winapp CLI is a command-line tool for Windows application development that manages SDKs, app identity, manifests, certificates, packaging, and build tools. It helps developers using frameworks such as .NET, Win32, CMake, Electron, or Rust access Windows-native development capabilities. The catalogue add-ons provide agent workflows for using the CLI.
Getting it into your agent
It runs from inside its repository, so the clone comes first — what it calls does not travel with the file alone.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/winappClinpx agentmods add skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-packageWrote this? Show the measurements
A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.
[](https://agentmods.dev/skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-package)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-package"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-package/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-package"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-package.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>- NVIDIA SkillSpector pass
What it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00076 | $0.03028 |
| Opus 5.5 | $0.00030 | $0.01211 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $0.00015 | $0.00606 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00008 | $0.00303 |
Grade A, and why
winapp-package scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 5d ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 256 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
If you can't run winapp yourself (no shell, or the command is denied), give the user the exact winapp command(s) for their project instead of only describing the steps.
When to use
Use this skill when:
- Creating an MSIX installer from a built app for distribution or testing
- Packaging any Windows app — GUI apps, console apps, CLI tools, services, or background processes
- Signing a package with a development or production certificate
- Bundling the Windows App SDK runtime for self-contained deployment
Prerequisites
What you need depends on the input:
- Project mode (
winapp package MyApp.csproj): an explicit.csprojfor a packaged app (EnableMsixTooling=truewith aPackage.appxmanifest). winapp publishes it and packages the output. - C++ project mode (
winapp package MyApp.vcxproj): winapp builds the project with Visual Studio's MSBuild and packages the build output. A packaged WinUI project uses the manifest its build generates; other projects need anappxmanifest.xmlfromwinapp initor--manifest. - Folder mode (
winapp package ./bin/Release): built app output in a folder (e.g.,bin/Release/,dist/,build/) plus aPackage.appxmanifestin the current directory, passed via--manifest, or in the folder. - Certificate (optional, both modes) —
devcert.pfxfromwinapp cert generatefor signing.
Usage
Package directly from a .csproj (project mode)
# Publish the project and create an MSIX in one step (no need to build or locate the output first)
winapp package ./MyApp.csproj
# Override configuration/architecture, or sign in the same step (project mode defaults to Release)
winapp package ./MyApp.csproj -c Debug --arch arm64 --cert ./devcert.pfx
# Package an already-built output without rebuilding
winapp package ./MyApp.csproj --no-build
# Produce an architecture .msixbundle from one project (publishes each arch, then bundles)
winapp package ./MyApp.csproj --arch x64 --arch arm64 --cert ./devcert.pfx
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 5d ago Changed · +14 lines · -1 tokens per session 4669898ece0a
- 23d ago Changed 8403114e5b5c
- 24d ago Changed · +3 lines · +2 tokens per session 51f67b37f14c
- 1mo ago Changed · +31 lines a3d5f9fb108b
- 2mo ago First seen · 208 lines · 75 tokens per session scan A fb60f7971313
winapp-package is a skill published in the GitHub repository microsoft/winappCli (1,357 stars, last pushed 2d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 76 tokens to every session and 3,028 once invoked, about $0.0003 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.
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