Obscure error message from snapcraft release when not logged in correctly
Metadata
Current evaluation
snapcraft release prints an obscure 401 macaroon error when not logged in; user suggests a friendlier message pointing to 'snapcraft login'. No labels, no comments, ~6.5 years inactive. Same problem class tracked in craft-store#97 and LP 1834469.
Suggested action: needs triage
Reason: The issue has no labels, no comments, no assignee, and no maintainer response in ~6.5 years, so it shows no sign of ever having been categorised. It is not a candidate for close_stale because the underlying problem is still relevant and actively tracked elsewhere (craft-store#97, triaged with Jira ticket CRAFT-3385 and activity ~11 months ago), so a maintainer should decide whether to close it as a duplicate of that work or fold it in. Code inspection was unavailable (no pinned SHA), which slightly lowers confidence.
Issue body
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
35
Quick Win:
29.75
Staleness:
90
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | snapcraft release prints an obscure 401 macaroon error when not logged in; user suggests a friendlier message pointing to 'snapcraft login'. No labels, no comments, ~6.5 years inactive. Same problem class tracked in craft-store#97 and LP 1834469. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
35
Quick Win:
24.5
Staleness:
92
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
75
Support Request:
15
|
needs triage | Request to improve the obscure 401 'missing a valid macaroon' error from snapcraft release when not logged in, suggesting a message pointing to snapcraft login. 6.7 years old, unlabelled, no maintainer response; same problem class tracked in craft-store#97. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
40
|
close stale | User reports an obscure 401 error message from snapcraft release when not logged in, suggesting a more user-friendly error message. Issue is 6+ years old with no activity. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
5
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Suggests a clearer error message when snapcraft release fails due to invalid authentication. The issue has been inactive for over 6 years with no maintainer response. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
20
|
close stale | Request to improve error messaging when snapcraft release fails due to invalid or missing authentication credentials. Currently unlabelled and inactive for over six years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
15
|
close stale | Suggests improving the error message when snapcraft release fails due to invalid authentication. Unlabelled, zero maintainer comments, and over six years old. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Related To:
craft-store#97
(confidence 75%)
craft-store#97 tracks the same problem class (confusing macaroon error instead of a re-login hint), was triaged by a maintainer with Jira ticket CRAFT-3385, and had activity ~11 months ago.
-
Duplicate Of:
snapcraft (launchpad)#1834469
(confidence 70%)
LP bug 1834469 reports the same confusing 'missing a valid macaroon' error and the same suggestion to guide users to snapcraft login; it is older (7 years) and still open.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1843404 snapcraft export-login doesn't provide meaningful error messages when an argument is wrong | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | snapcraft export-login returns a generic 'Authentication error: Failed to get macaroon' instead of a meaningful message when an argument (e.g. snap name) is wrong. Unlabelled, zero comments, no maintainer interaction for ~7 years. | |
| #1748802 `snapcraft login` authentication failure message could be friendlier | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Suggestion to improve snapcraft login error messaging was abandoned. The authentication failure message remains unchanged due to age and lack of activity. | |
| #1930592 Handle macaroon-authorization-required error response | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | snapcraft whoami shows a generic 'Store Error: whoami failed.' instead of prompting re-authentication when credentials are missing/expired (401 macaroon-authorization-required). Open since 2021, zero comments, no maintainer activity or labels. | |
| #1834469 error messaging for invalid macaroon could be improved | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Snapcraft shows a confusing 'missing a valid macaroon' error when the store macaroon expires; suggests guiding users to snapcraft login. 7 years old, no labels, no comments, no maintainer response. Related craft-store#97 tracks the same problem class. |