create-key with no passphrase with pop-up loop
Metadata
Current evaluation
Usage question: snapcraft create-key over SSH on a headless VM loops on a GnuPG graphical passphrase pop-up when leaving the passphrase empty; behavior originates in snapd/gnupg, not snapcraft.
Suggested action: close not a bug
Reason: snapcraft/commands/keys.py:162 merely does subprocess.check_call(["snap", "create-key", key_name]) with no TTY or passphrase logic of its own, so the pop-up loop described in steps 4-5 is GnuPG pinentry selecting a graphical agent in a headless SSH session — a snapd/gnupg behaviour, not a defect in snapcraft. The reporter explicitly asks 'Is there a way around this?' and connects via MacOS from a serial-vault context, making this a support/how-to question answerable by configuring the gpg agent (e.g. loopback pinentry / allow-empty-passphrase) or pre-generating the key, rather than a code fix. Confidence is moderate because the underlying pinentry behaviour could not be exercised here and the fix, if a maintainer wanted non-interactive key creation, would live in snapd or require snapcraft to bypass `snap create-key`.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Issue body
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
25
Quick Win:
7
Complexity:
50
Confidence:
65
Actionability:
55
|
close not a bug | Usage question: snapcraft create-key over SSH on a headless VM loops on a GnuPG graphical passphrase pop-up when leaving the passphrase empty; behavior originates in snapd/gnupg, not snapcraft. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
40
Quick Win:
12
Complexity:
55
Confidence:
90
Actionability:
65
|
needs triage | Untriaged report: snapcraft create-key with an empty passphrase loops on a pinentry pop-up over SSH on Ubuntu 18.04 EC2, with no workaround or maintainer response after 6.5 years. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
25
Quick Win:
15
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
85
|
close not a bug | snapcraft create-key cannot be run without a passphrase on a headless VM (Ubuntu 18.04 EC2); pressing enter at the passphrase prompts triggers a looping pop-up. Open ~6.4 years with zero comments, no labels, and no maintainer interaction. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
20
|
close stale | snapcraft create-key loops requesting a passphrase when run without one in a VM. Unlabeled, no maintainer response, inactive for over six years. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
25
|
close stale | Bug report from 6+ years ago describing a passphrase prompt loop when running snapcraft create-key without a passphrase in a VM. No maintainer response or labels. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
70
|
close stale | snapcraft create-key triggers a passphrase pop-up loop in headless VMs. The report is over six years old, has no maintainer interaction, and references an unsupported Ubuntu version. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1827217 create-key without a passphrase is not possible using multipass | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Untriaged report that `snapcraft create-key` cannot accept an empty passphrase in Multipass; pressing Return returns to password confirmation, with details only in an external paste. |