Trying to register a snap name with reserved characters fails opaquely
Metadata
Current evaluation
Invalid snap names now produce a detailed allowed-character error. The handling landed in PR #1247 (03105a6c4), and Snapcraft v2.34 was confirmed to display it.
Resolution: closed resolved
Reason: PR #1247, commit 03105a6c4, updated Store registration error handling and tests. A later maintainer check on v2.34 confirmed that invalid names display the reason and permitted characters.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
No scores available.
Issue body
I'm trying to register a snap name 'sha3_384'. I get the following:
```
$ snapcraft register sha3_384
Registering sha3_384.
Registration failed.
```
This doesn't tell me what the problem is. Is the server down? Am I logged out somehow?
After guessing that '_' isn't allowed in a snap name, it works:
```
$ snapcraft register sha3384
Registering sha3384.
Congratulations! You're now the publisher for 'sha3384'.
```
I suggest a more helpful error message here might be something like:
"Error: the snap name 'sha3_384' is invalid: The following characters are not allowed in the snap name: '_'."
...or similar.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed resolved | Invalid snap names now produce a detailed allowed-character error. The handling landed in PR #1247 (03105a6c4), and Snapcraft v2.34 was confirmed to display it. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed resolved | Resolved in Snapcraft v2.34: invalid snap names now produce a useful validation message instead of failing opaquely. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed stale | Requested clearer errors for invalid snap names containing underscores; closed without an identified fix after years of inactivity. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Abandoned. The requested improvement to display specific invalid character errors during snap name registration was not implemented. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed without resolution. The report highlighted opaque error messages when registering snap names with invalid characters, suggesting clearer validation feedback. No comments or implementation details were provided. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related work
-
Likely Fixed By:
snapcraft#1247
(confidence 96%)
Commit 03105a6c4 added new Store registration error handling and test updates.
-
Related To:
snapcraft (launchpad)#1723720
(confidence 90%)
The maintainer identified this later bug as covering the irrelevant confirmation question shown for unusable names.
-
Related To:
snapcraft#1964
(confidence 84%)
Commit 44ecb321a later adapted Store tests for updated snap-name registration error messages.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1602791 Error when trying to register a reserved name is missing a sentence | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Fixed in canonical/snapcraft#629 via commit 250a350b9, which completed the reserved-name registration error guidance. | |
| #1598932 Trying to register a snap already reserved doesn't explain the error cause | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Fixed by snapcore/snapcraft#629, merged as commit 250a350b9, adding a clearer message when registering a reserved snap name. | |
| #1589613 Snap app names are too permissive | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Fixed: snapcraft PR #555 (commit bc9fac7e7) tightened snap/app name validation to match snapd, with snapd PR snapcore/snapd#1280; shipped in snapcraft 2.12 (xenial/yakkety) and verified. | |
| #1681545 Generic error message when registering snap names longer than allowed | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Resolved service-side: SCA now returns code "invalid" for overlong snap names; PR #1247 updated registration error handling and Store integration tests. |