Microsoft winapp is the new Windows application development CLI that the software giant has released in public preview. This open source tool is a Single command line interface to manage Windows SDKpackage, generate application identities, manifests and certificates, and use build tools with any application framework.
At first glance, it may seem like a fairly specialized development tool, but Microsoft anticipates that adapts to numerous types of workflow. The company claims that it should simplify the integration of native Windows APIs and functions, regardless of the framework or language, as Nikola Metulev, product manager of the Windows platform for developers, explains:
«The winapp CLI is designed specifically for cross-platform frameworks and developers working outside of Visual Studio or MSBuild. Whether you’re a web developer building with Electron, a C++ expert using CMake, or a .NET, Rust, or Dart developer building Windows applications, the CLI can simplify the complexities of Windows development, from setting up your environment to packaging for distribution. This makes it much easier to access modern APIs, including Windows AI APIs, security features, and shell integrations, directly from any toolchain.«.
Microsoft winapp, features
Developing on Windows often involves managing multiple SDKs, creating and editing multiple manifests, generating certificates, and managing complex packaging requirements. The objective of this project is unify these tasks into a single CLIallowing the developer to focus on building applications instead of dealing with configuration.
Although the CLI is still in its early stages and there are many development scenarios on Windows, “We are sharing this public preview to learn from real-world usage, gather feedback and feature requests, and focus our investments on the areas most important to developers.”Metulev explained.
It is undeniable that this is not a tool for all developers, but for anyone working on projects that depend on automation, command line tool is a huge time saver. Microsoft also touts the integration with Electron as a big plus:
“For Electron developers, we’ve packaged the CLI as an npm package and added commands to connect Node.js to native Windows code. The CLI can scaffold native C++ or C# plugins, preconfigured to access the Windows Application SDK and Windows SDK. This makes it easier than ever to integrate high-performance native features or AI capabilities like Phi Silica directly into your Electron application..
Microsoft winapp is an open source application coming in public preview. It is available in your GitHub repositorywhere you can find dodocumentation, guides and problem reporting. Microsoft has shared a video to highlight the capabilities of winapp:
