snapcraft help doesn't show --shell-before, or --shell, or --destructive-mode options
Metadata
Current evaluation
Closed without a help fix after a maintainer said command-less snapcraft was deprecated. PR #6074 removed that default command, but #6178 reverted the removal, leaving the mismatch unresolved.
Resolution: closed stale
Reason: No help-output change was made; maintainer ~mr-cal closed the long-stale report by noting that invoking snapcraft without a command was deprecated. PR #6074 removed the default command, but PR #6178 reverted it, so neither resolved the reported mismatch.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
No scores available.
Issue body
In the snapcraft help the only options shown are --debug, --version and --help:
```
$ snapcraft --help
Usage: snapcraft [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...
Snapcraft is a delightful packaging tool.
Options:
--version Show the version and exit.
-d, --debug
--help Show this message and exit.
```
when you can really use the default sub-command (`snapcraft snap` AIUI) options with `snapcraft` directly, so the documented options for `snapcraft snap` should also show up in the default help message. Specifically these options:
```
Options:
--target-arch <arch> Target architecture to cross compile to
--debug Shells into the environment if the build fails.
--shell Shells into the environment in lieu of the step to
run.
--shell-after Shells into the environment after the step has run.
--destructive-mode Forces snapcraft to try and use the current host to
build.
--use-lxd Forces snapcraft to use LXD to build.
-o, --output TEXT path to the resulting snap.
--help Show this message and exit.
```
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed stale | Closed without a help fix after a maintainer said command-less snapcraft was deprecated. PR #6074 removed that default command, but #6178 reverted the removal, leaving the mismatch unresolved. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed stale | Closed without a help-output fix: the maintainer said invoking snapcraft without a command was deprecated. Default-command removal #6074 was later reverted by #6178. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Running snapcraft without a subcommand was deprecated, closing this report. The maintainer rejected the request to update the help output since the underlying command is no longer supported. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Report that snapcraft --help omits default subcommand options like --shell and --destructive-mode. Issue is completely inactive for over 7 years with no maintainer response. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Reported that snapcraft --help omits subcommand options like --shell and --destructive-mode. Issue is 7 years old with no maintainer response or activity. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
100
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | snapcraft --help omits default subcommand options like --shell and --destructive-mode. Issue has been inactive for ~7 years with no maintainer response or labels. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related work
-
Related To:
canonical/snapcraft#6178
(confidence 97%)
Reverted PR #6074, restoring the default-command behavior without fixing its help output.
-
Related To:
canonical/snapcraft#6074
(confidence 96%)
Removed support for Snapcraft's implicit default command, directly addressing the deprecated invocation.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #5169 snapcraft help fails on many commands | snapcraft | closed | Fixed by merged PR #5178 (commit f97d032bf), adding missing help text for positional args; maintainer closed the issue noting the fix ships in snapcraft 8.5.1. | |
| #1701 snapcraft help” only command summary | snapcraft | closed | Request for concise `snapcraft help` output was closed without implementation or explanation; no resolving PR or commit was recorded. | |
| #1986645 Some snapcraft 7.x commands have irrelevant "help" info | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Fixed in Snapcraft 8 by command-group help refactoring merged in canonical/snapcraft#4934 (commit 6a388877f). | |
| #1848732 --shell does not make snapcraftctl available | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | --shell and --shell-after reportedly omit snapcraftctl from the build environment; current packaging includes a compatibility wrapper, but the unversioned report remains untriaged. |