winapp-ui-automation

When to use

• Inspecting a running Windows app's UI from the command line
• AI agents interacting with Windows applications (clicking buttons, reading text, taking screenshots)
• Verifying UI state during development or testing
• Automating UI workflows without Playwright or Selenium
• Debugging WinUI 3, WPF, WinForms, Win32, or Electron app UIs

Prerequisites

• For UIA mode (any app): No setup needed — works with any running Windows app
• For input-injecting verbs (click, hover, drag, touch, pen, scroll --wheel, send-keys --via send-input): an unlocked, interactive desktop with the target window foregroundable. On a locked/secure desktop they fail fast with no_interactive_desktop. The UIA-pattern verbs (inspect, search, get-*, wait-for, set-value, invoke, scroll --direction/--to, screenshot) are headless/locked-session friendly — prefer them in CI.

Common patterns

Discover and interact

# See what's clickable, then screenshot for context
winapp ui inspect -a myapp --interactive; winapp ui screenshot -a myapp

# Click and verify the page changed
winapp ui invoke btn-settings-a1b2 -a myapp; winapp ui wait-for pn-settingspage-c3d4 -a myapp --timeout 3000; winapp ui screenshot -a myapp

# Fill a form and submit
winapp ui set-value txt-searchbox-e5f6 "hello" -a myapp; winapp ui invoke btn-submit-7a90 -a myapp; winapp ui screenshot -a myapp

Find visible text and click it

# Search by text — output shows invokable ancestor
winapp ui search "Save changes" -a myapp
# Output:
#   lbl-savechanges-a1b2 "Save changes" (120,40 80x20)
#         ^ invoke via: btn-save-c3d4 "Save"

# Invoke by text — auto-walks to parent Button
winapp ui invoke 'Save changes' -a myapp

Navigate multi-page apps

# Click nav item, wait for page, inspect what's available
winapp ui invoke itm-samples-3f2c -a myapp; winapp ui wait-for pn-samplespage-b4e7 -a myapp; winapp ui inspect -a myapp --interactive

Disambiguate duplicate elements

# When text search matches multiple elements, the error shows slugs for each — pick the right one
winapp ui invoke Submit -a myapp
# → Selector matched 3 elements:
#   [0] Button "Submit Order" → btn-submitorder-a1b2
#   [1] Button "Submit" → btn-submit-c3d4
# Use the slug: winapp ui invoke btn-submit-c3d4 -a myapp

Key concepts

• Selector brackets: inspect and search output shows selectors in [brackets] — use the bracketed value with other ui commands. Selectors are either AutomationId (stable, developer-set) or generated slug (e.g., btn-name-hash).
• AutomationId selectors: When an element has a unique AutomationId, it becomes the selector directly (e.g., [MinimizeButton]). These survive layout changes and localization — preferred for stable targeting.
• Slug selectors: When no unique AutomationId exists, a generated slug is used (e.g., [btn-close-a2b3]). Format: prefix-name-hash. May go stale after UI changes.
• Plain text search: search and invoke accept plain text — search Minimize finds elements with "Minimize" in their Name or AutomationId (substring, case-insensitive). No special syntax needed.
• --interactive flag: Filters to invokable elements only with auto-depth 8 — the fastest way to see what you can click
• Invokable ancestor surfacing: When a search result isn't invokable, the nearest invokable parent is shown with its selector
• ; chaining: Chain commands with ; to run multiple operations in one call, reducing agent round-trips
• -a vs -w: Use -a to find apps by name/title/PID. Use -w <HWND> for stable window targeting
• Element markers: [on]/[off] for toggles, [collapsed]/[expanded], [scroll:v]/[scroll:h]/[scroll:vh] for scrollable containers, [offscreen], [disabled], value="..." for editable elements

