Expose the build base name in snapcraft.yaml
Metadata
Current evaluation
Enhancement request to expose the build base name (e.g. core22) as an environment/project variable usable in snapcraft.yaml env and parts, avoiding hardcoding. Triaged; mr-cal agreed an env var is better than hardcoding; tracked internally as SNAPCRAFT-1187. Not implemented.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: The feature is valid, triaged (labels 'Status: Triaged', 'Type: Enhancement') and has explicit maintainer buy-in: mr-cal stated "I agree that an environment variable is better for base-independent code", with an internal ticket SNAPCRAFT-1187 logged. Code inspection confirms no SNAPCRAFT_BUILD_BASE exists — set_global_environment() in snapcraft/parts/lifecycle.py only exposes SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_NAME/VERSION/GRADE, so the request is still unimplemented. Implementation is a small, well-precedented addition (same mechanism as PR #3748) plus docs and spread tests, with the only subtlety being that `build-base: devel` maps to a concrete base (cf. commit 17666fb25 "return correct base when using devel for build-base"). Impact is moderate: a recipe-quality/DX improvement with an acceptable hardcoding workaround, not a broken behaviour.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Issue body
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
38
Quick Win:
19
Complexity:
32
Confidence:
80
Actionability:
74
|
keep open | Enhancement request to expose the build base name (e.g. core22) as an environment/project variable usable in snapcraft.yaml env and parts, avoiding hardcoding. Triaged; mr-cal agreed an env var is better than hardcoding; tracked internally as SNAPCRAFT-1187. Not implemented. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
60
Quick Win:
34
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
85
Actionability:
80
|
keep open | Request to expose the build base (e.g. core22) as an environment variable in snapcraft.yaml to avoid hardcoding. Triaged and acknowledged by maintainers. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
40
Quick Win:
30
Staleness:
75
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Feature request to expose the build base name (e.g. core22) as an environment variable in snapcraft.yaml to avoid hardcoding. Triaged and acknowledged by a maintainer who noted a workaround exists but agreed an env var would be better. Inactive for over a year. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
80
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
5
|
keep open | Feature request to expose the build base name in snapcraft.yaml to avoid hardcoding. Triaged and acknowledged by a maintainer, but inactive for approximately one year. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
85
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
75
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Enhancement request to expose the build base name in snapcraft.yaml for use in environment variables and parts. Triaged, but inactive for over a year with no implementation. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Related To:
snapcraft#3748
(confidence 62%)
Merged PR that introduced the global SNAPCRAFT_* project variables and yaml expansion this request would extend with a build-base variable.
Related issues
No related issues found above the similarity threshold.