The documentation for `how-to/publishing/authenticate.rst` should at least specify one system keyring as an example
Metadata
Current evaluation
Docs request to add a concrete system keyring example (e.g. gnome-keyring install) to how-to/publishing/authenticate.rst for WSL users hitting 'No keyring found'. Triaged, acknowledged by a maintainer, and an open PR (#6073) is addressing it.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: The issue is labelled 'Status: Triaged' / 'Type: Documentation' and maintainer @bepri explicitly acknowledged it ('I agree this could be improved :)'), and open PR canonical/snapcraft#6073 ('docs: add gnome-keyring example for WSL users (fixes #6049)') is actively working on it, though it still has unresolved review comments. The doc file still lacks any concrete keyring example, so the request remains valid and in progress.
Impact:
35
Quick Win:
31.5
Staleness:
50
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
Issue body
### Check existing issues
- [x] I've verified that this request isn't described by any existing issues.
### Request
<!-- Describe your request and the problem it solves. Include any relevant context, screenshots, or examples. -->
- The documentation for `how-to/publishing/authenticate.rst` should at least specify one system keyring as an example.
- Currently, https://documentation.ubuntu.com/snapcraft/latest/how-to/publishing/authenticate/#authenticate-with-a-keyring describes it as follows.
> On systems where you wish to remain logged in, run `snapcraft login`. Snapcraft will attempt to use the system keyring. If no keyrings are installed or initialized, Snapcraft will fall back to file-based credential storage. The file-based storage is managed by Snapcraft. If you wish to import/export credentials, refer to the previous sections.
- I find this a bit odd for WSL users, because most WSL users new to snapcraft don't know what to install as a system keyring. There's no proper Linux desktop environment, and therefore no way to provide the necessary files for `file-based storage`.
```bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade --assume-yes
sudo snap install snapcraft --classic
sudo snap install multipass
sudo snap set snapcraft provider=multipass
snapcraft login
```
```bash
lingh@DESKTOP-58BHAE6:~$ snapcraft login
No keyring found to store or retrieve credentials from.
Recommended resolution: Ensure the keyring is working or SNAPCRAFT_STORE_CREDENTIALS is correctly exported into the environment
For more information, check out: https://documentation.ubuntu.com/snapcraft/stable/how-to/publishing/authenticate
Full execution log: '/home/lingh/.local/state/snapcraft/log/snapcraft-20260219-230047.517051.log'
```
- Most users will only know from internet searches that they need to additionally execute `sudo apt install --assume-yes gnome-keyring`, so why not write this command into the documentation? `gnome-keyring` can certainly be used under WSL2.
- <img width="2450" height="1344" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f8f77fa2-fb6f-4ee9-842b-ff408d1612a4" />
- The early investigation is located at https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/9847 .
### Document location
https://documentation.ubuntu.com/snapcraft/latest/how-to/publishing/authenticate/#authenticate-with-a-keyring
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
35
Quick Win:
31.5
Staleness:
50
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Docs request to add a concrete system keyring example (e.g. gnome-keyring install) to how-to/publishing/authenticate.rst for WSL users hitting 'No keyring found'. Triaged, acknowledged by a maintainer, and an open PR (#6073) is addressing it. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
50
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Documentation request to add gnome-keyring installation example for WSL users in snapcraft authentication guide. Currently triaged and acknowledged by a maintainer, awaiting implementation. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
55
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Documentation request to add a concrete keyring installation example (e.g., gnome-keyring) for WSL users. Triaged and acknowledged by a maintainer, awaiting implementation. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
50
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Update Snapcraft authentication docs to explicitly recommend a system keyring like gnome-keyring, resolving WSL setup confusion. Issue is triaged, maintainer approved, and an internal ticket has been created awaiting documentation updates. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Likely Fixed By:
canonical/snapcraft#6073
(confidence 80%)
Open PR titled 'docs: add gnome-keyring example for WSL users (fixes #6049)' directly targets this issue; still pending review with unresolved comments, so not yet merged.
Related issues
No related issues found above the similarity threshold.