Usage

Connect and discover

# Connect and see interactive elements in one call
winapp ui status -a myapp; winapp ui inspect -a myapp --interactive

Inspect element tree

winapp ui inspect -a myapp --interactive      # invokable elements only, auto-depth 8
winapp ui inspect -a myapp --depth 5          # deeper tree at depth 5
winapp ui inspect txt-searchbox-e5f6 -a myapp  # subtree rooted at element
winapp ui inspect btn-settings-a1b2 -a myapp --ancestors  # walk up from element to root
winapp ui inspect -a myapp --hide-offscreen   # hide offscreen elements

Find elements

winapp ui search Close -a myapp               # finds elements with "Close" in name or automationId
winapp ui search Button -a myapp              # finds elements with "Button" in name (also matches type names)
winapp ui search image -a myapp               # case-insensitive substring match

Screenshot

# Full window screenshot
winapp ui screenshot -a myapp --output page.png

# Crop to element; capture with popups visible
winapp ui screenshot txt-searchbox-e5f6 -a myapp --output search.png
winapp ui screenshot -a myapp --capture-screen --output with-popups.png

# Bring window to foreground first (matches what the user is currently seeing)
winapp ui screenshot -a myapp --focus --output focused.png

Record video (H.264 MP4)

Record the window — or a single element's region — to an MP4. Frames are captured via Windows Graphics Capture (PrintWindow/screen-DC fallback) and encoded incrementally with Media Foundation, so long captures never buffer in memory. By default records until stopped; use --duration-sec N for a timed run.

# Record a window for 10s at 15 fps
winapp ui record -a myapp --duration-sec 10 --fps 15 --output demo.mp4

# Record until Ctrl+C (default — duration 0), downscaled so the longest edge is 1280px
winapp ui record -a myapp --max-edge 1280 --output capture.mp4

# Record a single element's region (fails with element_not_found if selector doesn't match)
winapp ui record itm-chart-9f8e -a myapp --output chart.mp4

# Include overlays/popups (captures from screen DC; may include occluding windows)
winapp ui record -a myapp --capture-screen --duration-sec 5 --output with-popups.mp4

# Programmatic stop: pipe a newline to stop and finalize the MP4 (for agent/script callers)
"" | winapp ui record -a myapp --json --output capture.mp4

• Default --duration-sec 0 records until stopped — Ctrl+C for interactive use, or a newline / EOF on stdin for programmatic callers (pipe "" or close stdin to stop). A valid MP4 is always finalized on any graceful stop.
• --capture-screen captures from the screen DC so overlays and popups are included; the window is brought to the foreground first. When WGC is unavailable and --capture-screen is not passed, the CLI returns an error — re-run with --capture-screen to consent to screen-DC capture.
• Providing a selector that doesn't match any element fails immediately with element_not_found (rather than silently recording the whole window).
• --json stdout result: path, frames, width, height, fileSize, codec ("h264"), mode (wgc, printwindow, or screen). A {"event":"recording-started","path":"…","fps":N,"durationSec":N} liveness event is emitted to stderr as soon as capture begins, before the final result.

Hover (for tooltips, flyouts, hover states)

--dwell-time <ms> sets how long to wait after hovering (default: 800, range: 0–10000).

# Hover to trigger tooltip, then capture it (default 800ms dwell)
winapp ui hover btn-info-a1b2 -a myapp; winapp ui screenshot -a myapp --capture-screen --output tooltip.png

# Longer dwell for apps with slow tooltip timers
winapp ui hover btn-info-a1b2 -a myapp --dwell-time 1200; winapp ui screenshot -a myapp --capture-screen

Send keyboard input

Synthesize keystrokes — the keyboard counterpart to click. Use for arrow/Tab/Enter navigation, shortcuts, and per-keystroke typing (vs set-value's atomic write). Tokens are whitespace-separated: named keys (enter, down, tab, esc, f5), modifier combos (ctrl+shift+t), literal text (hello), and raw virtual keys (vk=0xNN).

