Windows App Development CLI (winapp CLI)

The Windows App Development CLI (winapp CLI) is a command-line tool for building Windows apps with the framework you choose. It works from a terminal, the editor you prefer, or an AI coding agent.

• WinUI apps: create, run, debug, test, and package WinUI apps without opening Visual Studio.
• Cross-platform and other frameworks: bring Windows features to your existing Electron, Flutter, Tauri, Rust, .NET, or C++ app without changing frameworks. winapp CLI sets up the Windows App SDK and Windows SDK, gives your app package identity so you can call APIs like notifications and on-device AI, and packages it as MSIX for the Microsoft Store or your own distribution.

Key benefits of winapp CLI

Get started with WinUI

After you install winapp CLI and the .NET SDK, create and run a WinUI app:

winapp new --name MyWinUIApp --template winui-navview --use-defaults
cd MyWinUIApp
winapp run

When you're ready to test a package locally, generate a development certificate and create a signed MSIX package:

winapp cert generate --manifest ./Package.appxmanifest
winapp pack ./MyWinUIApp.csproj -c Release --cert ./devcert.pfx

The development certificate uses a default password and is for local testing only. Before you distribute your app, sign it with a trusted certificate, for example with winapp az-sign. For more information, see Security.

For a step-by-step walkthrough that includes setup and your first UI change, see Build your first WinUI app. To see all available templates, run winapp new --list. For the complete workflow, including debugging, UI automation, and packaging, see Using winapp CLI with WinUI.

Installation

WinGet

The easiest way to install the CLI is via WinGet (Windows Package Manager):

winget install Microsoft.winappcli --source winget

If you use the WinGet PowerShell module, run Install-WinGetPackage Microsoft.winappcli instead.

NPM

For Electron projects, install via NPM:

npm install @microsoft/winappcli --save-dev

GitHub Actions / Azure DevOps

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

Manual download

Download the latest build from GitHub Releases.

Verify installation

Once installed, verify the installation by calling the CLI:

winapp --help

Or if using Electron/Node.js:

npx winapp --help

Use winapp CLI with AI agents

winapp CLI is designed to work well with AI coding agents. Commands such as find-ui and find-api return machine-readable output with --json, so an agent can look up real WinUI samples and Windows Runtime APIs before it writes code.

Install the winapp plugin to give your agent skills for the winapp CLI workflow:

# GitHub Copilot CLI
copilot plugin install microsoft/WinAppCli

# Claude Code
claude plugin marketplace add microsoft/WinAppCli
claude plugin install winappcli@winappcli

If you work in Visual Studio Code, the WinApp VS Code extension runs winapp CLI commands from the editor and launches your app with package identity when you press F5. Install it from the Visual Studio Marketplace.

Supported frameworks

winapp CLI works with WinUI and other app frameworks:

Additional guides:

• Packaging an EXE/CLI: step-by-step guide for packaging an existing EXE/CLI as MSIX
• Sparse packaging: give an unpackaged app package identity with an identity-only (sparse) MSIX and external content
• Shell Completion: enable tab completion for commands, options, and values in PowerShell, bash, zsh, and fish
• Security guidance: what development certificates and Developer Mode change on your machine, how to handle devcert.pfx, and how to sign for production

Commands overview

For the full CLI reference, see CLI reference.

Samples

The samples folder on GitHub has a runnable project for each supported framework:

Why package identity?

Many Windows APIs require your app to have package identity. With identity, your app gains access to features like notifications, OS integration, and on-device AI. WinUI app templates include a package manifest, so winapp run gives them identity by default. For a full list of what package identity unlocks and help choosing the right packaging model, see Packaging overview.

Open source

winapp CLI is open source. You can find the source code, file issues, and contribute on GitHub. For help, see Support.

Related topics

• Build your first WinUI app
• WinUI overview
• CLI reference
• Debugging with package identity
• Security guidance
• UI automation
• Windows Sandbox execution
• NPM programmatic API
• Framework guides
• Windows App SDK documentation
• MSIX packaging documentation