Warn when project description exceeds 80 characters

changes/2873.feature.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Added a warning when `description` exceeds 80 characters, prompting users to use `long_description` for longer text. Long descriptions can cause icon corruption in MSI installers.

src/briefcase/commands/base.py

@@ -1122,6 +1122,22 @@ def parse_config(self, filename, overrides):
                     msg=f"Configuration for '{app_name}'",
                 )
 
+                # Warn if the app description is longer than 80 characters.
+                # Long descriptions can cause MSI shortcut icon corruption
+                # (the description field is limited to 256 chars in Windows
+                # shortcuts, and the description length overflows into the
+                # icon path prefix). Users should use the long_description
+                # field for longer text.
+                if len(self.apps[app_name].description) > 80:
+                    self.console.warning(
+                        f"The description for '{app_name}' is "
+                        f"{len(self.apps[app_name].description)} characters. "
+                        "Briefcase descriptions should be no more than 80 "
+                        "characters. Long descriptions may cause icon display "
+                        "issues on some platforms (e.g., MSI installers). "
+                        "Use the `long_description` field for longer text."
+                    )
+
         except OSError as e:
             raise BriefcaseConfigError(
                 f"""\

tests/commands/base/test_parse_config.py

@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@
 
 from briefcase.exceptions import BriefcaseConfigError
 
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+
+import pytest
+from packaging.version import Version
+
+from briefcase.exceptions import BriefcaseConfigError
+
 from ...utils import create_file
 
 
@@ -223,3 +230,56 @@ def test_parse_config_with_invalid_override(base_command):
                 "version": "not-a-version-number",
             },
         )
+
+
+def test_short_description_no_warning(base_command):
+    """A config with a short description (<=80 chars) does not trigger a warning."""
+    filename = base_command.base_path / "pyproject.toml"
+    create_file(
+        filename,
+        """
+        [tool.briefcase]
+        project_name = "Sample project"
+        version = "1.2.3"
+        description = "A sample app"
+        bundle = "org.beeware"
+        license = "MIT"
+
+        [tool.briefcase.app.my-app]
+        sources = ['src/my_app']
+    """,
+    )
+
+    base_command.console.warning = MagicMock()
+    base_command.parse_config(filename, {})
+
+    base_command.console.warning.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_long_description_warning(base_command):
+    """A config with a long description (>80 chars) triggers a warning."""
+    long_desc = "x" * 81
+    filename = base_command.base_path / "pyproject.toml"
+    create_file(
+        filename,
+        f"""
+        [tool.briefcase]
+        project_name = "Sample project"
+        version = "1.2.3"
+        bundle = "org.beeware"
+        license = "MIT"
+
+        [tool.briefcase.app.my-app]
+        description = "{long_desc}"
+        sources = ['src/my_app']
+    """,
+    )
+
+    base_command.console.warning = MagicMock()
+    base_command.parse_config(filename, {})
+
+    base_command.console.warning.assert_called_once()
+    warning_msg = base_command.console.warning.call_args[0][0]
+    assert "my-app" in warning_msg
+    assert "81 characters" in warning_msg
+    assert "long_description" in warning_msg