# Keyboard navigation then commit
winapp ui send-keys "down down enter" -a myapp

# Type the literal words "down down enter" instead of pressing those keys (text= escapes each token)
winapp ui send-keys "text=down text=down text=enter" -a myapp

# Same intent, less typing: --verbatim types the whole argument literally (and keeps exact whitespace)
winapp ui send-keys "down down enter" -a myapp --verbatim

# Shortcut: select all and delete
winapp ui send-keys "ctrl+a delete" -a myapp

# Focus a field, then type text into it
winapp ui send-keys "Hello world" --target txt-name-a1b2 -a myapp

# Transport: --via post-message (default, HWND-targeted, bypasses UIPI) or send-input (OS-wide)
winapp ui send-keys "enter" -a myapp --via send-input

# Fire a global hotkey: win+... is refused by default (acts on the shell); opt in with --allow-system-keys
winapp ui send-keys "win+shift+v" -a myapp --via send-input --allow-system-keys

• Default post-message is HWND-targeted and works across integrity levels, but can't fire WH_KEYBOARD_LL global hotkeys. It automatically retargets to the focused child control of the target window, so classic Win32/WinForms child-window controls (e.g. an edit box) receive the input. WinUI 3 / UWP / XAML controls are windowless and ignore posted WM_CHAR/WM_KEYDOWN — post-message can't deliver keys or text to them (the command emits a warning and still exits 0, since PostMessage can't confirm delivery). Use --via send-input for WinUI 3 / UWP / XAML apps.
• A token that collides with a key/modifier name (e.g. enter, down, ctrl+a) is pressed as that key. Prefix it with text= to type it as literal text instead — text=enter types the word "enter"; chain text= tokens to type a literal phrase like text=down text=down text=enter. Backslash escapes inside a text= value type whitespace the tokenizer would otherwise collapse: \s→space, \t→tab, \n→newline, \r→CR, \\→backslash (e.g. text=a\s\sb → "a b"). When the whole argument is literal text, pass --verbatim instead of escaping each token: it types the entire keys argument as-is (no key/combo/vk=/text= parsing) and preserves exact whitespace — send-keys "down down enter" --verbatim types the words. (--verbatim does not decode backslash escapes; use a text= token for control characters.)
• send-input is fully real input but goes to the foreground window and is UIPI-blocked when injecting from elevated → AppContainer/AppX. It rejects system-reserved combos (win+l, alt+f4, ctrl+shift+esc, ctrl+alt+del, alt+tab, …) because those act on the OS/shell, not just the target — pass --allow-system-keys to opt in (e.g. to fire a global hotkey such as PowerToys' win+shift+v or win+r), or use --via post-message (window-scoped) to send one straight to the window. win+l and ctrl+alt+del stay blocked even with --allow-system-keys — win+l locks the workstation via LockWorkStation() (unrecoverable from automation), and ctrl+alt+del is a Secure Attention Sequence (SAS) that Windows drops from injected input regardless of the flag, so it errors (invalid_arguments) instead of falsely reporting success. On a locked/secure desktop send-input fails fast with no_interactive_desktop.
• Per-keystroke events: named keys/combos fire a real KeyDown on both transports. For literal typed text, --via send-input maps each char to its VK (+Shift) so each character fires a real KeyDown + OS-composed WM_CHAR (TextChanged) — use it when downstream logic keys off KeyDown (e.g. WinUI 3/WPF TextBox); bring the target window to the foreground first. --via post-message posts a WM_CHAR per character to the focused child control (raises TextChanged, lands correct text into classic Win32 controls across integrity levels) but does not fire a per-character KeyDown, and — because WinUI 3 / UWP / XAML controls are windowless — does not reach them at all (named keys and text alike); use --via send-input there.
• Long literal text on --via send-input is auto-throttled: the text is split into small character chunks injected one SendInput at a time with a brief pause between the chunks of that one run, so the target can drain its input queue and every character lands. A single unbroken burst overruns the queue and silently drops characters even though the command reports success. The pacing is scoped to a single long text run — short text, key names, and modifier combos (including sequences like ctrl+a delete) inject with no added delay, and the command emits an informational warning when a payload is large enough to be throttled. Because each paced chunk lands on whatever window is foreground, send-input re-verifies the target still owns the foreground before every continuation chunk and aborts with foreground_not_target if focus leaves the target mid-injection, so a focus change partway through can't spray the rest of the text into another window (a focus-changing chord such as alt+tab is exempt and is never treated as drift). For large bulk text, prefer set-value (atomic, no keystrokes or foreground needed) on controls that support it.

