"The name <foo> is already taken" is a poor experience
Metadata
Current evaluation
The reported reserved-name wording is absent from current code: ffb164b7a removed snapcraft_legacy, and the modern register command no longer contains the quoted message.
Suggested action: close resolved
Reason: The report quotes the legacy message introduced by commit 881a79405 (snapcraft#1778). The current tree contains neither the quoted wording nor its old registration URL, and commit ffb164b7a, "chore: remove snapcraft_legacy", removed the implementation containing it; the remaining register command delegates to StoreClientCLI.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
18
Complexity:
12
Confidence:
86
Actionability:
68
Issue body
A new person to snapcrafting, who wants to register a snap and deliver it to users will often (as per our docs) issue "snapcraft register foo" as one of their first steps. They will be met with:-
https://github.com/snapcore/snapcraft/blob/881a7940552a1eac3c8f0833e33e71017d5b549b/snapcraft/storeapi/errors.py#L169
"The name 'foo' is already taken. We can if needed rename snaps to ensure they match the expectations of most users. If you are the publisher most users expect for 'foo' then claim the name at 'https://dashboard.snapcraft.io/register-snap/?series=16&name=foo'"
We have seen multiple occasions where this is off-putting. In our experience we find developers believe this means they are not allowed to use the name, even if it's a name they have for their own software project. They will then register "devname-foo" or "foo-devname" in the store for their own project, which looks awful when searching, and means users have command lines which consist of <devname-foo.foo> in some cases.
I believe it's the first sentence which triggers this. Mostly because of the land grab we did before launch. We should re-word this so it's less off-putting for new users.
Perhaps something which implies that we want them to go through the extra step, but doesn't imply they're not allowed to use it. I fully appreciate we don't want people grabbing stuff they're not "expected" to own, but in many of these cases they are, but do NOT move on to the next step of registering a dispute because of the dismissive language used in the first sentence.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
18
Complexity:
12
Confidence:
86
Actionability:
68
|
close resolved | The reported reserved-name wording is absent from current code: ffb164b7a removed snapcraft_legacy, and the modern register command no longer contains the quoted message. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
35
Quick Win:
28
Complexity:
8
Confidence:
90
Actionability:
88
|
close resolved | The reported conflict wording is absent from the current code, and commit 39f7a1f43 updated register guidance to link the snap registration documentation. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
16
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
50
Actionability:
60
|
needs triage | UX issue: error message when snap name is already taken is off-putting to new users, leading them to register awkward alternative names. No maintainer assessment yet. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
20
Quick Win:
17
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | UX complaint that the 'The name <foo> is already taken' error from snapcraft register is off-putting and discourages new users from claiming a name they legitimately own. 8+ years old, no maintainer response, and the register command/prompt has since been removed from current snapcraft. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Suggests rewording a snapcraft registration error message to reduce confusion for new users. Unlabeled, unresponded to, and inactive for over eight years. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | Suggests rewording the snap name registration error message to be less off-putting to new users. Unlabelled, zero comments, and inactive for over 8 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Suggests rewording the snap name registration error message to reduce confusion for new users and prevent awkward workarounds. Unaddressed for over 8 years. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related work
-
Caused By:
snapcraft#1778
(confidence 96%)
The issue cites commit 881a79405, which git history identifies as PR #1778 and the change that introduced the legacy reserved-name message.
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. |