step/#overlay-parameters , but this is not in the reference docs, and thus difficult to find.
### Documentation location
_No response_
### Additional information
_No response_
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
24.0
Staleness:
55
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
5
|
keep open | overlay-packages (and other overlay part properties) are missing from the rockcraft.yaml reference docs; maintainer noted the fix belongs in craft-parts' part_properties.rst. Still open with no follow-up. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
70
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
0
|
keep open | Documentation gap: overlay-packages missing from rockcraft.yaml reference. Acknowledged by maintainer, points to upstream craft-parts docs for resolution. Currently awaiting upstream update. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
60
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
0
|
keep open | Missing reference documentation for overlay-packages in rockcraft.yaml parts. Acknowledged by a maintainer who noted the fix is needed upstream in craft-parts. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
75
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
0
|
keep open | Documentation gap: overlay-packages part property is missing from rockcraft.yaml reference docs. Maintainer pointed to upstream craft-parts as the source, but no fix has been implemented in over 6 months. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
75
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
0
|
close stale | overlay-packages part property missing from rockcraft.yaml reference documentation. Fix requires updating upstream craft-parts docs. Rockcraft team is integrating related overlay documentation and tracking this upstream gap. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Related To:
canonical/craft-parts#1473
(confidence 60%)
craft-parts docs work on override-overlay; part_properties.rst in craft-parts is where the missing overlay-packages reference would be added per maintainer comment.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #512 Document `overlay-packages` | rockcraft | open | Docs gap: overlay-packages missing from Rockcraft part_properties reference. The referenced page now redirects to rockcraft.yaml, which documents overlay parameters via an included craft-parts fragment, so the gap is likely resolved. No maintainer activity in 263 days. | |
| #680 doc: missing overlay info in rockcraft.yaml reference | rockcraft | closed | Closed as outdated. The missing overlay step reference was already documented in the official Rockcraft reference. Maintainer @asanvaq confirmed the documentation exists and closed the issue without further action. | |
| #436 feat(docs): add definition for overlay_step in the docs | rockcraft | merged | Merged documentation update adding the missing overlay_step definition to Rockcraft docs. Maintainers chose to merge the standalone paragraph as-is, deferring upstream craft-parts doc inheritance improvements for later. |