Drag (reorder, resize, sliders, drag-and-drop)

Press the mouse button at one point, move to another, then release with drag <from> <to>, where each endpoint is an element selector (uses its center) or screen x,y coordinates from ui inspect. Uses SendInput with intermediate moves so apps see a realistic WM_MOUSEMOVE stream.

# Reorder one item onto another (center → center)
winapp ui drag itm-card-9f8e itm-slot-2c1a -a myapp

# Element center → screen coordinates (as reported by `ui inspect`)
winapp ui drag itm-card-9f8e 300,400 -a myapp

# Raw screen coordinates → screen coordinates
winapp ui drag 120,200 480,200 -a myapp

# Right-button drag
winapp ui drag itm-card-9f8e itm-trash-0001 -a myapp --right

• A selector drags from/to the element's center; x,y are screen coordinates in the same space ui inspect/search report. Element endpoints are re-resolved just before the drag and fail with target_moved if still animating; on a locked/secure desktop the drag fails with no_interactive_desktop.

Touch gestures (tap, swipe, pinch, stretch, long-press)

Inject synthetic touch. The contact anchor is an element selector (its center) or an explicit --at x,y screen coordinate. Prefers the modern synthetic-pointer device and falls back to the legacy touch-injection API.

# Tap an element center; or tap explicit screen coordinates
winapp ui touch btn-ok-1a2b -a myapp
winapp ui touch -a myapp --at 320,240

# Long-press, swipe, and two-finger pinch/stretch (zoom)
winapp ui touch tile-photo-7b3c -a myapp --gesture long-press --hold-ms 600
winapp ui touch -a myapp --at 100,300 --gesture swipe --to-point 400,300
winapp ui touch img-map-9f8e -a myapp --gesture pinch --distance 200
winapp ui touch img-map-9f8e -a myapp --gesture stretch --distance 200

• Gestures: tap (default), double-tap, long-press, swipe, pinch, stretch. --fingers 1–10 (pinch/stretch always 2). Refuses without a non-zero foregrounded target (no_target/foreground_not_target/no_interactive_desktop); every coordinate is checked against the target window, and a point outside it produces a non-fatal warning (warnings[] in --json) while injection still proceeds — consistent with the mouse verbs. If injected touch is unsupported on the device, the command surfaces the real Win32 error rather than a false success. In a Remote Desktop/VM session delivery isn't guaranteed even on exit 0 — the command appends a delivery-uncertainty warning (warnings[] in --json); verify the effect with a screenshot.

Pen / stylus (taps and ink strokes)

Inject synthetic pen input (Windows 10 1809+). Target an element center, an explicit --at, or a full --path ink stroke, with pressure/tilt/eraser control.

# Pen tap at element center; firm tap at explicit coords
winapp ui pen canvas-1a2b -a myapp
winapp ui pen -a myapp --at 320,240 --pressure 0.8

# Draw an ink stroke, or erase along one
winapp ui pen -a myapp --path "100,100 150,120 210,140 260,120"
winapp ui pen -a myapp --path "100,100 260,100" --eraser

• --pressure 0.0–1.0, --tilt-x/--tilt-y ±90°, --eraser for the eraser end. Same injection safety as touch: requires a non-zero foregrounded target window and checks every ink point (out-of-window → non-fatal warnings[] advisory, injection still proceeds). Pen routing is especially unreliable over Remote Desktop — exit 0 can mean the call succeeded but no pen reached the app; the command appends a delivery-uncertainty warning (warnings[] in --json). Validate pen flows on a local interactive desktop.

