snapcraft could be more helpful in figuring out prime/organize errs vs executable bits
Metadata
Current evaluation
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.
Suggested action: close stale
Reason: Issue is 2226 days old with zero comments, no labels, and no maintainer interaction. It is a minor UX improvement suggestion for error message clarity, not a functional bug. The error message behavior may have already been improved in subsequent snapcraft releases, making this request likely outdated.
Impact:
20
Quick Win:
15.0
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
15
Issue body
the error message:
```
Failed to generate snap metadata: The command-chain item 'script.sh' defined in the app 'my-app' does not exist or is not executable.
Ensure that 'script.sh' is relative to the prime directory.
```
is not helpful when you are first creating a part that uses organize/prime/stage, etc. as it becomes unclear if the issue is your script is not executable or if the script was put in the wrong place or if the command-chain specification is wrong, making for needlessly confusing debugging, when snapcraft could be more specific saying that either the command-chain location and the file location do not match, and having a separate message about the script not being executable so that if your issue is just it not being executable you know that right away and don't have to spend time confirming that everything is put into the right place.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
20
Quick Win:
15.0
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
15
|
close stale | 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. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | Suggests improving snapcraft's error messages for command-chain failures to distinguish between file location mismatches and missing executable permissions. Untriaged and inactive for ~6 years. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Feature request to improve snapcraft error messages for command-chain failures, distinguishing between missing files and executable permissions. Unaddressed for over six years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
0
|
close stale | Suggests improving snapcraft's error message to distinguish between missing command-chain files and missing executable permissions. Untriaged and inactive for ~6 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Improve snapcraft error messages to distinguish command-chain path mismatches from missing executable permissions. Open, unassigned, zero comments. Awaiting triage to implement separate, clearer error reporting. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1889081 snapcraft does not detect need to re-clean part after permission bits change on file | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | 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. |