Install build snaps from the host if available

Metadata

Project: snapcraft
Number: #4706
Type: issue
State: open
Author: lengau
Labels: —
Created: 2024-03-29 11:40 PM UTC
Updated: 2026-06-22 06:55 PM UTC
Closed: —

Current evaluation

Feature request to reuse host-installed build snaps in build containers, avoiding repeated downloads of large SDK snaps; implementation direction was identified in a recent maintainer comment.

Suggested action: keep open

Reason: The request remains valid and materially improves local build iteration by avoiding repeated downloads of build snaps such as GNOME and KDE SDKs. In the latest substantive comment, @mr-cal proposed obtaining build snaps from the project and using craft-application's enqueue_snap_injection mechanism in _setup_snaps(), providing a concrete implementation path despite remaining details such as architecture and channel handling.

Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot

Impact: 55 Quick Win: 17 Complexity: 63 Confidence: 92 Actionability: 82

Issue body

### What needs to get done If a build snap is installed from the host system, offer a way to use the host system's snap in the build container ### Why it needs to get done This would help people who are developing content or SDK snaps test their snaps much more quickly without using `--destructive-mode`. It also means large sdk snaps like the gnome and kde snaps don't need to be re-downloaded for each new app being snapped.

Evaluation history

Date	Model	Scores	Action	Summary
2026-10-02 05:23 PM UTC	stealth/space-bunny-alpha	Impact: 55 Quick Win: 17 Complexity: 63 Confidence: 92 Actionability: 82	keep open	Feature request to reuse host-installed build snaps in build containers, avoiding repeated downloads of large SDK snaps; implementation direction was identified in a recent maintainer comment.
2026-09-20 06:42 PM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Impact: 55 Quick Win: 19 Complexity: 50 Confidence: 70 Actionability: 70	keep open	Feature request to use host-installed build snaps in build containers to avoid re-downloading large SDK snaps like gnome and kde.
2026-09-01 03:19 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.8-27b	Impact: 55 Quick Win: 22 Staleness: 20 Complexity: 60 Confidence: 80 Support Request: 10	keep open	Feature request to inject host-installed build snaps into the build container to speed up development and avoid re-downloading large SDK snaps. Active: a maintainer recently proposed using craft-application's enqueue_snap_injection.
2026-07-22 12:14 PM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 45 Complexity: 65 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 10	keep open	Feature request to use host-installed build snaps in containers to speed up development and avoid re-downloads. Currently under discussion with a proposed technical solution involving enque_snap_injection.
2026-07-08 06:58 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 25 Complexity: 45 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 0	needs triage	Feature request to reuse host-installed build snaps in containers to speed up development and avoid re-downloads. Recently discussed with a potential implementation path, but remains unlabelled and unassigned.

Update history

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