winapp CLI

[!IMPORTANT] :warning: Status: Public Preview - The Windows App Development CLI (winapp CLI) is experimental and in active development. We'd love your feedback! Share your thoughts by creating an issue.

<picture> <img src="./docs/images/winapp-terminal.png"> </picture> <img src="https://img.shields.io/winget/v/Microsoft.WinAppCli?style=for-the-badge&logo=windows&color=357EC7" alt="WinGet"> <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@microsoft/winappcli"> <img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/%40microsoft%2Fwinappcli?style=for-the-badge&logo=npm" alt="NPM"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/microsoft/WinAppCli/releases/latest"> <img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/microsoft/WinAppCli?style=for-the-badge&logo=github&label=Latest%20Release&color=8ab4f8" alt="Latest Release"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/microsoft/WinAppCli/issues"> <img src="https://img.shields.io/github/issues/microsoft/WinAppCli?style=for-the-badge&logo=github&color=81c995" alt="Issues"> </a> <a href="https://github.com/microsoft/WinAppCli/blob/main/LICENSE"> <img alt="GitHub License" src="https://img.shields.io/github/license/microsoft/winappcli?style=for-the-badge"> </a> <h3 align="center"> <a href="#-why-package-identity">Why?</a> • <a href="#%EF%B8%8F-get-started">Get Started</a> • <a href="#-installation">Installation</a> • <a href="#-usage">Usage</a> • <a href="./docs/usage.md">Docs</a> • <a href="#-feedback-and-support">Feedback</a> </h3>

The Windows App Development CLI (winapp CLI) is a single command-line interface for managing Windows SDKs, packaging, generating app identity, manifests, certificates, and using build tools with any app framework. This tool bridges the gap between cross-platform development and Windows-native capabilities. Whether you're building with .NET/Win32, CMake, Electron, or Rust, this CLI gives you access to:

Modern Windows APIs - Windows App SDK and Windows SDK with automatic setup and code generation
Package Identity - Debug and test by adding package identity without full packaging in a snap
MSIX Packaging - App packaging with signing and Store readiness
Developer Tools - Manifests, certificates, assets, and build integration

Perfect for:

Cross-platform developers using frameworks like Qt or Electron wanting native Windows features or targeting Windows
Developers who love their current tools and want to build Windows apps from VS Code, or any other editor
Developers crafting CI/CD pipelines to automate building apps for Windows

🤔 Why?

Many powerful Windows APIs require your app to have package identity, enabling you to leverage some of the OS components Windows offers, that you wouldn't otherwise have access to. With identity, your app gains access to user-first features like notifications, OS integration, and on-device AI.

Our goal is to support developers wherever they are, with the tools and frameworks they already use. Based on feedback from developers shipping cross-platform apps on Windows, we built this CLI to streamline integrating with the Windows developer platform - handling SDK setup, header generation, manifests, certificates, and packaging in just a few commands:

<picture> <source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="./docs/images/before-after-winapp-dark.png"> <source media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)" srcset="./docs/images/before-after-winapp.png"> <img src="./docs/images/before-after-winapp.png" alt="Before: 12 manual steps to access Windows APIs. After: 4 winapp commands (init, create-addon, add-electron-debug-identity, pack)"> </picture> Without winapp CLI, setting up a project involves 12 manual steps—downloading SDKs, generating headers, creating manifests, and more. With the CLI, it's just 4 commands.

Few examples of what package identity and MSIX packaging unlocks:

Interactive native notifications and notification management
Integration with Windows Explorer, Taskbar, Share sheet, and other shell surfaces
Protocol handlers (yourapp:// URIs)
Web-to-app linking (yoursite.com opens your app)
On-device AI (Local LLM, Text and Image AI APIs)
Custom CLI commands via AppExecutionAlias
Controlled access to camera, microphone, location, and other devices (with user consent)
Background tasks (run when app is closed)
File type associations (open .xyz files with your app)
Startup tasks (launch at Windows login)
App services (expose APIs to other apps)
Clean install/uninstall & auto-updates

✏️ Get started

Checkout our getting started guides for step by step instructions of how to setup your environment, generate manifests, assets, and certificate, how to debug APIs that require package identity, and how to MSIX package your app.

Additional guides:

Packaging an EXE/CLI: step by step guide of packaging an existing exe/cli as MSIX

📦 Installation

WinGet <img src="https://img.shields.io/winget/v/Microsoft.WinAppCli?style=for-the-badge&logo=windows&color=357EC7" alt="WinGet" height="24">

The easiest way to use the CLI is via WinGet (Windows Package Manager). In Terminal, simply run:

winget install Microsoft.winappcli --source winget

NPM <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@microsoft/winappcli"> <img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/%40microsoft%2Fwinappcli?style=for-the-badge&logo=npm" alt="NPM" height="24"></a>

You can install the CLI for Electron projects via NPM:

npm install @microsoft/winappcli --save-dev

GitHub Actions / Azure DevOps

For CI/CD pipelines on GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps, use the setup-WinAppCli action to automatically install the CLI on your runners/agents.

Download Release Manually

Download the latest build from GitHub Releases

📋 Usage

Once installed (see Installation above), verify the installation by calling the CLI:

winapp --help

or if using Electron/Node.js

npx winapp --help

Commands Overview

Setup Commands:

init - Initialize project with Windows SDK and App SDK
restore - Restore packages and dependencies
update - Update packages and dependencies to latest versions

App Identity & Debugging:

package - Create MSIX packages from directories
create-debug-identity - Add temporary app identity for debugging
manifest - Generate and manage AppxManifest.xml files

Certificates & Signing:

cert - Generate and install development certificates
sign - Sign MSIX packages and executables
create-external-catalog - Generate CodeIntegrityExternal.cat for TrustedLaunch sparse packages

Development Tools:

tool - Acces

WinappCli

Install / Use

README