ugly error when failed to sign because of wrong password
Metadata
Current evaluation
Maintainer-requested UX fix: snapcraft sign-build shows raw gpg stderr and a doubly-wrapped 'cannot sign assertion' message on a bad passphrase instead of a readable cause. Still unfixed in snapcraft/commands/keys.py.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: The reported behavior is still present in the current code: `_generate_snap_build()` in snapcraft/commands/keys.py catches `subprocess.CalledProcessError` and discards its output, raising the generic `SignBuildAssertionError` whose message (store/errors.py:218) carries no cause. Searches for 'cannot sign using GPG' and 'passphrase' in commit history returned no fixing commit, and the only keys.py commits are recent refactors such as 2904d0be2 ('refactor: migrate sign-build command'). Impact is capped at ~27 because signing still fails correctly and this is a maintainer-filed cosmetic/diagnostics request rather than a functional break; actionability is high given the two-step reproducer (`snapcraft sign-build test.snap` plus three wrong passwords) and pinpointed target. Confidence is held below 90 because the issue carries only the `store` label, has zero comments and no assignee, so no maintainer has confirmed this is still a priority or agreed on the preferred message wording.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Issue body
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
27
Quick Win:
18
Complexity:
22
Confidence:
84
Actionability:
84
|
keep open | Maintainer-requested UX fix: snapcraft sign-build shows raw gpg stderr and a doubly-wrapped 'cannot sign assertion' message on a bad passphrase instead of a readable cause. Still unfixed in snapcraft/commands/keys.py. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
22
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
85
Actionability:
80
|
keep open | sign-build command swallows GPG passphrase error details, showing only a generic failure message instead of the underlying GPG error. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
20
Quick Win:
16
Staleness:
80
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
55
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Verbose GPG error shown when snapcraft sign-build fails after 3 wrong passphrases. The command was migrated in #6228 and now raises a cleaner SignBuildAssertionError, but the issue remains open with no maintainer response. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Reports a verbose GPG error when entering a wrong password three times during snap signing. The issue is nearly 10 years old with no maintainer response or comments. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Request for cleaner GPG error messages when snap signing fails due to an incorrect password. The issue is nearly 10 years old with zero maintainer engagement or comments. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
75
Support Request:
15
|
needs triage | Snapcraft sign-build displays verbose GPG error messages when a wrong passphrase is entered multiple times. The issue is unlabelled, has no maintainer comments, and has been inactive for nearly three years. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1629966 The error when trying to sign without a gpg key is not good | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Missing-GPG-key handling for sign-build was improved by merged snapcraft#848, which prompts users to select a key instead of showing an unhelpful error. |