OrcaSlicer/snap

Snap packaging

OrcaSlicer ships a snap built by repackaging the AppImage build output (build/package) — the compiled binary, bundled private libraries and resources are reused as-is.

The snap uses classic confinement: like the AppImage, it runs in the host namespace and resolves the desktop stack (GTK / WebKitGTK / GStreamer / GLU) from the host. Classic is required for full hardware/filesystem access — notably the 3D mouse (3Dconnexion SpaceMouse via the host spacenavd socket at /run/spnav.sock), which no strict-confinement interface can reach.

• snapcraft.yaml — the manifest (plugin: dump of build/package, classic confinement).
• local/launcher — the runtime wrapper (sets LD_LIBRARY_PATH, LC_NUMERIC=C, SPNAV_SOCKET).

CI flow

Trigger	Where	Snap action
push to main	build_orca.yml (amd64 + aarch64)	build both arches + publish to edge
PR	(none)	snap is not built on PRs (the AppImage build still runs)
release (manual)	publish_release.yml	push the build run's .snap artifacts to the channel below

The snap is Store-only — unlike the AppImage/Flatpak it is not attached to GitHub releases (a downloaded .snap is useless without snap install). Both arches go through the same build_orca.yml Linux build, reusing the AppDir (build/package) it just produced for the snap. build_all.yml's build_linux job matrixes over amd64 and aarch64 on every event; aarch64 always uses a GitHub-hosted arm runner (amd64 honors the self-hosted runner when configured).

Channel mapping (tag suffix → Snap Store channel)

Tag	Channel
vX.Y.Z (release)	stable
-rc / -rcN	candidate
-beta / -alpha	beta
nightly (push to main)	edge

One-time maintainer setup

1. snapcraft login then snapcraft register orcaslicer (the name must be free; if not, change name: in snapcraft.yaml and the asset names in the workflows).
2. Request classic confinement for orcaslicer on the snapcraft forum (Store Requests category). Justification: a desktop slicer needs the host spacenavd socket (/run/spnav.sock) for 3D mice plus arbitrary user/network filesystem paths that strict interfaces cannot provide. Until this is granted, uploads to every channel are held for manual review, so the automated publish below will not go live yet.
3. Export CI credentials: snapcraft export-login --snaps orcaslicer --channels stable,candidate,beta,edge --acls package_push,package_release exported.txt
4. Add the file contents as the GitHub Actions secret SNAPCRAFT_STORE_CREDENTIALS.

Notes

• Cross-distro library behavior matches the AppImage (relies on host libs): the host must provide the GTK/WebKitGTK/GStreamer/GLU/OpenGL stack (the same packages the AppImage documents).
• The classic/library snapcraft linters are silenced in snapcraft.yaml because they assume a self-contained snap and would flag every host-resolved library. Runtime smoke tests are the real check.

Local build / test

sudo snap install snapcraft --classic
sudo snap install lxd && sudo lxd init --auto
./build_linux.sh -dsir -l -L        # produces build/package
snapcraft                            # -> orcaslicer_<ver>_amd64.snap
sudo snap install --dangerous --classic ./orcaslicer_*.snap
snap run orcaslicer
# Smoke test: load an STL, slice, USB/serial printer, network share, and a SpaceMouse if available.