snapcraft release gives misleading error when revision does not exist
Metadata
Current evaluation
snapcraft release shows misleading error suggesting 'snapcraft register' when the real problem is a non-existent revision. Filed 2016, 0 comments, no maintainer interaction; legacy CLI since replaced by craft-based rewrite.
Suggested action: close stale
Reason: Filed 2016 (3485 days), 0 comments, no maintainer interaction. The legacy Python CLI has been fully replaced by the craft-based rewrite (snapcraft 7.x+), making the original error message and code path obsolete. Related Launchpad bug #1604810 (same issue, filed by maintainer elopio) is also open with no activity for ~9.5 years, confirming this was never addressed in the legacy codebase.
Impact:
20
Quick Win:
18.0
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
Issue body
If you try to release a revision which does not exist, you see:
Sorry, try `snapcraft register etcd` before trying to release or choose an existing revision.
The misleading part is that the snap is already registered, it's purely a 'non-existent revision' problem.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
20
Quick Win:
18.0
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | snapcraft release shows misleading error suggesting 'snapcraft register' when the real problem is a non-existent revision. Filed 2016, 0 comments, no maintainer interaction; legacy CLI since replaced by craft-based rewrite. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
0
|
close stale | Reports a misleading error message when releasing a non-existent snap revision. The issue has been inactive for over nine years with no maintainer response, and the CLI/UI has likely changed significantly since then. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | snapcraft release shows a misleading error suggesting registration when attempting to release a non-existent revision. Issue is completely inactive for ~9 years with no maintainer response. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
75
Support Request:
0
|
close stale | Reports a misleading error message when attempting to release a non-existent snap revision. The message incorrectly suggests registering the snap instead of indicating the revision is missing. No activity in over nine years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | snapcraft release displays a misleading error suggesting snap registration when the actual issue is a non-existent revision. The snap is already registered. Open, inactive, and needs triage. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Duplicate Of:
snapcraft#1604810
(confidence 90%)
Same misleading 'snapcraft register' error for non-existent revision, filed by maintainer elopio in 2016, also open with no activity.
-
Related To:
snapcraft#1999038
(confidence 60%)
Related snapcraft release error with invalid revision value, also open with no maintainer interaction.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1604810 try to snapcraft release an unexisting revision shows the wrong error | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Misleading error when running snapcraft release with a non-existent revision: it suggests 'snapcraft register' instead of saying the revision is invalid. Filed by maintainer elopio in 2016, labelled bitesize, 0 comments, no activity for ~9.5 years; the legacy CLI has since been replaced by the craft-based rewrite. | |
| #1999038 "snapcraft release" chokes given an invalid revision value | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Issue about confusing error when 'snapcraft release' receives invalid revision. Stale for 1366 days with no maintainer response. The release command appears to have been removed or deprecated. | |
| #1665003 Poor message when failing to specify a valid version | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Legacy snapcraft CLI showed a confusing error ('register ... before trying to release or choose an existing revision') when releasing a snap without a registered version. Reported ~9.5 years ago; no maintainer response; the current craft-based codebase no longer contains that message. | |
| #2059787 inaccurate error output in snapcraft release if given invalid revision | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Bug report: snapcraft release shows misleading 'No such command release' error when given an invalid revision. Untriaged, 888 days old with no maintainer interaction. | |
| #1761488 snapcraft 2.39.2 failed to release a snap: snapcraft.storeapi.errors.StoreReleaseError: <exception str() failed> | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed without resolution. The report details a StoreReleaseError during snapcraft 2.39.2 release attempts. With zero maintainer comments and significant age, the issue was likely abandoned. No fix or workaround was provided. | |
| #1886223 snapcraft recommends bad naming standards | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Reports that the snapcraft register CLI prompt implied third parties couldn't publish snaps and suggested username suffixes, contradicting store naming docs. No maintainer response; the referenced register command/prompt no longer exists in current snapcraft. | |
| #1723726 “snapcraft register” message is mysterious and inaccurate | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Complaint that the 'snapcraft register' confirmation prompt is verbose, vague, and inaccurate. ~8.9 years old with no labels or comments, but the exact message still exists in snapcraft/commands/names.py, so it remains actionable. | |
| #1742585 snapcraft version number output inconsistent | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | snapcraft 2.35 CLI displays version 3.10 as 3.1 in release/status output while push shows 3.10; unlabelled, no maintainer response, inactive 3155 days (snapcraft 2.35 era, now superseded by 8.x). | |
| #1893850 Snapcraft doesn't inject itself into build VM if host rev doesn't change | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | snapcraft skips injecting itself into the build VM when the host snap revision is unchanged after sideloading; reporter suggests using hashes instead of revisions for x-revisions. Unlabelled, zero comments, inactive ~6 years. | |
| #5184 Running snapcraft list-revision is giving error | snapcraft | closed | An IndexError occurred when running snapcraft list-revisions -h. The author later noted it stemmed from an outdated version, resulting in the report being closed as invalid without a code fix. |