Document new core22 variable to enable experimental extensions
Metadata
Current evaluation
Documented SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS=1 as the Core22 replacement; the removed --enable-experimental-extensions flag was deliberately not restored.
Resolution: closed resolved
Reason: In the closing maintainer comment, mr-cal linked the new experimental-extensions how-to, which now documents the required environment variable. They explicitly declined to restore the removed flag because too much time had passed.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
No scores available.
Issue body
### What needs to get done
Document and improve messaging explaining that enabling experimental extensions in core22 requires the usage of an environment variable instead of the --enable-experimental-extension flag.
The solution could be:
- When running snapcraft with the old flag in core22, add an error message indicating that the flag does not exist anymore.
- Document the behaviour on [snapcraft-extensions](https://snapcraft.io/docs/snapcraft-extensions) page.
### Why it needs to get done
In Core22, it appears that the process for enabling experimental extensions has been modified. Instead of using the --enable-experimental-extensions flag, it is now required to set the environment variable SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS=1 before executing the snapcraft command. However, when running snapcraft with the old --enable-experimental-extensions flag, no error is explicitly reported, simply the the experimental flags are ignored. This makes the process time-consuming and unclear for the developer.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed resolved | Documented SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS=1 as the Core22 replacement; the removed --enable-experimental-extensions flag was deliberately not restored. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed resolved | Core22’s environment-variable workflow was documented; the removed CLI flag was deliberately not restored. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed resolved | Core22 experimental extensions are now enabled with SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS=1, as documented in the official how-to. The removed CLI flag was not restored. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed as resolved. The deprecated CLI flag was not restored due to the time elapsed. The required environment variable SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS=1 is now documented in the official how-to guide. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed. The team acknowledged the deprecated flag oversight but deemed adding a deprecation notice too late. Resolution involved publishing documentation for the new SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS environment variable. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed. Documentation updated to cover the new SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS environment variable. Maintainers declined adding a CLI error or deprecation notice due to the time elapsed since the flag was removed. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 | — | — | Resolved by documenting the SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS environment variable. The deprecated CLI flag will not be restored with a deprecation notice due to the time elapsed. Closed. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #3775 provider: forward SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS | snapcraft | merged | Merged PR #3775, forwarding SNAPCRAFT_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXTENSIONS into provider build environments so experimental extensions work; merge commit 17fe9e48c. |