Dependency cycle error between Cabal-3.8.1.0 and Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0 on Windows

[msakai]

General summary/comments (optional)

I have a script to process cabal files and when I ran the script with stack runhaskell --package Cabal on Windows, I encountered a dependency cycle error between Cabal-3.8.1.0 and Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0.

Steps to reproduce

echo "import Distribution.PackageDescription.Parsec" > test.hs
echo "main = return ()" >> test.hs
stack --verbose --resolver lts-20.11 runhaskell --package Cabal test.hs

Expected

I expect that stack uses Cabal-3.6.3.0 from lts-20.11 and that test.hs runs successfully.

Actual

Stack tried to use Cabal-3.8.1.0 and It failed with a dependency cycle error of [Cabal,Cabal-syntax,Cabal].

stack --verbose --resolver lts-20.11 runhaskell --package Cabal test.hs
Version 2.9.3, Git revision 6cf638947a863f49857f9cfbf72a38a48b183e7e x86_64 hpack-0.35.1
2023-02-14 08:33:00.880518: [debug] Checking for project config at: C:\Users\sakai\stack.yaml
2023-02-14 08:33:00.881515: [debug] Checking for project config at: C:\Users\stack.yaml
2023-02-14 08:33:00.881515: [debug] Checking for project config at: C:\stack.yaml
2023-02-14 08:33:00.881515: [debug] No project config file found, using defaults.
2023-02-14 08:33:00.888527: [debug] (SQL) SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "last_performed" WHERE ("action"=?) AND ("timestamp">=?); [PersistInt64 1,PersistUTCTime 2023-02-12 23:33:00.8875273 UTC]
2023-02-14 08:33:00.888527: [debug] Using resolver: lts-20.11 specified on command line
2023-02-14 08:33:00.888527: [debug] Run from outside a project, using implicit global project config
2023-02-14 08:33:00.899495: [debug] Using package location completions from a lock file
2023-02-14 08:33:01.072906: [debug] Prefetching git repos: []
2023-02-14 08:33:01.072906: [debug] []
2023-02-14 08:33:01.075899: [debug] Asking for a supported GHC version
2023-02-14 08:33:01.076896: [debug] Installed tools:
 - msys2-20150512
 - ghc-9.4.4
 - ghc-9.2.5
 - ghc-9.0.2
 - ghc-8.8.4
 - ghc-8.10.7
2023-02-14 08:33:01.076896: [debug] Potential GHC builds: standard
2023-02-14 08:33:01.076896: [debug] Found already installed GHC builds: standard
2023-02-14 08:33:01.077903: [debug] (SQL) SELECT "id","actual_version","arch","ghc_path","ghc_size","ghc_modified","ghc_pkg_path","runghc_path","haddock_path","cabal_version","global_db","global_db_cache_size","global_db_cache_modified","info","global_dump" FROM "compiler_cache" WHERE "ghc_path"=?; [PersistText "C:\\Users\\sakai\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\stack\\x86_64-windows\\ghc-9.2.5\\bin\\ghc-9.2.5.exe"]
2023-02-14 08:33:01.111775: [debug] Loaded compiler information from cache
2023-02-14 08:33:01.111775: [debug] Asking for a supported GHC version
2023-02-14 08:33:01.111775: [debug] Resolving package entries
2023-02-14 08:33:01.111775: [debug] Parsing the targets
2023-02-14 08:33:01.123742: [debug] Checking flags
2023-02-14 08:33:01.123742: [debug] SourceMap constructed
2023-02-14 08:33:01.128729: [debug] Starting to execute command inside EnvConfig
2023-02-14 08:33:01.129727: [debug] Finding out which packages are already installed
2023-02-14 08:33:01.130724: [debug] Run process: C:\Users\sakai\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.2.5\bin\ghc-pkg-9.2.5.exe --global --no-user-package-db dump --expand-pkgroot
2023-02-14 08:33:01.184976: [debug] Process finished in 55ms: C:\Users\sakai\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.2.5\bin\ghc-pkg-9.2.5.exe --global --no-user-package-db dump --expand-pkgroot
2023-02-14 08:33:01.200964: [debug] Ignoring package Cabal due to wanting version 3.8.1.0 instead of 3.6.3.0
2023-02-14 08:33:01.201961: [debug] Run process: C:\Users\sakai\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.2.5\bin\ghc-pkg-9.2.5.exe --user --no-user-package-db --package-db C:\sr\snapshots\1d8e8bee\pkgdb dump --expand-pkgroot
2023-02-14 08:33:01.241182: [debug] Process finished in 39ms: C:\Users\sakai\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.2.5\bin\ghc-pkg-9.2.5.exe --user --no-user-package-db --package-db C:\sr\snapshots\1d8e8bee\pkgdb dump --expand-pkgroot
2023-02-14 08:33:01.241182: [debug] Run process: C:\Users\sakai\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.2.5\bin\ghc-pkg-9.2.5.exe --user --no-user-package-db --package-db C:\sr\global-project\.stack-work\install\26139240\pkgdb dump --expand-pkgroot
2023-02-14 08:33:01.279997: [debug] Process finished in 39ms: C:\Users\sakai\AppData\Local\Programs\stack\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.2.5\bin\ghc-pkg-9.2.5.exe --user --no-user-package-db --package-db C:\sr\global-project\.stack-work\install\26139240\pkgdb dump --expand-pkgroot
2023-02-14 08:33:01.280996: [debug] Constructing the build plan
2023-02-14 08:33:01.281993: [debug] Parsing cabal file for Cabal (from Hackage)
2023-02-14 08:33:01.281993: [debug] Got blob from Pantry database for Cabal-3.8.1.0@sha256:58d16c6779bb284b46dee648746da839da94925b1137fd2dbffd172fdb2a50ad,12593
2023-02-14 08:33:01.287976: [debug] Parsing cabal file for Cabal-syntax (from Hackage)
2023-02-14 08:33:01.288974: [debug] Got blob from Pantry database for Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0@sha256:037d70bb091c49f68726dde920f6a003b646835a86cdcb5b5ad58ad9af3207d9,1567
2023-02-14 08:33:01.302937: [debug] Checking for project config at: C:\Users\sakai\stack.yaml
2023-02-14 08:33:01.303934: [debug] Checking for project config at: C:\Users\stack.yaml
2023-02-14 08:33:01.303934: [debug] Checking for project config at: C:\stack.yaml
2023-02-14 08:33:01.303934: [debug] No project config file found, using defaults.
2023-02-14 08:33:01.307950: [debug] (SQL) SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "last_performed" WHERE ("action"=?) AND ("timestamp">=?); [PersistInt64 1,PersistUTCTime 2023-02-12 23:33:01.3069529 UTC]
2023-02-14 08:33:01.307950: [error]
Error: [S-4804]
       Stack failed to construct a build plan.

