when a validation already exists, the error message is not nice and is displayed after entering the password

Metadata

Project: snapcraft (launchpad)
Number: #1636981
Type: issue
State: open
Author: ~elopio
Labels: store
Created: 2016-10-26 08:06 PM UTC
Updated: 2021-01-20 02:50 PM UTC
Closed: —

Current evaluation

snapcraft validate shows a raw 409 error (with snap-id) only after the user enters their GPG passphrase when a validation already exists; the error should appear before signing and be human-readable. No comments, no activity for ~5.6 years.

Suggested action: close stale

Reason: The issue dates from the snapcraft 1.x era (~2016, per the test name 'u1test201610261026' and key creation date) and has had zero comments with no activity for ~5.6 years. Snapcraft has since gone through multiple major rewrites (2.0 through 8.x), so the specific validation signing flow and raw 409 error handling described here are very likely no longer representative of current behavior. The affected version is no longer supported.

Impact: 30 Quick Win: 18.0 Staleness: 90 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 45 Support Request: 10

Issue body

I tried to create the same validation twice. The second time it fails displaying an error; but this error is shown after I entered my password. I think the error should be shown before signing the validation. $ snapcraft validate u1test20161026 ubuntu-core=3 Getting details for ubuntu-core Signing validation ubuntu-core=3 You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for user: "default" 4096-bit RSA key, ID D017FEB3, created 2016-01-01 Received error 409: 'There is already a validation assertion stored for snap-id y8gqFXGKAfN5NoZtNRZHqWhB1C4jt3Gi in this context.' In addition to that, the error is not for humans. It shows the error code, the snap-id, and it's not nicely formatted.

Evaluation history

Date	Model	Scores	Action	Summary
2026-09-01 07:32 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.8-27b	Impact: 30 Quick Win: 18.0 Staleness: 90 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 45 Support Request: 10	close stale	snapcraft validate shows a raw 409 error (with snap-id) only after the user enters their GPG passphrase when a validation already exists; the error should appear before signing and be human-readable. No comments, no activity for ~5.6 years.
2026-07-23 11:49 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 95 Complexity: 15 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 10	needs triage	snapcraft validate displays a cryptic 409 API error with internal snap-IDs after prompting for a GPG passphrase. The error should appear before signing and be human-readable. No maintainer response in over 5 years.
2026-07-22 12:18 PM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 95 Complexity: 20 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 10	close stale	Duplicate validation assertion error displays after password prompt and shows raw internal details instead of a user-friendly message. Issue is over 9 years old with no activity.
2026-07-09 07:19 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 95 Complexity: 15 Confidence: 80 Support Request: 5	close stale	Duplicate validation assertions trigger a raw 409 API error with internal snap-IDs after GPG passphrase entry, lacking pre-validation checks and human-readable formatting. No maintainer response in over 5 years.
2026-06-20 06:56 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 98 Complexity: 20 Confidence: 90 Support Request: 5	close stale	Duplicate validation assertions trigger a raw error after the GPG password prompt. The check should occur before signing, and the message needs formatting for users. Issue is open, inactive, and requires triage.

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