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
One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.
npx skills add microsoft/winappCli --skill winapp-troubleshootgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/winappCliWrote 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-troubleshoot)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-troubleshoot"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-troubleshoot/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-troubleshoot"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/microsoft/winappcli/winapp-troubleshoot.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>- NVIDIA SkillSpector warn
SkillSpector: 2 findings, up to medium
These are SkillSpector’s own severities. On a checked sample its high-severity flags on skills were ~96% false positives — a documented command, a public API, a “never do X” rule — so we show them as a caution to read, not a verdict. Why →
- medium MCP Rug Pull · line 67 npx commands without a version suffix (e.g. @1.0.0) create a rug-pull risk if the upstream server is compromised and publishes a malicious update.Fix: Pin the version: npx @scope/[email protected]
- medium Excessive Agency · line 112 Skill grants unrestricted tool access without appropriate constraints. An agent with unfettered tool access can perform arbitrary actions including file modification, network requests, and code execution.Fix: Restrict tool access to only the tools required for the skill's stated purpose. Use an explicit allowlist rather than granting blanket access.
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 | $0.00073 | $0.02998 |
| Opus 5.5 | $0.00029 | $0.01199 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $0.00015 | $0.00600 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00007 | $0.00300 |
Grade B, and why
winapp-troubleshoot scanned grade B with 1 finding 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 yesterday.
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.
Unrestricted tool accessmediumExcessive agency
A wildcard tool grant or "run any command" leaves no least-privilege boundary at all.
- Run any command with `--help` for its specific usage information How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 151 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:
- Diagnosing errors from winapp CLI commands
- Choosing the right command for a task
- Understanding prerequisites — what each command needs and what it produces
Common errors & solutions
For slow WinUI layout or scrolling, use the performance skill. ETW performance capture is separate from debugger output and crash analysis.
| Error | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "winapp.yaml not found" | Running restore or update without config |
Run winapp init first, or cd to the directory containing winapp.yaml |
| "Package.appxmanifest not found" | Running package, create-debug-identity, or cert generate --manifest |
Run winapp init or winapp manifest generate first, or pass --manifest <path> |
| "Publisher mismatch" | Certificate publisher ≠ manifest publisher | Regenerate cert: winapp cert generate --manifest, or edit Package.appxmanifest Identity.Publisher to match |
| "Access denied" / "elevation required" | cert install without admin |
Run terminal as Administrator for winapp cert install |
| "Package installation failed" | Cert not trusted, or stale package registration | For a certificate error, winapp cert install ./devcert.pfx (admin). For registration conflicts, see the rows below rather than deleting packages by name |
| "Certificate not trusted" | Dev cert not installed on machine | winapp cert install ./devcert.pfx (admin) |
| "Build tools not found" | First run, tools not yet downloaded | Run winapp update to download tools; ensure internet access |
| "Failed to add package identity" | Stale debug identity or untrusted cert | Run winapp unregister with your app's input (or --manifest for create-debug-identity); install a certificate only if the error asks for it |
| "Certificate file already exists" | devcert.pfx already present |
Use winapp cert generate --if-exists overwrite or --if-exists skip |
| "Manifest already exists" | Package.appxmanifest already present |
Use winapp manifest generate --if-exists overwrite or edit manifest directly |
run / create-debug-identity registration error 0x800704EC |
Developer Mode is disabled | Enable it in Settings → Privacy & security → For developers, or Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModelUnlock' -Name AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense -Value 1, then retry |
| Two worktrees of the same app keep replacing each other's registration | Both copies share one package identity | Run each with winapp run . --unique-identity (supported packaged apps) so each gets its own identity and app data |
run / create-debug-identity registration error 0x80073CFB |
Package already registered with a conflicting identity | Run winapp unregister with your app's input, then retry. Use --force only if you are sure the same-named package registered elsewhere is yours |
| App's Start menu entry launches nothing, silently | Package still registered after its files were deleted | Run winapp unregister --prune to remove every dev registration whose files are gone |
run reports access denied or a file in use during a rebuild |
Permissions or a file held open; access denied alone does not identify a lock owner | Check the reported paths and permissions. winapp run closes a copy of the app running from the same layout before replacing its files; close any other process holding the file and retry. |
| "winapp can't write the API index" / "can't install the Microsoft Store Developer CLI" | %USERPROFILE%\.winapp isn't writable (for example, an agent sandbox) |
Set WINAPP_CLI_CACHE_DIRECTORY to a writable folder, such as one inside the project, and retry. Other commands keep working without it |
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.
- yesterday Changed 13430a585ded
- 11d ago Changed · +1 lines b6c13d28097d
- 14d ago Changed · +3 lines 66f6786608fd
- 18d ago Changed · +5 lines 45dc1e439d9e
- 19d ago Changed · +3 lines · +30 tokens per session e2f44e12b0d1
- 22d ago Changed · +1 lines 327b10939a82
- 1mo ago Changed · +4 lines c014669b6ee8
- 1mo ago First seen · 134 lines · 43 tokens per session scan B 9df174d8e16e
winapp-troubleshoot is a skill published in the GitHub repository microsoft/winappCli (1,346 stars, last pushed today), licensed MIT. It adds 73 tokens to every session and 2,998 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5.5. A static security scan graded it B with 1 finding (unrestricted tool access). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.
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