What is maui-labs devflow-architecture.instructions.md?

Architecture instructions for DevFlow, a system that connects a command-line tool or coding agent to a .NET MAUI app through a broker and an in-app agent. The instructions explain its communication layers, packages, abstractions, and extension points.

Understanding connections between the CLI, broker, app agent, platform APIs, packages, and the split between shared abstractions and platform-specific backends.

They give developers the context needed to change or extend DevFlow without misunderstanding how its parts communicate.

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.github/instructions/devflow-architecture.instructions.md · 286 lines

How it starts

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DevFlow Architecture

Communication Model

DevFlow uses a three-tier architecture:

┌──────────────┐                ┌──────────────┐                ┌──────────────────────────┐
│  CLI / MCP   │  HTTP (direct) │    Broker     │  WebSocket     │  Agent (in-app)          │
│  (maui devflow)│ ◄──────────► │  (port 19223) │ ◄───────────── │  (dynamic port)          │
└──────────────┘  (after port   └──────────────┘  (registration) └──────────────────────────┘
      │            discovery)          │                                │
      │ HTTP (direct, after discovery) │                                │ Platform APIs
      └────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┘
      ▲                                                               
      │ MCP (stdio)                                                   
      ▼                                                               
┌──────────────┐                                              
│  AI Agent    │                                              
│  (Copilot,   │                                              
│   Claude,    │                                              
│   etc.)      │                                              
└──────────────┘

Agent runs inside the app process (added via NuGet package — MAUI or plain .NET). Exposes HTTP API on a dynamic port. Registers with the Broker over WebSocket. Has direct access to the visual tree, pages, platform views.
Broker runs on the developer machine (port 19223). Agents register with it via WebSocket. CLI discovers agent ports through the broker's HTTP API.
CLI (maui devflow) discovers agents via the broker, then communicates directly with agents over HTTP. Also hosts the MCP server for AI agent integration.

Package Dependency Graph

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.CLI (global tool)
├── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Driver (platform drivers)
│   └── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Client (AgentClient — public protocol API)
├── ModelContextProtocol (MCP server)
├── System.CommandLine (CLI framework)
├── Spectre.Console (terminal UI)
└── Websocket.Client (broker transport)

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Client (netstandard2.0 + modern .NET)
├── AgentClient, ElementInfo, protocol DTOs, HTTP/JSON operations
└── System.Text.Json

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Driver (modern .NET, platform-specific)
├── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Client
├── App process management, UI Automation, Mac accessibility
└── OS image facilities (macOS sips resizing; Windows GDI+ PNG encoding)

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Abstractions (no MAUI dependency)
├── AgentHttpServer, AgentOptions, routing, DevFlowAgentService
├── ElementInfo + DTOs, Css/, Network/, Profiling/, extensions
├── Fizzler (CSS selector parsing)
└── SkiaSharp (screenshot capture/resize)

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Core (MAUI UI backend)
└── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Abstractions

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent (NuGet package for MAUI app developers)
├── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Core
└── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Blazor (optional — CDP bridge for Blazor WebViews)

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Gtk (NuGet package for GTK/Linux apps)
├── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Core
└── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Blazor.Gtk (optional — WebKitGTK CDP)

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.WPF (NuGet package for WPF apps)
└── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Core

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Native (plain .NET android/ios/maccatalyst/macos — no MAUI)
├── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Abstractions
└── NativeUi.{Android,UIKit,AppKit}, NativeDevFlowAgentService, DevFlowAgent.Start()

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Native.Essentials (optional add-on)
└── Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Agent.Native + Microsoft.Maui.Essentials

Microsoft.Maui.DevFlow.Logging (standalone — no MAUI dependency)

Read the full file on GitHub · 286 lines

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maui-labs devflow-architecture.instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository dotnet/maui-labs (235 stars, last pushed yesterday), licensed MIT. It adds 4,285 tokens to every session, about $0.0171 per session on Opus 5.5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

Backend and APIs Building agents ai android desktop dotnet ios maccatalyst

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