       While constructing the build plan, Stack encountered the following errors:

       Dependency cycle detected in packages:
           [Cabal,Cabal-syntax,Cabal]

       In the dependencies for Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0:
           Cabal dependency cycle detected: Cabal, Cabal-syntax, Cabal
       needed due to Cabal-3.8.1.0 -> Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0

I'm wondering why stack tried to combine Cabal-3.8.1.0 and Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0 even though Cabal-3.6.3.0 is included in lts-20.11 and Cabal-3.8.1.0 requires Cabal-syntax >= 3.8 && < 3.9

The problem does not happen on x86_64-osx.

Also, the problem does not happen if I remove --package Cabal.

Stack version

stack --version
Version 2.9.3, Git revision 6cf638947a863f49857f9cfbf72a38a48b183e7e x86_64 hpack-0.35.1

Method of installation

• Official binary, downloaded via haskellstack.org or from Stack's repository

Platform

x86_64-windows

[mpilgrem]

@msakai, I think you get this result because:

• Cabal (being a GHC boot library) is not (directly) in the Stackage LTS 20.11 snapshot (rather, it is in the global hints for GHC 9.2.5), so requesting --package Cabal specifies the most recent version on Hackage (being Cabal-3.8.1.0); and
• Cabal depends on Cabal-syntax and Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0 is in the LTS 20.11 snapshot; and
• Cabal-3.8.1.0 and Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0 are incompatible.

So, I think you want either stack --resolver lts-20.11 runhaskell --package Cabal --package Cabal-syntax-3.8.1.0 test.hs or stack --resolver lts-20.11 runhaskell --package Cabal-3.6.0.0 test.hs.

It is the same if you command stack --resolver lts-20.11 build Cabal --dry-run. You get:

Error: [S-4804]
       Stack failed to construct a build plan.

       While constructing the build plan, Stack encountered the following errors:

       Dependency cycle detected in packages:
           [Cabal,Cabal-syntax,Cabal]

       In the dependencies for Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0:
           Cabal dependency cycle detected: Cabal, Cabal-syntax, Cabal
       needed due to Cabal-3.8.1.0 -> Cabal-syntax-3.6.0.0

At the very least, I think it needs to be documented that GHC boot libraries are not part of Stackage snapshots.

(EDIT: In the original version of this post, I mistakenly thought --package could be used with a white-space delimited list of packages.)

[mpilgrem]

These discussions likely related:

• Dependency confusion #5488
• Rebuilding packages from the global database with modified dependencies #4510