Package build succeeds but the tool reports its APK missing

scope: generic · severity: trap · confidence: proven · subsystem: build

Evidence

2026-09-29 porthole pkg build phosh returned a missing-APK error after 946 successful build steps; the artifact existed at .run/release-pmb/packages/systemd-edge/aarch64/phosh-99990.57.0-r26.apk while the tool reported looking in packages/edge/aarch64. lib/porthole_cmd_pkg.py now resolves the path again after building; tests/test_pkg.py and the actual artifact check pass.

Symptom — porthole pkg build phosh finishes successfully and then says the APK is missing from packages/edge/aarch64.

Cause — Before the build, no APK exists. The expected-path helper picks the first repository directory as a fallback. Phosh belongs to systemd-edge, which pmbootstrap creates or fills during the build. Keeping the pre-build fallback as the post-build location checks the wrong directory.

What to do — Resolve the expected path again after pmbootstrap returns, then inspect the APK’s existence and timestamp. A successful process exit or a pre-build path guess alone does not prove where the package landed.