snapcraft isn't context aware in displaying help text
Metadata
Current evaluation
Requests base/context-aware `snapcraft --help`; concrete --verbosity gap for core20 was unified in 8.11 (PRs #5646/#5680) and core20 dropped in 9.0, but general context-aware help remains planned.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: The specific reproducer (`snapcraft --verbosity=verbose` rejected on core20) is already addressed upstream — release notes for 8.11 state verbosity options are now 'available for all commands when building snaps with core20, core22, and core24 bases' via commits 3aeded2fa (#5646) and 4a7663069 (#5680), and snapcraft-9-0.rst documents 'Removed core20 support'. However, the broader request (help text/options varying with the project's declared base and context) is unimplemented, and maintainer ~mr-cal explicitly replied 'This is planned work as part of .../5424 and .../5423', so it remains a valid acknowledged feature request rather than a resolved bug.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Issue body
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
32
Quick Win:
5
Complexity:
58
Confidence:
78
Actionability:
38
|
keep open | Requests base/context-aware `snapcraft --help`; concrete --verbosity gap for core20 was unified in 8.11 (PRs #5646/#5680) and core20 dropped in 9.0, but general context-aware help remains planned. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
15
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
88
Actionability:
85
|
close resolved | Reporter asked for base-aware help/options because Snapcraft 7 rejected --verbosity on core20 builds. Gap closed: verbosity flags unified for all commands/bases in 8.11; core20 support dropped in 9.0. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
35
Quick Win:
19
Complexity:
42
Confidence:
98
Actionability:
95
|
close resolved | Snapcraft 7.x help exposed verbosity flags that core20 builds rejected; merged legacy-command changes and the 8.11 release notes confirm the mismatch was fixed. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
22
Staleness:
90
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Feature request for context-aware CLI help based on snapcraft.yaml base. Open for over 4 years with no maintainer interaction or labels. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Unresolved request from 2021 for context-aware CLI help in snapcraft 7.x. No maintainer response or labels. The reported version and CLI architecture are obsolete, and the feature is no longer applicable to current releases. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
88
Complexity:
55
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Request for context-aware CLI help in snapcraft based on snapcraft.yaml base. Currently displays generic options, causing errors with base-specific flags. Untriaged, zero maintainer comments. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
92
Complexity:
65
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
needs triage | Reports that snapcraft CLI help text is not context-aware based on the snapcraft.yaml base, showing invalid options like --verbosity for core20 builds. Unlabeled, no maintainer response, inactive for over a year. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related work
-
Likely Fixed By:
canonical/snapcraft#5423
(confidence 72%)
Closed by PR #5646 (commit 3aeded2fa) plus #5680 (commit 4a7663069), which add --verbosity/--verbose/--quiet to legacy/core20 commands — the concrete symptom in this bug.
-
Duplicate Of:
canonical/snapcraft#5424
(confidence 55%)
Maintainer ~mr-cal cited #5424 and #5423 as the tracking issues for this Launchpad report; #5424 (Snapcraft 7 backport) was closed unfixed.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #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. | |
| #1698116 snapcraft help claims to have help for topics, but doesn't | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Merged PR #1789 in commit e66b29d84 improved `snapcraft help` so its available topics can be discovered. | |
| #1699 snapcraft <help> command | snapcraft | closed | Feature request by maintainer sergiusens to add a `snapcraft help <command>` sub-command. Resolved by merged PR #1845, commit cf20b3593 ("cli: implement help <command> (#1845)"), which added command-specific help support. | |
| #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). |