fix: rsconnect list bug

[joshyam-k]

Intent

Resolves #705

Type of Change

• Bug Fix
• New Feature
• Breaking Change

Approach

• Prevent sorting function called by rsconnect list from being fed a null name. This will provide a fix for any users with currently "corrupted" servers.json files.
• Make --name a required param for rsconnect add. To me there is no use case for rsconnect add-ing a server with no name as you wouldn't be able to reference it in other commands (like deploy).

Validation

1. add a server with no name:

rsconnect add -s http://localhost:3939 -k <api-key>

2. Run rsconnect list

Nickname: "None"
    URL: http://localhost:3939
    API key is saved

Checklist

• I have updated CHANGELOG.md to cover notable changes.
• I have updated all related GitHub issues to reflect their current state.

[github-actions]

PR Preview Action v1.6.2
Preview removed because the pull request was closed.
2025-11-20 19:34 UTC

[github-actions]

☂️ Python Coverage

current status: ✅

Overall Coverage

Lines	Covered	Coverage	Threshold	Status
5260	4004	76%	0%	🟢

New Files

No new covered files...

Modified Files

File	Coverage	Status
rsconnect/metadata.py	91%	🟢
TOTAL	91%	🟢

updated for commit: e4e4846 by action🐍

[ChaitaC]

Verified the fix
(rsconnect version : 1.28.1.dev2+g4f49f5bed)

When you have existing entry with server name null

• Before the fix:

(venv) MacBook-Pro:rsconnect-null-test chaitamacpro$ rsconnect list
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/chaitamacpro/Downloads/kubernetes/venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/rsconnect/actions.py", line 76, in cli_feedback
    yield
  File "/Users/chaitamacpro/Downloads/kubernetes/venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/rsconnect/main.py", line 758, in list_servers
    servers = server_store.get_all_servers()
  File "/Users/chaitamacpro/Downloads/kubernetes/venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/rsconnect/metadata.py", line 319, in get_all_servers
    return self._get_sorted_values(lambda s: s["name"])
  File "/Users/chaitamacpro/Downloads/kubernetes/venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/rsconnect/metadata.py", line 162, in _get_sorted_values
    return sorted(self._data.values(), key=sort_by)
TypeError: '<' not supported between instances of 'NoneType' and 'str'
Internal error: '<' not supported between instances of 'NoneType' and 'str'

• After the fix

(venv) MacBook-Pro:rsconnect-null-test chaitamacpro$ rsconnect list
Server information from /Users/chaitamacpro/Library/Application Support/rsconnect-python/servers.json

Nickname: "None"
    URL: https://dogfood.team.pct.posit.it/
    API key is saved

Nickname: "dogfood"
    URL: https://dogfood.team.pct.posit.it/
    API key is saved

Nickname: "localhost"
    URL: http://localhost:3939
    API key is saved

Nickname: "testserver"
    URL: https://dogfood.team.pct.posit.it/
    API key is saved

Name is now required arg

(venv) MacBook-Pro:rsconnect-null-test chaitamacpro$ rsconnect add -s https://dogfood.team.pct.posit.it/ -k My_API_KEY

Usage: rsconnect add [OPTIONS]
Try 'rsconnect add --help' for help.

Error: --name is required

(venv) MacBook-Pro:rsconnect-null-test chaitamacpro$ rsconnect add -s https://dogfood.team.pct.posit.it/ -k My_API_KEY -n DogfoodServer 
Checking https://dogfood.team.pct.posit.it/...   [OK]
Checking API key...                              [OK]
Added Connect server "DogfoodServer" with URL https://dogfood.team.pct.posit.it/

[ChaitaC]

I verified that the PR resolves the initial issue, and all the changes look good to me.

However, since we’re making the name argument required, I’ll leave the final approval to someone more familiar with this part of the code. I can’t think of any scenarios where this change would cause issues.

Do we have any older documentation that explicitly mentioned name as optional? I did a quick check but didn’t find anything.

[joshyam-k]

tests against latest version of Connect: https://github.com/posit-dev/connect/actions/runs/19311989599/job/55234313069

[tdstein]

What happens if multiple entries in servers.json have a value of "None"?

[joshyam-k]

What happens if multiple entries in servers.json have a value of "None"?

rsconnect deploy shiny -n None . deploys to whichever server named None exists first in the servers.json file. Not only is deploying to "None" a really weird thing to do, but it's this behavior that made me want to make name required

[toph-allen]

Do you think it's worth adding a server without a name to the tests for list? You would just need to add one without a nickname around line 25, it would be pretty easy.

I manually verified this locally, but it's better to also have a test probably.

I'll approve this now, as functionally it works — better if you add a short test that list works with a no-name server before you merge.

[tdstein]

rsconnect deploy shiny -n None . deploys to whichever server named None exists first in the servers.json file. Not only is deploying to "None" a really weird thing to do, but it's this behavior that made me want to make name required

Ok, just wanted to ensure that it didn't blow up if multiple entries have a name of "None".

[toph-allen]

Looks good, thanks!