snapcraft does not detect need to re-clean part after permission bits change on file
Metadata
Current evaluation
Snapcraft fails to detect permission-bit-only changes in dump part source files, requiring manual clean before re-priming. Untriaged, no maintainer activity in ~5.5 years; related Launchpad bug still open.
Suggested action: needs triage
Reason: The issue has no labels, no comments, and no maintainer interaction in ~5.5 years (last activity 2013 days ago), so it has never been triaged. However, the closely related Launchpad bug #1822709 ('Snapcraft should consider dump part's file permission change as part changed') is still open, suggesting the dirty-state detection gap may persist in current snapcraft, so closing as stale would be premature. A maintainer should verify whether the parts system now tracks file mode changes before deciding.
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
16.5
Staleness:
90
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
55
Support Request:
10
Issue body
If I have a part like this:
```
local-scripts:
plugin: dump
source: .
```
and there is a file in there, say script.sh, and initially that file is not executable, snapcraft primes it. If I then change the permission bits (and the permission bits only, nothing else in the snapcraft part tree, snapcraft does not re-prime it, and I must `snapcraft clean local-scripts` first.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
16.5
Staleness:
90
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
55
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Snapcraft fails to detect permission-bit-only changes in dump part source files, requiring manual clean before re-priming. Untriaged, no maintainer activity in ~5.5 years; related Launchpad bug still open. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
50
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Reports that snapcraft fails to re-prime a part when only file permission bits change, requiring a manual clean. The report has been inactive for over five years with no maintainer engagement or labels. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | snapcraft dump plugin fails to detect file permission changes and skip re-priming, requiring manual cleanup. Reported over six years ago with zero maintainer interaction, labels, or updates. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
75
Support Request:
5
|
needs triage | Unlabelled bug report stating snapcraft fails to detect permission-only changes on files and skips re-priming parts without manual cleanup. No maintainer response or labels after over five years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | snapcraft skips re-priming parts when only file permission bits change, requiring manual cleanup. Open with zero comments, no labels, and inactive for over 200 days. Needs triage and assignment. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Duplicate Of:
snapcraft (launchpad)#1822709
(confidence 80%)
Launchpad bug with nearly identical title and scope: tracking UNIX permission changes in dump parts as dirty state; still open with no maintainer interaction.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1822709 Snapcraft should consider dump part's file permission change as part changed | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Snapcraft's dump part doesn't mark a part dirty when a source file's UNIX permissions change (e.g. chmod +x), forcing manual clean. Reported 7+ years ago, no comments, no maintainer activity, and the underlying dirty-check logic has since moved to craft-parts. | |
| #1800119 snapcraft cleanbuild | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed without resolution. The report details a PermissionError during snapcraft cleanbuild caused by restricted access to the .aptitude directory. With zero comments and no fix applied, the issue was abandoned or marked stale. | |
| #1799925 snapcraft gives conflicting advice for cleaning parts | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed without a fix. Snapcraft incorrectly advised running snapcraft clean with part and step flags, which were unsupported. The author worked around it with a full clean. The report appears abandoned or superseded by later updates. | |
| #1615060 snapcraft clean is incomplete | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Reporting that snapcraft clean skips local .snap files was closed without comments or resolution, indicating the report was abandoned or left unresolved. | |
| #1990551 snapcraft 7 never drops permissions while doing builds invoked with sudo | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed without resolution due to inactivity. The report identifies a snapcraft 7 regression where sudo builds retain root privileges instead of dropping them, unlike snapcraft 6. No fix or discussion occurred. | |
| #1741753 Snapcraft clean fails on root-owned files | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed without resolution. snapcraft clean failed with a PermissionError when removing root-owned files from the build directory. No fix or discussion was provided. | |
| #1889082 snapcraft could be more helpful in figuring out prime/organize errs vs executable bits | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Request to improve snapcraft error message for command-chain items to distinguish between missing file, wrong location, and non-executable script. No maintainer interaction in 6+ years. |