`--enable-manifest` and `--manifest-image-information` deprecation warnings display when options haven't been used

Metadata

Project: snapcraft
Number: #4916
Type: issue
State: open
Author: jhenstridge
Labels: —
Created: 2024-07-15 09:05 AM UTC
Updated: 2025-03-13 06:37 PM UTC
Closed: —

Current evaluation

Snapcraft emits spurious deprecation warnings for --enable-manifest and --manifest-image-information when users set the documented SNAPCRAFT_BUILD_INFO/SNAPCRAFT_IMAGE_INFO env vars instead of the flags. Maintainer confirmed repro and root cause (argparse defaults consume env vars); bug still present in code.

Suggested action: keep open

Reason: Maintainer mr-cal confirmed the repro and identified the root cause ('argparse defaults --enable-manifest to SNAPCRAFT_BUILD_INFO... Snapcraft needs to emit deprecation warnings before consuming the envvars'), so the issue is triaged and valid. The bug is still present in the current code (snapcraft/parts/lifecycle.py:357-361 and 456-464 still warn based on parsed_args values that are populated from env vars), so it remains relevant. It is a minor cosmetic annoyance rather than a functional break, keeping impact low.

Impact: 20 Quick Win: 14.0 Staleness: 65 Complexity: 30 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 0

Issue body

### Bug Description When updating the CI for the `snapcore/action-build` Github action, I noticed that it generated warnings like: ``` /usr/bin/sudo -u runner -E snapcraft '--enable-manifest' is deprecated, and will be removed in core24. '--manifest-image-information' is deprecated, and will be removed in core24. ``` I had not passed either of these command line options, instead setting the `SNAPCRAFT_BUILD_INFO` and `SNAPCRAFT_IMAGE_INFO` environment variables (which is [documented as the supported replacement](https://snapcraft.io/docs/build-options#heading--deprecated)). ### To Reproduce In a core22 project, run `SNAPCRAFT_BUILD_INFO=1 SNAPCRAFT_IMAGE_INFO={} snapcraft`. ### Environment Snapcraft 8.3.1 running on Ubuntu 24.04. ### snapcraft.yaml ```shell base: core22 ``` ### Relevant log output ```shell 2024-07-15 17:02:36.558 '--enable-manifest' is deprecated, and will be removed in core24. 2024-07-15 17:02:36.558 '--manifest-image-information' is deprecated, and will be removed in core24. ``` ### Additional context _No response_

Evaluation history

Date	Model	Scores	Action	Summary
2026-09-01 03:11 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.8-27b	Impact: 20 Quick Win: 14.0 Staleness: 65 Complexity: 30 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 0	keep open	Snapcraft emits spurious deprecation warnings for --enable-manifest and --manifest-image-information when users set the documented SNAPCRAFT_BUILD_INFO/SNAPCRAFT_IMAGE_INFO env vars instead of the flags. Maintainer confirmed repro and root cause (argparse defaults consume env vars); bug still present in code.
2026-07-22 12:14 PM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 75 Complexity: 20 Confidence: 90 Support Request: 0	keep open	Snapcraft incorrectly shows deprecation warnings for enable-manifest and manifest-image-information when users set the documented environment variables instead. A maintainer confirmed the bug and identified the root cause in argparse handling.
2026-07-08 06:27 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 80 Complexity: 15 Confidence: 90 Support Request: 0	keep open	Snapcraft emits deprecation warnings for CLI flags when only environment variables are used. Maintainer reproduced the issue and identified an argparse defaulting cause. Currently open and unlabelled.
2026-06-16 11:49 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 85 Complexity: 20 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 5	keep open	False deprecation warnings trigger for --enable-manifest and --manifest-image-information when using their environment variable replacements. Root cause identified: argparse defaults the flags to the env vars, causing premature warnings. Needs fix.

Update history

No update history recorded yet.

Related work

Caused By: canonical/snapcraft#4618 (confidence 70%)
Commit e426d07a3 'feat!: deprecate enable-manifest and manifest-image-information (#4618)' introduced the deprecation warnings that fire on env-var-driven defaults.

Related issues

No related issues found above the similarity threshold.