Read element state

# Read text/value content (works for RichEditBox, TextBox, ComboBox, Slider, labels)
winapp ui get-value doc-texteditor-53ad -a notepad
winapp ui get-value SearchBox -a myapp
winapp ui get-value CmbTheme -a myapp              # reads ComboBox selected item via SelectionPattern

# Check toggle/selection state, value, scroll position
winapp ui get-property chk-agreecheckbox-b2c3 -a myapp --property ToggleState
winapp ui get-property txt-textbox-a4b1 -a myapp --property Value
winapp ui get-property cmb-modellist-d5e6 -a myapp --property IsSelected

# See what has keyboard focus
winapp ui get-focused -a myapp

Set values

set-value writes programmatically (no keystrokes, no foreground) via a fallback chain: ValuePattern → RangeValuePattern (numeric) → LegacyIAccessible put_accValue for TextPattern-only edit controls.

winapp ui set-value txt-searchbox-e5f6 "hello" -a myapp        # TextBox/ComboBox via ValuePattern
winapp ui set-value sld-volume-b2c3 75 -a myapp                # Slider via RangeValuePattern
winapp ui set-value doc-compose-9f3a "hello" -a myapp          # RichEdit/compose box via LegacyIAccessible

• The LegacyIAccessible fallback reaches rich-edit/compose controls that expose no ValuePattern, as long as their accessibility implements put_accValue (native Win32 rich-edit and Chromium/Electron/WebView2 compose boxes typically do).
• WinUI 3 RichEditBox and WPF RichTextBox don't support programmatic value-setting — by design they're read-only to UI Automation's value APIs (Text pattern, no settable Value pattern). set-value fails on them with a clear error — use send-keys (needs an unlocked, foregrounded desktop) to type into those instead. Note get-value can still read them via TextPattern.

Scroll containers

# Find scrollable containers — look for [scroll:v] (vertical) or [scroll:h] (horizontal)
winapp ui search scroll -a myapp
# Output:
#   pn-scrollview-bfef Pane "scrollView" [scroll:v] (2127,296 1191x965)
#   pn-scrollviewer-bfb1 Pane "scrollViewer" [scroll:h] (2127,296 1191x216)

# Scroll vertically
winapp ui scroll pn-scrollview-bfef --direction down -a myapp

# Scroll to top/bottom
winapp ui scroll pn-scrollview-bfef --to bottom -a myapp

# Scroll and then inspect for newly visible elements
winapp ui scroll pn-scrollview-bfef --direction down -a myapp; winapp ui search TargetItem -a myapp

# Synthesize real mouse-wheel input over the element (1 = one notch up, -1 = down) — tests wheel handlers (zoom, custom scroll)
winapp ui scroll img-map-a1b2 --wheel -1 -a myapp

Wait for UI state

winapp ui wait-for btn-submit-a1b2 -a myapp --timeout 5000
winapp ui wait-for itm-status-c3d4 -a myapp --value "Complete" --timeout 5000

Tips

• Use --interactive with inspect as your first command — it shows only what you can click
• Chain commands with ; to reduce round-trips (see note below on why not &&)
• Use slugs from output to target specific elements — they're hash-validated and shell-safe
• Use plain text search to find elements: search Minimize, invoke Submit
• When multiple elements match text search, the error shows slugs for each — pick the right one
• Use get-property --property ToggleState to verify checkbox/toggle state after invoke
• scroll auto-finds the nearest scrollable parent
• Use --capture-screen to capture popup overlays, dropdown menus, and flyouts (also brings the window to the foreground)
• Use hover before screenshot --capture-screen to capture tooltips and hover-triggered UI
• Use --focus to foreground the target window before capture without switching to screen-DC capture (default capture path uses Windows.Graphics.Capture and works while occluded)
• Use --hide-disabled and --hide-offscreen to reduce noise

Why ; instead of &&

Use ; (not &&) to chain commands. PowerShell's && operator can freeze when a native CLI writes to stderr or uses ANSI escape sequences — this causes a pipeline deadlock. ; runs each command unconditionally and avoids this issue. This is also better for agent workflows: you usually want the screenshot to run even if the invoke had a non-zero exit (to see what went wrong).

