# microsoft/winappCli

winapp, the Windows App Development CLI, is a single command-line interface for managing Windows SDKs, packaging, generating app identity, manifests, certificates, and using build tools with any app framework.

Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/winappCli
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/winappcli
Language: C#
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: cli, electron, identity, msix, winappsdk, windev, windows, windows-development, windows-sdk
Last push: 2026-09-03T01:03:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 85/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 97, longevity 28
- inputs: {"age_days": 399, "days_push": 0, "days_rel": 22, "gap_med": 25, "n_releases_24m": 10}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1211, forks 74 (observed 2026-09-03T02:15:15.090863+00:00)

## What it is
The Windows App Development CLI (winapp) is a single command-line tool from Microsoft for managing Windows SDKs, MSIX packaging, app identity, manifests, and certificates across any app framework. It bridges cross-platform development workflows with Windows-specific build and packaging tooling.

## Use cases
- manage windows sdk versions from the command line
- package an electron app as msix
- generate app identity and manifests for windows apps
- create signing certificates for windows app packaging
- build and package a windows app with any framework

## When to choose
- you develop Windows apps with cross-platform frameworks like Electron and need MSIX packaging
- you want a unified CLI for Windows SDK management, manifests, and certificates
- you need to generate app identity and signing certificates without manual tooling

## When to avoid
- you target only non-Windows platforms
- you need a fully stable, production-guaranteed tool - it is in public preview
- you already have an established MSIX packaging pipeline that works for you

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: experimental
- function: cli, developer-tools, build-tool, package-manager, security
- domain: developer-tools, windows, cross-platform
- platform: windows, cli, dotnet
- tags: msix, windows-sdk, app-packaging, code-signing, app-identity, winappsdk, electron, command-line, nodejs

## Member repositories
- microsoft/winappCli (main) score 85

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:15.090863+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 2026-08-30T06:21:10.959245+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/microsoft/winappCli (fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:15.090863+00:00, sha c57bd36c5e6b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.