Writing snapcraft plugins is hard due to lack of API documentation
Metadata
Current evaluation
Request for snapcraft plugin author API docs (BasePlugin methods, attributes, call order). 10+ years old, 0 comments, author deactivated. The referenced BasePlugin API no longer exists in modern snapcraft.
Suggested action: close stale
Reason: The issue references the legacy snapcraft 1.x BasePlugin API (installdir, builddir attributes) which was completely replaced by the craft-parts plugin system. The author's account is deactivated, there are 0 comments, and no maintainer has ever responded. The modern repo has extensive docs/ (58 reference, 98 how-to files) that supersede this request.
Impact:
20
Quick Win:
12.0
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
10
Issue body
I find myself having to write a custom plugin, and it's really hard to know what I should be doing in each method of BasePlugin. It would be nice if there was comprehensive API documentation aimed at plugin authors, published online.
Ideally it would cover:
* Which methods of BasePlugin can be overridded.
* What plugin authors should do in each method.
* which attributes are set on the BasePlugin, and what they're for (installdir, builddir etc).
* When each method on BasePlugin will get called.
* Functions, classes and methods from the rest of snapcraft that's considered a public, stable API.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
20
Quick Win:
12.0
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Request for snapcraft plugin author API docs (BasePlugin methods, attributes, call order). 10+ years old, 0 comments, author deactivated. The referenced BasePlugin API no longer exists in modern snapcraft. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
20
|
close stale | Request for comprehensive API documentation for snapcraft plugin authors, including method overrides and public API details. Issue is over 9 years old with no activity. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Request for comprehensive API documentation for snapcraft plugin authors, covering BasePlugin methods, attributes, and public APIs. Unanswered and inactive for over 9 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | Request for comprehensive API documentation for snapcraft plugin authors detailing BasePlugin methods, attributes, and public API. Unaddressed for over 9 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
25
|
close stale | Requests comprehensive API documentation for snapcraft plugin authors covering BasePlugin methods, attributes, lifecycle, and stable public APIs. Open with zero comments and over nine years of inactivity. Needs documentation updates and triage. |
Update history
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Related issues
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