File dialog workaround

File open/save dialogs are standard Windows dialogs with UIA support. Interact with them using existing commands:

# 1. Trigger the dialog (e.g., click "Open File" button)
winapp ui invoke btn-openfilebtn-a2b3 -a myapp

# 2. Find the dialog window
winapp ui list-windows -a myapp
# → Shows the main window + the dialog HWND
# Note: untitled zero-size windows are hidden by default; use --show-hidden to include them

# 3. Target the dialog, type the file path, and confirm
winapp ui set-value txt-1148-c4d5 "C:\path\to\file.png" -w <dialog-hwnd>
winapp ui invoke btn-open-e6f7 -w <dialog-hwnd>

Note: The filename input in standard file dialogs typically has AutomationId 1148. Use inspect -w <dialog-hwnd> --interactive to discover the actual slugs.

JSON output envelopes (v0.3.1+)

The --json envelope for ui inspect, ui get-focused, ui search, and ui wait-for was reshaped in v0.3.1. Pre-0.3.1 parsers will silently break — most fields were renamed, removed, or moved into envelopes. Highlights:

• ui inspect --json now nests elements under windows[].elements[] (was a flat elements[]).
• ui get-focused --json always emits an envelope — { "hasFocus": false } or { "hasFocus": true, "element": {...} } (was bare null).
• ui search --json / ui wait-for --json may include an invokableAncestor field (element-shaped) on each match.
• Per-element id, parentSelector, and windowHandle are removed — use selector as the public handle.

Full schemas with examples: references/ui-json-envelope.md.

Related skills

• winapp-setup for adding Windows SDK to your project
• winapp-package for packaging apps as MSIX

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Solution
"No running app found"	Wrong name or app not running	Try process name, window title, or PID
"Multiple windows match"	Several windows match -a	Use -w <HWND> from the listed options
"Selector matched N elements"	Text query matches multiple elements	Use a slug from the suggestions shown in the error, or from inspect output
"Element may have changed"	Slug hash doesn't match current element	Re-run inspect to get fresh slugs
"does not support any invoke pattern"	Element can't be invoked	The error shows the invokable ancestor slug if one exists — use that
"No UIA window found"	UIA can't see the window	Use list-windows to find HWND, then -w
Popup not in screenshot	Default capture path doesn't include unowned overlays	Use --capture-screen flag
element_not_found during record	Selector given but element not in tree	Re-run inspect or search to get a fresh selector
ambiguous_selector during record	Plain-text selector matched multiple elements	Use a slug from the suggestions in the error message, or from inspect output
WGC unavailable during record	WGC capture init failed; no silent fallback	Check GPU/driver; use --capture-screen to explicitly request screen DC capture

Command Reference

winapp ui status

Connect to a target app and display connection info.

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui inspect

View the UI element tree with semantic slugs, element types, names, and bounds.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--ancestors	Walk up the tree from the specified element to the root	(none)
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--depth	Tree inspection depth	4
--hide-disabled	Hide disabled elements from output	(none)
--hide-offscreen	Hide offscreen elements from output	(none)
--interactive	Show only interactive/invokable elements (buttons, links, inputs, list items). Increases default depth to 8.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui search

Search the element tree for elements matching a text query. Returns all matches with semantic slugs.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--max	Maximum search results	50
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui get-property

Read UIA property values from an element. Specify --property for a single property or omit for all.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--property	Property name to read or filter on	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui get-value

Read the current value from an element. Tries TextPattern (RichEditBox, Document), ValuePattern (TextBox, ComboBox, Slider), then Name (labels). Usage: winapp ui get-value -a

