canonical/multipass

Fix spinner for non-interactive use

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#1,541 opened on May 15, 2020

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enhancementhelp wantedlow hanging fruitmedium

Description

Attempting to run non-interactive scripts that run multipass. Logs look like this:

Creating VMs...

                                                                                

                                                                                
Creating test-0  / 
                                                                                

                                                                                
Configuring test-0  /- 
                                                                                

                                                                                
Starting test-0  /-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\ 
                                                                                

                                                                                
Waiting for initialization to complete  /-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\| 
                                                                                
Launched: test-0

                                                                                
Created VM test-0.

This could be resolved by disabling spinners when not running on a live terminal, or via switch.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cppshell
Domain
cli
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
Basic C++ knowledgeUnderstanding of terminal capabilities
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65
Research direction
The issue describes messy spinner output in non interactive contexts. To fix, you need to detect whether the terminal is interactive using functions like isatty() or checking the terminal type. The relevant code is likely in the spinner implementation, which shows characters like backspaces. Look for files related to progress indicators or console output, such as those in src/utils/ or src/ssh/. There are 9 comments but no linked PRs; check if any prior attempts exist. The fix should disable spinner animation when not on a live terminal, possibly via a switch or environment variable.