Handle project variables with curly braces in app commands

Metadata

Project: snapcraft
Number: #5500
Type: issue
State: open
Author: mr-cal
Labels: Status: Triaged Type: Bug
Created: 2025-05-21 04:42 PM UTC
Updated: 2025-05-21 04:45 PM UTC
Closed: —

Current evaluation

Regression: Snapcraft fails when project variables with curly braces (e.g. ${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_NAME}) are used in app commands, introduced by PR #5183. Triaged bug, open and inactive for ~15 months.

Suggested action: keep open

Reason: The issue is a confirmed regression (labeled Status: Triaged, Type: Bug) with a clear reproducer and a known introducing PR (#5183). No fix has been merged yet — the related commit abd5db829 (#5499) addresses variable evaluation in the project file but does not close this issue, and the issue remains open with no resolution. Inactivity alone is not sufficient to close a valid, triaged bug.

Impact: 50 Quick Win: 30.0 Staleness: 75 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 70 Support Request: 0

Issue body

### What needs to get done Snapcraft should not fail when project variables with curly braces are used in app commands. ### Why it needs to get done This is a regression. Prior to https://github.com/canonical/snapcraft/pull/5183, Snapcraft used to allow: ```yaml apps: my-app: command: bin/${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_NAME} ```

Evaluation history

Date	Model	Scores	Action	Summary
2026-09-01 02:58 AM UTC	qwen/qwen3.8-27b	Impact: 50 Quick Win: 30.0 Staleness: 75 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 70 Support Request: 0	keep open	Regression: Snapcraft fails when project variables with curly braces (e.g. ${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_NAME}) are used in app commands, introduced by PR #5183. Triaged bug, open and inactive for ~15 months.
2026-07-22 12:14 PM UTC	qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b	Staleness: 95 Complexity: 45 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 10	keep open	Regression causing Snapcraft to fail when project variables with curly braces are used in app commands. Triaged bug, inactive for over a year, awaiting fix.
2026-07-08 03:45 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 90 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 85 Support Request: 5	keep open	Regression in Snapcraft where app commands fail when using project variables with curly braces, introduced by PR #5183. Triaged bug with no maintainer activity for over a year.
2026-06-16 08:39 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 85 Complexity: 40 Confidence: 80 Support Request: 10	keep open	Regression causing Snapcraft to fail when app commands use project variables with curly braces. The bug is triaged, linked to internal Jira ticket SNAPCRAFT-1135, and awaits implementation. Inactive for over a year.

Update history

No update history recorded yet.

Related work

Caused By: canonical/snapcraft#5183 (confidence 90%)
The issue body explicitly states this is a regression introduced by PR #5183.
Related To: canonical/snapcraft#5499 (confidence 50%)
Commit abd5db829 'fix: evaluate variables in project file (#5499)' is a related fix for variable evaluation, but it does not appear to specifically address curly-brace variables in app commands.

Related issues

No related issues found above the similarity threshold.