fix(remote-build): ignore dangling symlinks

craft_application/remote/worktree.py

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ def init_repo(self) -> None:
         if self._repo_dir.exists():
             rmtree(self._repo_dir)
 
-        copytree(self._project_dir, self._repo_dir)
+        copytree(self._project_dir, self._repo_dir, ignore_dangling_symlinks=True)
 
         self._gitify_repository()
 

docs/reference/changelog.rst

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ Changelog
 Bug fixes
 =========
 
+- ``remote-build`` no longer raises an error when dangling symlinks are present in the
+  project repository.
 - Ignore .spread-reuse files when deciding if a source is outdated.
 
 7.1.0 (2026-07-07)

tests/unit/remote/test_worktree.py

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def mock_base_directory(mocker, new_dir):
     return _mock_base_directory
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+@pytest.fixture
 def mock_copytree(mocker):
     """Returns a mocked `shutil.copytree()`."""
     return mocker.patch("craft_application.remote.worktree.copytree")
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def test_worktree_init_clean_exception_wrapped(mock_git_repo):
 
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("new_dir", "mock_copytree")
 def test_worktree_init_dirty(mock_base_directory, mock_git_repo):
-    """Test initialization of a WorkTree with a clean git repository."""
+    """Test initialization of a WorkTree with a dirty git repository."""
     mock_git_repo.return_value.is_clean.return_value = False
 
     worktree = WorkTree(app_name="test-app", build_id="test-id", project_dir=Path())
@@ -93,6 +93,19 @@ def test_worktree_init_dirty(mock_base_directory, mock_git_repo):
     ]
 
 
+def test_worktree_init_dangling_symlinks(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Test that dangling symlinks don't break the repository init."""
+    (tmp_path / "file").touch()
+    (tmp_path / "broken-link").symlink_to("not-real")
+    worktree = WorkTree(app_name="test-app", build_id="test-id", project_dir=tmp_path)
+
+    worktree.init_repo()
+
+    assert (worktree.repo_dir / "file").is_file()
+    # Broken symlinks are just ignored now
+    assert not (worktree.repo_dir / "broken-link").is_symlink()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("new_dir")
 def test_worktree_repo_dir():
     """Verify the `repo_dir` property."""