feat(remote-build): add --project-dir argument to support build paths
Metadata
Current evaluation
Adds --project-dir to snapcraft remote-build (monorepo/build paths) with unit + spread tests. Maintainer testing rejected the os.chdir/sys.argv workaround in favor of build-path; remote-build and lint CI are red, no approvals, quiet 28 days.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: The approach is still unvalidated: mr-cal reported the exact repro failing ('Could not find a git repository in .../remote-build-subdir/foo') and stated 'os.chdir isn't the right approach either... We should be using the `build-path` instead', then flagged the craft-application monorepo PR #1109 as a possible alternative. The `remote-build` CI check is failing and there are 0 approvals with 28 days of inactivity, so this needs rework rather than merge; it is not yet abandoned (last author push 2026-08-22), so closing as stale is unwarranted. Note the `lint / files` failure was explicitly declared out of scope by mr-cal ("You can ignore this failure for now, it will be addressed by #6378", now merged with PLR0917 added to pyproject.toml), so that red check alone should not drive the decision.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
32
Quick Win:
5
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
80
Actionability:
25
Issue body
Fixes #6287
**Describe your changes:**
This PR introduces the `--project-dir` command-line argument for the `snapcraft remote-build` command to support monorepo setups and custom build paths, fulfilling the requirements outlined in Issue #6287.
**Key Technical Details:**
* **Command-Line Interface:** Added the `--project-dir` option in `snapcraft/commands/remote.py`, mapping it to the newly supported `build_path` parameter in upstream `craft-application`.
* **Testing (Unit):** Added unit tests in `tests/unit/commands/test_remote.py` to verify the argument parsing and API calls. A pre-existing test fixture (`test_multiple_artifacts_per_build_on`) was bypassed for the `PLR0917` linter rule using `# noqa: PLR0917` to keep the PR scope focused and avoid unrelated refactoring.
* **Testing (Spread):** Created a new spread test environment under `tests/spread/core24/remote-build/` (including `task.yaml`, `arguments.txt`, `expected-snaps.txt`, and dummy project data) to exercise the `--project-dir` functionality in a remote build scenario.
* **Release Notes:** Documented the new feature in `docs/release-notes/snapcraft-9-0.rst` under the "Minor features" section.
---
- [x] I've followed the [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/canonical/snapcraft/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md).
- [x] I've signed the [CLA](http://www.ubuntu.com/legal/contributors/).
- [x] I've successfully run `make lint && make test`.
- [x] I've added or updated any relevant documentation.
- [x] In documents I changed, I [added a meta description](https://canonical-starflow.readthedocs-hosted.com/how-to/add-a-page-meta-description/) if one was missing.
- [x] I've updated the relevant release notes.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
32
Quick Win:
5
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
80
Actionability:
25
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir to snapcraft remote-build (monorepo/build paths) with unit + spread tests. Maintainer testing rejected the os.chdir/sys.argv workaround in favor of build-path; remote-build and lint CI are red, no approvals, quiet 28 days. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
48
Quick Win:
5
Complexity:
58
Confidence:
92
Actionability:
25
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir to remote-build with unit and Spread coverage, but maintainer testing rejected the chdir workaround; build-path/monorepo integration remains unresolved and remote-build/lint CI is red. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Impact:
50
Quick Win:
22
Staleness:
35
Complexity:
55
Confidence:
75
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Under active review with maintainer suggesting alternative approaches using build-path or upstream monorepo feature. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
90
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument for snapcraft remote-build to support monorepos. Currently awaiting contributor updates after maintainer feedback indicates the current chdir-based fix causes git repository detection failures and suggests using build-path instead. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
85
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument for remote-build to support monorepos. Currently under active review with maintainer feedback on git directory handling and acknowledged CI lint failures. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
90
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests. Recently updated to fix a FileNotFoundError by parsing sys.argv early. Awaiting maintainer review. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
10
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
85
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Recently updated to fix a FileNotFoundError by overriding the project directory before framework initialization. Awaiting maintainer review; known unrelated lint failure acknowledged by maintainer. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
10
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
90
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests, plus release notes. Currently awaiting contributor updates to fix a FileNotFoundError and rebase on main, with maintainer approval to ignore unrelated lint failures. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests. Currently awaiting author updates to fix a FileNotFoundError and merge main, with maintainer approval to ignore unrelated lint failures. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
10
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests, updates release notes. Currently awaiting contributor's follow-up commits to fix a FileNotFoundError and rebase on main. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests. Author is rebasing and fixing a maintainer-reported FileNotFoundError. Awaiting maintainer review. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
10
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests, plus release notes. Currently awaiting author's push to fix a FileNotFoundError and rebase on main, with maintainer approval to ignore unrelated lint failures. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
10
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
85
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests. Currently awaiting author's follow-up commit to fix a FileNotFoundError and address CI lint failures. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
|
keep open | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests. Maintainer acknowledged unrelated lint failures; author is preparing updates to fix a FileNotFoundError and merge main. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
10
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests, updates release notes. Awaiting maintainer review; CI lint failure acknowledged and deferred to another PR. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
15
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit and spread tests, plus release notes. Awaiting maintainer review; CI lint failures acknowledged and deferred to another PR. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
85
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit/spread tests and docs. Awaiting maintainer review and guidance on pre-existing lint failures. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
5
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
85
|
needs review | Adds --project-dir CLI argument to snapcraft remote-build for monorepo support. Includes unit/spread tests and docs. Currently awaiting maintainer guidance on unrelated lint failures and initial review. |
Update history
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Related work
-
Related To:
canonical/snapcraft#6287
(confidence 95%)
Tracking issue the PR claims to fix; still open, summary confirms Snapcraft implementation and spread coverage remain outstanding.
-
Related To:
canonical/snapcraft#6378
(confidence 90%)
Merged ruff 0.16 PR that mr-cal said would address the pre-existing PLR0917 lint failures in this PR's CI.
-
Related To:
canonical/craft-application#1109
(confidence 55%)
Merged opt-in monorepo support cited by mr-cal as a possibly cleaner alternative to --project-dir, though no decision was made.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #6287 remote-build: support build paths | snapcraft | open | Triaged enhancement to let remote-build select a nested snapcraft.yaml via --project-dir; upstream support is complete, but Snapcraft implementation and spread coverage remain. | |
| #1106 remote-build: support `build_path` for snaps | craft-application | closed | Closed as triaged after narrowing support to remote-build --project-dir; Snapcraft-side implementation remains in canonical/snapcraft#6287. | |
| #1128 feat(remotebuild): add build-path to snap recipes | craft-application | merged | Merged PR #1128 as commit 90cc2c75, adding Launchpad build-path support to SnapRecipe and RemoteBuildService. It fixes #1106 and unblocks canonical/snapcraft#6287. |