Error: Invalid value for '--experimental-login'
Metadata
Current evaluation
SNAPCRAFT_LOGIN env var clashed with the --experimental-login flag's Click boolean option, breaking CI logins. Fixed by PR #3493 (commit 88e4f922f), renaming the variable to SNAPCRAFT_STORE_AUTH, shipped in Snapcraft 4.6.1.
Resolution: closed resolved
Reason: Maintainer sergiusens pointed to snapcore/snapcraft PR #3493, which was merged as commit 88e4f922f ('cli: rename experimental login environment variable'), renaming SNAPCRAFT_LOGIN to SNAPCRAFT_STORE_AUTH to avoid the CLI option clash; maintainers confirmed the fix landed in 4.6.1.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
No scores available.
Issue body
I'm trying to login to snapcraft via a GitHub Action to automatically deploy my snap. When I try to do this via `snapcraft login --with <(echo "$SNAPCRAFT_LOGIN")` I get the following error:
```
Error: Invalid value for '--experimental-login'
is not a valid boolean
Error: Process completed with exit code 2.
```
This is detailed here: https://github.com/plentico/plenti/issues/151#issuecomment-814458432
I was able to do this previously without any issues, but when I bump my CI environment from Ubuntu 18.04 to Ubuntu 20.04 I'm getting this issue, possibly because the new 4.6 release: https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/call-for-testing-snapcraft-4-6/23549
Other people seem to be experiencing this as well: https://twitter.com/dosco/status/1378055663792705536
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed resolved | SNAPCRAFT_LOGIN env var clashed with the --experimental-login flag's Click boolean option, breaking CI logins. Fixed by PR #3493 (commit 88e4f922f), renaming the variable to SNAPCRAFT_STORE_AUTH, shipped in Snapcraft 4.6.1. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed resolved | SNAPCRAFT_LOGIN env var clashed with the --experimental-login option in CI; fixed by snapcore/snapcraft PR #3493 (commit 88e4f922f) renaming the variable, shipped in 4.6.1. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed resolved | Reported `login --with` failing because `--experimental-login` was parsed as a boolean in 4.6. Legacy login support was later added by #3789 and #3794. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed without resolution. Reported a snapcraft 4.6 regression where --experimental-login incorrectly rejected process substitution input. Likely superseded by newer versions or resolved upstream. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed without resolution. Likely abandoned or superseded by newer Snapcraft versions that deprecated the --experimental-login flag. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed without resolution. The report details a snapcraft 4.6 regression where --experimental-login incorrectly rejects valid boolean inputs during CI authentication. No comments or fixes were provided. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 | — | — | Closed without resolution. The --experimental-login boolean parsing error in snapcraft 4.6 was abandoned. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related work
-
Likely Fixed By:
canonical/snapcraft#3493
(confidence 96%)
Merged commit 88e4f922f renames the experimental login env var to SNAPCRAFT_STORE_AUTH, avoiding the '--experimental-login' boolean parsing error; released in 4.6.1.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #3493 cli: rename experimental login environment variable | snapcraft | merged | Merged in commit 88e4f922f, renaming experimental login variable SNAPCRAFT_LOGIN to SNAPCRAFT_STORE_AUTH to avoid conflicts with CI/CD environment names. | |
| #6098 fix: Tweak error message about SNAPCRAFT_STORE_CREDENTIALS | snapcraft | merged | Merged in commit ee69b79b1, clarifying that login cannot be used while SNAPCRAFT_STORE_CREDENTIALS is set and removing ambiguous wording. | |
| #1978518 login still promots for username and password when using SNAPCRAFT_STORE_CREDENTIALS | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed as a usage misunderstanding: SNAPCRAFT_STORE_CREDENTIALS authenticates Snapcraft commands without running `snapcraft login`; no code fix was needed. |