python: Errors regarding to the missing `--single-version-externally-managed` option

Metadata

Project: snapcraft (launchpad)
Number: #1826748
Type: issue
State: open
Author: ~brlin
Labels: —
Created: 2019-04-28 04:39 PM UTC
Updated: 2019-04-28 04:39 PM UTC
Closed: —

Current evaluation

Python plugin build fails because it passes the deprecated --single-version-externally-managed flag to setup.py, which newer setuptools rejects. 7+ years old, unlabelled, no maintainer response; reporter used a custom plugin workaround.

Suggested action: close stale

Reason: The report is 2682 days old with zero comments, no labels, and no maintainer interaction, and the reporter already shipped a workaround (a custom plugin that drops the flag). The snapcraft python plugin has since been rewritten to install via pip rather than invoking `setup.py install --single-version-externally-managed`, so the reported error path no longer exists in current versions. Confidence is moderate because I could not directly inspect the current plugin source (repo tooling returned no pinned SHA), so the 'no longer reproducible' claim rests on the issue's age and the plugin's known evolution rather than a verified code check.

Impact: 20 Quick Win: 15.0 Staleness: 95 Complexity: 25 Confidence: 60 Support Request: 30

Issue body

The following error occurred when I tried to build a python plugin recipe: ``` /root/parts/picard/install/usr/bin/python3 setup.py --no-user-cfg install --single-version-externally-managed --user --record install.txt usage: setup.py [global_opts] cmd1 [cmd1_opts] [cmd2 [cmd2_opts] ...] or: setup.py --help [cmd1 cmd2 ...] or: setup.py --help-commands or: setup.py cmd --help error: option --single-version-externally-managed not recognized ``` Maybe related: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14296531/what-does-error-option-single-version-externally-managed-not-recognized-ind Does this option really matter in snap packaging? Currently I use a custom plugin that simply dropped the offending option.

Evaluation history

Date	Model	Scores	Action	Summary
2026-09-01 08:52 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.8-27b	Impact: 20 Quick Win: 15.0 Staleness: 95 Complexity: 25 Confidence: 60 Support Request: 30	close stale	Python plugin build fails because it passes the deprecated --single-version-externally-managed flag to setup.py, which newer setuptools rejects. 7+ years old, unlabelled, no maintainer response; reporter used a custom plugin workaround.
2026-07-23 02:08 PM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 98 Complexity: 15 Confidence: 90 Support Request: 5	close stale	Python plugin build fails due to deprecated setuptools flag --single-version-externally-managed. Issue is over 7 years old, unlabelled, and has no maintainer response.
2026-07-22 12:21 PM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 90 Complexity: 45 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 5	needs triage	Python plugin build fails due to deprecated setuptools flag --single-version-externally-managed. Untriaged, inactive for over seven years, author worked around it by removing the flag.
2026-07-10 02:54 AM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 95 Complexity: 15 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 10	close stale	Snapcraft python plugin fails due to deprecated --single-version-externally-managed flag in setup.py. Issue is 7 years old with no maintainer response or labels.
2026-06-21 05:15 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 95 Complexity: 20 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 10	close stale	Reports a Python plugin build failure caused by the deprecated --single-version-externally-managed flag. The issue has been inactive for over seven years and is likely resolved in modern packaging toolchains.

Update history

No update history recorded yet.

Related issues

No related issues found above the similarity threshold.