Micromamba is not silent on errors even when you pass `--quiet`

[simon-ess]

Troubleshooting docs

• My problem is not solved in the Troubleshooting docs

Anaconda default channels

• I do NOT use the Anaconda default channels (pkgs/* etc.)

How did you install Mamba?

Micromamba

Search tried in issue tracker

quiet

Latest version of Mamba

• My problem is not solved with the latest version

Tried in Conda?

I do not have this problem with Conda, just with Mamba

Describe your issue

Micromamba really likes to tell you when something has gone wrong (see for example my previous issue #3636), even if you tell it not to. Running a command such as

$ micromamba list --quiet --json -n not_an_environment

yields the extremely verbose, non-json output

info     libmamba ****************** Backtrace Start ******************
debug    libmamba Loading configuration
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'create_base'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'no_env'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'no_rc'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'rc_files'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'root_prefix'
trace    libmamba Get RC files configuration from locations up to HomeDir
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/mambarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/mambarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/condarc.d/'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration found at '/etc/conda/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/condarc.d/'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Update configurable 'no_env'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'envs_dirs'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'file_specs'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'spec_file_env_name'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'env_name'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'use_default_prefix_fallback'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'use_root_prefix_fallback'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'use_target_prefix_fallback'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'target_prefix'
trace    libmamba Get RC files configuration from locations up to TargetPrefix
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/envs/food/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/envs/food/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/envs/food/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/envs/food/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/mambarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/mambarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/condarc.d/'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration found at '/etc/conda/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/condarc.d/'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Update configurable 'no_env'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'relocate_prefix'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'target_prefix_checks'
error    libmamba No prefix found at: /root/micromamba/envs/food
error    libmamba Environment must first be created with "micromamba create -n {env_name} ..."
critical libmamba Aborting.
info     libmamba ****************** Backtrace End ********************

Several points:

• This is not valid json despite my request
• This is not quiet, despite my request 😄

I'm not sure the best solution to this, but it does seem that this could be improved by either:

• Not sending this output when --quiet is passed
• Reformatting it as json if --json is passed

mamba info / micromamba info

libmamba version : 2.0.5
     micromamba version : 2.0.5
           curl version : libcurl/8.11.1 OpenSSL/3.4.0 zlib/1.3.1 zstd/1.5.6 libssh2/1.11.1 nghttp2/1.64.0
     libarchive version : libarchive 3.7.7 zlib/1.3.1 bz2lib/1.0.8 libzstd/1.5.6
       envs directories : /root/micromamba/envs
          package cache : /root/micromamba/pkgs
                          /root/.mamba/pkgs
            environment : foo (active)
           env location : /root/micromamba/envs/foo
      user config files : /root/.mambarc
 populated config files : /etc/conda/.mambarc
       virtual packages : __unix=0=0
                          __linux=6.6.51=0
                          __glibc=2.17=0
                          __archspec=1=x86_64_v3
               channels : https://artifactory.esss.lu.se/artifactory/api/conda/conda-e3/linux-64
                          https://artifactory.esss.lu.se/artifactory/api/conda/conda-e3/noarch
                          https://artifactory.esss.lu.se/artifactory/api/conda/ics-conda-forge/linux-64
                          https://artifactory.esss.lu.se/artifactory/api/conda/ics-conda-forge/noarch
                          https://artifactory.esss.lu.se/artifactory/api/conda/conda-forge/linux-64
                          https://artifactory.esss.lu.se/artifactory/api/conda/conda-forge/noarch
       base environment : /root/micromamba
               platform : linux-64

Logs

info     libmamba ****************** Backtrace Start ******************
debug    libmamba Loading configuration
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'create_base'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'no_env'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'no_rc'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'rc_files'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'root_prefix'
trace    libmamba Get RC files configuration from locations up to HomeDir
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/mambarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/mambarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/condarc.d/'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration found at '/etc/conda/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/condarc.d/'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Update configurable 'no_env'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'envs_dirs'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'file_specs'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'spec_file_env_name'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'env_name'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'use_default_prefix_fallback'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'use_root_prefix_fallback'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'use_target_prefix_fallback'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'target_prefix'
trace    libmamba Get RC files configuration from locations up to TargetPrefix
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/envs/food/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/envs/food/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/envs/food/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/envs/food/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/mambarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.mamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/mambarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/mamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/.config/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/condarc.d'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/root/micromamba/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/condarc.d/'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/var/lib/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration found at '/etc/conda/.mambarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/condarc.d/'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/condarc'
trace    libmamba Configuration not found at '/etc/conda/.condarc'
trace    libmamba Update configurable 'no_env'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'relocate_prefix'
trace    libmamba Compute configurable 'target_prefix_checks'
error    libmamba No prefix found at: /root/micromamba/envs/food
error    libmamba Environment must first be created with "micromamba create -n {env_name} ..."
critical libmamba Aborting.
info     libmamba ****************** Backtrace End ********************

environment.yml

~/.condarc

[simon-ess]

I realise now that I had mis-read the output of this command and the error log is in stderr, not stdout as I originally thought. The only "bug" here admittedly is that the --json parameter is sort of incorrect, since it returns an empty string which is not valid json.

[Hind-M]

Well since the command is supposed to error out, it's aborting right in the middle leading to not constructing a valid json to be returned. So the behavior seems legit.

[simon-ess]

I think that if you request json output, even an error should give json output (if empty!); I suspect that most of the time this is going to be used because another program is expected to parse the output, and that program will now have to deal with an exceptional case instead of just ending up with empty, but valid output.

[Hind-M]

Should be considered when tackling #2288.

[Klaim]

#4202 now makes all the json output I found output a json object (except --help). If an error occured for the command, the "log_history" member array of that output object will contain the log records with errors etc. So now all the json output should always be json. --quiet now should output nothing.

Once you have tested a version containing these changes, please report here if you found any missing cases where errors or other non-json output are output while --json is used, or if any output is emitted while --quiet is used.