# dwmkerr/sharpshell

SharpShell makes it easy to create Windows Shell Extensions using the .NET Framework.

Repository: https://github.com/dwmkerr/sharpshell
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/sharpshell
Language: C#
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-06-13T18:18:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4737, "days_push": 811, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1678, forks 267 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:20.988310+00:00)

## What it is
SharpShell is a .NET Framework framework that simplifies creating Windows Shell Extensions, handling the COM interop and registration plumbing so developers can write managed handlers in C#. It supports context menus, icon and icon overlay handlers, info tips, drop handlers, preview and thumbnail handlers, property sheets, and desk bands.

## Use cases
- add custom right-click context menu items in Windows Explorer
- create a thumbnail handler for a custom file type
- show previews of custom file formats in the Explorer preview pane
- add custom icon overlays to files and folders in Windows
- build a Windows shell extension in C# instead of C++ COM
- create info tips that display tooltips for file types
- add a desk band toolbar to the Windows taskbar

## When to choose
- you need Windows Explorer integration (context menus, thumbnails, previews, icons) from managed .NET code
- you want to avoid hand-writing raw COM shell extension code in C++
- you want a battle-tested NuGet package with tooling for server registration and testing

## When to avoid
- your project targets .NET Core / .NET 5+ rather than the .NET Framework
- you need cross-platform shell or file-manager integration outside Windows
- you need a shell extension type not among the supported handlers, such as namespace extensions

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: stable
- function: plugin-system, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, windows, operating-systems, desktop-applications
- platform: windows, dotnet
- tags: shell-extensions, windows-explorer, context-menu-handler, icon-handler, thumbnail-handler, preview-handler, icon-overlay, desk-band, com-interop, csharp, nuget, desktop

## Member repositories
- dwmkerr/sharpshell (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:20.988310+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:41:33.387195+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dwmkerr/sharpshell (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:20.988310+00:00, sha a34b65eb23f5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.