I can't create a blueprint with a network channel assigned, is this normal?

Could be a bug, could be a limitation...I'll note it as an issue, thanks

See this forum post: https://forums.factorio.com/viewtopic.php?t=71527

Seems to be a limitation. Maybe I can work around it, but probably not anytime soon...

You could try to hook into on_player_setup_blueprint, scan the area for other forces, create temporary copies for all entites on other forces (to prevent robot confusion that would be caused by actually changing the force), then call create_blueprint on the cursor stack and delete the temporary entities.

It's as hacky as hacks get, but might work. And the cleaner alternative - to create the whole blueprint from find_entities() by yourself - would be a heap of annoying redundant code.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it!

Update: I have a new mod, Friend Blueprints, that should help with this. It adds a new blueprinting tool that will select both player and friend force entities. With that tool you can at least create a blueprint that includes the channel entities. Although it doesn't seem to remember the channel setting when the blueprint is stamped, so I may have to tinker with it a little more.

Update 2: blueprinting of friendly force entities is now supported by the base game! Marking this thread as resolved.