Error message with empty parts is misleading
Metadata
Current evaluation
Misleading snapcraft error when 'parts' is empty in snapcraft.yaml: the message conflates a schema type error with a part-name validation error. Filed ~7.8 years ago by an external contributor, no labels, no maintainer response, no comments.
Suggested action: close stale
Reason: The issue is 2853 days old with zero comments, no labels, and no maintainer interaction. The reported error format ('Issues while validating snapcraft.yaml: The 'parts' property does not match the required schema') comes from the legacy jsonschema-based validation, which has been fully replaced by the pydantic/craft-grammar validation visible in the current codebase (snapcraft/models/, snapcraft/parts/), so this exact misleading message is no longer reproducible in modern snapcraft 8.x.
Impact:
15
Quick Win:
12.0
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
55
Support Request:
10
Issue body
With a snapcraft.yaml as follows:
```
name: fail-tester
version: git
version: 0.1
summary: A Snap that fails in configurable ways
description: >
This snap is useful for testing snap hooks.
By setting configuration on the snap, one can control which hooks will fail.
grade: devel # must be 'stable' to release into candidate/stable channels
confinement: devmode # use 'strict' once you have the right plugs and slots
parts:
```
snapcraft fails but with a strange message:
Issues while validating snapcraft.yaml: The 'parts' property does not match the required schema: <ValidationError: "None is not of type 'object'"> is not a valid part name. Part names consist of lower-case alphanumeric characters, hyphens, plus signs, and forward slashes. As a special case, 'plugins' is also not a valid part name.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
15
Quick Win:
12.0
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
55
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Misleading snapcraft error when 'parts' is empty in snapcraft.yaml: the message conflates a schema type error with a part-name validation error. Filed ~7.8 years ago by an external contributor, no labels, no maintainer response, no comments. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Snapcraft shows a confusing validation error when the parts section in snapcraft.yaml is empty. The issue has been inactive for over 7 years with no maintainer response or labels. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | Snapcraft displays a confusing validation error when the 'parts' section in snapcraft.yaml is empty. The issue lacks labels, has zero comments, and has been inactive for over 7 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | Report of a misleading validation error when snapcraft.yaml contains an empty parts section. Unlabelled, no maintainer interaction, inactive for over 7 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Misleading validation error when snapcraft.yaml defines an empty parts section. Unlabelled, zero comments, and inactive for over 7 years. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1591207 Parser should warn when it encounters an invalid snapcraft.yaml | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | 2015-era feature request asking the snapcraft parser to warn when snapcraft.yaml is missing the 'parts' key. No labels, no comments, no activity for ~10 years. Modern snapcraft validates the file against a schema requiring parts, so the concern is outdated. | |
| #1741140 wrong error when a part depends on a part with underscore | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Snapcraft reports a misleading validation error: when a part's after/before dependency uses an underscore (invalid part name), the error names the valid depending part instead of the invalid dependency. Open since 2017 with no maintainer activity; no fix found in current craft-parts/snapcraft validation code. | |
| #1516775 snapcraft init with parts fails with required options | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Running snapcraft init with parts requiring options triggers a jsonschema validation error. The report was closed without comments or documented resolution, indicating it was abandoned or superseded by newer versions. |