Please clarify the semantic meaning of the `n/a` version for a platform (`core search`)

[dankeboy36]

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Describe the problem

Hello, maybe this is not a bug, but I have noticed that the latest_version property of the platform property can be an empty string with the JSON output and is n/a with the text output.

Can somebody please explain to me the semantic meaning of the n/a version number when it is detected by the CLI or how the CLI detects it if it does not know the version? I have this bogus state in my local environment and would like to understand what causes it. Thank you!

Please suggest a better channel if it does not belong here.

I use the latest release, 1.1.0 CLI.

To reproduce

arduino-cli version
arduino-cli  Version: 1.1.0 Commit: 49c154a4 Date: 2024-11-07T14:24:09Z

arduino-cli config dump

board_manager:
    additional_urls:
        - https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_156/package_teensy_index.json
build_cache:
    compilations_before_purge: 10
    ttl: 720h0m0s
daemon:
    port: "50051"
directories:
    data: /Users/akos.kitta/Library/Arduino15
    downloads: /Users/akos.kitta/Library/Arduino15/staging
    user: /Users/akos.kitta/Documents/Arduino
library:
    enable_unsafe_install: false
logging:
    file: ""
    format: text
    level: info
metrics:
    addr: :9090
    enabled: true
output:
    no_color: false
sketch:
    always_export_binaries: false
updater:
    enable_notification: true

arduino-cli core search
ID                       Version                  Name
arduino:avr              1.8.6                    Arduino AVR Boards
arduino:esp32            2.0.18-20240930.arduino3 Arduino ESP32 Boards
arduino:mbed_edge        4.2.1                    Arduino Mbed OS Edge Boards
arduino:mbed_giga        4.2.1                    Arduino Mbed OS Giga Boards
arduino:mbed_nano        4.2.1                    Arduino Mbed OS Nano Boards
arduino:mbed_nicla       4.2.1                    Arduino Mbed OS Nicla Boards
arduino:mbed_opta        4.2.1                    Arduino Mbed OS Opta Boards
arduino:mbed_portenta    4.2.1                    Arduino Mbed OS Portenta Boards
arduino:mbed_rp2040      4.2.1                    Arduino Mbed OS RP2040 Boards
arduino:megaavr          1.8.8                    Arduino megaAVR Boards
arduino:nrf52            1.0.2                    Arduino nRF52 Boards
arduino:renesas_portenta 1.2.2                    Arduino Renesas Portenta Boards
arduino:renesas_uno      1.2.2                    Arduino UNO R4 Boards
arduino:sam              1.6.12                   Arduino SAM Boards (32-bits ARM Cortex-M3)
arduino:samd             1.8.14                   Arduino SAMD Boards (32-bits ARM Cortex-M0+)
atmel-avr-xminis:avr     0.6.0                    Atmel AVR Xplained-minis
esp32:esp32              3.0.7                    esp32
esp8266:esp8266          3.1.2                    esp8266
industruino:samd         1.0.1                    Industruino SAMD Boards (32-bits ARM Cortex-M0+)
littleBits:avr           1.0.0                    littleBits Arduino AVR Modules
ozobot:avr               1.0.1                    Ozobot Arduino Robots
renesas:rl78g22_fpb      n/a                      RL78/G22 Fast Prototyping Board
renesas:rl78g23_fpb_p64  n/a                      RL78/G23-64p Fast Prototyping Board
SiliconLabs:silabs       2.1.0                    Silicon Labs
teensy:avr               1.59.0                   Teensy (for Arduino IDE 2.0.4 or later)
arduino:mbed             3.3.0                    [DEPRECATED] [DEPRECATED - Please install standalone packages] Arduino Mbed OS Boards
Arrow:samd               2.1.0                    [DEPRECATED] [DEPRECATED] Arrow Boards
emoro:avr                3.2.2                    [DEPRECATED] [DEPRECATED] EMORO 2560
Intel:arc32              2.0.6                    [DEPRECATED] [DEPRECATED] Intel Curie Boards
Intel:i586               1.6.7+1.0                [DEPRECATED] [DEPRECATED] Intel i586 Boards
Intel:i686               1.6.7+1.0                [DEPRECATED] [DEPRECATED] Intel i686 Boards
Microsoft:win10          1.1.2                    Windows 10 Iot Core

arduino-cli core search renesas:rl78g22_fpb --format json | jq .

{
  "platforms": [
    {
      "id": "renesas:rl78g22_fpb",
      "maintainer": "Renesas Electronics Corporation",
      "website": "https://github.com/renesas/Arduino",
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "indexed": true,
      "releases": {
        "2.0.0": {
          "name": "RL78/G22 Fast Prototyping Board",
          "version": "2.0.0",
          "types": [
            "Contributed"
          ],
          "boards": [
            {
              "name": "RL78/G22 Fast Prototyping Board"
            }
          ],
          "help": {},
          "compatible": false
        },
        "2.4.0": {
          "name": "RL78/G22 Fast Prototyping Board",
          "version": "2.4.0",
          "types": [
            "Contributed"
          ],
          "boards": [
            {
              "name": "RL78/G22 Fast Prototyping Board"
            }
          ],
          "help": {},
          "compatible": false
        }
      },
      "installed_version": "",
      "latest_version": ""
    }
  ]
}

arduino-cli core search renesas:rl78g22_fpb --format json | jq .platforms[0].latest_version

""

Additional files

% ls -a ~/Library/Arduino15/ 
.					libraries				package_index.json			package_teensy_index.json
..					library_index.json			package_index.json.sig			packages
arduino-cli.yaml			library_index.json.sig			package_issue1588_index.json		preferences.txt
cache					package_esp32_index.json		package_rp2040_index.json		staging
inventory.yaml				package_esp8266com_index.json		package_teensy_0.60.3_index.json	tmp
% ls -a ~/Library/Arduino15/packages 
.		..		Microsoft	arduino		builtin		esp32		esp8266		rp2040		teensy
% ls -a ~/Documents/Arduino/hardware               
.	..	rp2040
% ls -a ~/Documents/Arduino/libraries 
.				ADC_SAmpler			Arduino_ConnectionHandler	MKRGSM				Servo
..				Adafruit_SoftServo		Arduino_DebugUtils		MKRNB				WiFi101
107-Arduino-BMP388		AlPlc_Opta			FTDebouncer			MKRWAN				WiFiNINA
107-Arduino-BoostUnits		ArduinoRS485			FlashStorage_SAMD		MkrGsm1400IoT
107-Arduino-Sensor		ArduinoSound			KonnektingFlashStorage		SD

Expected behavior

The CLI does not list it when there is no package index for the core OR picks the latest from the releases.

Arduino CLI version

1.1.0

Operating system

macOS

Operating system version

11.7.10

Additional context

No response

Issue checklist

• [x] I searched for previous reports in the issue tracker
• [x] I verified the problem still occurs when using the nightly build
• [x] My report contains all necessary details