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui screenshot

Capture the target window or element as a PNG image. When multiple windows exist (e.g., dialogs), captures each to a separate file. With --json, returns file path and dimensions. Use --capture-screen for popup overlays.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--capture-screen	Capture from screen DC via BitBlt (includes popups/overlays not owned by the target).	(none)
--focus	Bring the target window to the foreground before capture. Already implied by --capture-screen.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--output	Save output to this file path.	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui record

Record the target window (or an element's region) to an H.264 MP4 video. Captures frames via Windows Graphics Capture and encodes with Media Foundation. By default records until stopped (Ctrl+C, or a newline/EOF on stdin for programmatic callers). Use --duration-sec N for a timed run. A valid MP4 is always finalized on graceful stop. Use --capture-screen to include overlays/popups.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--capture-screen	Capture from screen DC via BitBlt (includes popups/overlays not owned by the target).	(none)
--duration-sec	Recording duration in seconds. Default 0 records until stopped — Ctrl+C, or (for programmatic callers) a newline or EOF on stdin. A valid MP4 is always finalized on graceful stop.	(none)
--fps	Frames per second to capture	15
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--max-edge	Downscale so the longest edge is at most this many pixels (0 = no downscale)	(none)
--output	Save output to this file path.	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui invoke

Activate an element by slug or text search. Tries InvokePattern, TogglePattern, SelectionItemPattern, and ExpandCollapsePattern in order.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui click

Click an element by slug or text search using mouse simulation. Works on elements that don't support InvokePattern (e.g., column headers, list items). Use --double for double-click, --right for right-click.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--double	Perform a double-click instead of a single click	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--right	Perform a right-click instead of a left click	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui drag

Press the mouse button at one point, move to another, then release. 'drag ', where / are each an element selector (uses the element's center) or screen x,y coordinates as reported by 'ui inspect'. Useful for reorder/resize/slider gestures and drag-and-drop. Use --right for a right-button drag, --hold-ms for press-and-hold/long-press, and --dwell-ms to settle on a drop target before releasing.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<from>	No	Start point — an element selector (drags from its center) or screen coordinates x,y as reported by 'ui inspect' (e.g. pn-list-d736 or 100,200).
<to>	No	End point — an element selector (drops at its center) or screen coordinates x,y as reported by 'ui inspect' (e.g. pn-target-d746 or 300,400).

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--dwell-ms	Milliseconds to dwell at the destination after moving, before releasing (default: 0). Lets drop targets / merge overlays that arm from a sustained hover latch before release.	(none)
--hold-ms	Milliseconds to hold the button down at the start before moving (default: 0). With == (no movement) this performs a press-and-hold / long-press gesture.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--right	Drag with the right mouse button instead of the left button	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui touch

Inject synthetic touch input using the Windows touch-injection API. Supports tap, double-tap, long-press, swipe, pinch and stretch gestures at an element's center or explicit screen x,y coordinates. Requires an unlocked, interactive desktop with the target window foregroundable.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--at	Explicit start point as screen coordinates x,y (as reported by 'ui inspect'). Defaults to the selector's element center.	(none)
--direction	Swipe direction: right (default), left, up, or down. Combined with --distance to compute the end point when --to-point is not given.	right
--distance	Distance in pixels for pinch/stretch (finger spread) or swipe.	(none)
--duration-ms	Glide time in milliseconds for moving gestures (swipe/pinch/stretch).	300
--fingers	Number of touch contacts (default: 1). Pinch/stretch always use 2.	1
--gesture	Gesture to perform: tap, double-tap, long-press, swipe, pinch, stretch (default: tap).	tap
--hold-ms	Milliseconds to hold contacts down before lifting (long-press hold time). Defaults to 500 ms when --gesture long-press is used and this option is not set.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--to-point	End point x,y for a swipe (screen coordinates). Takes precedence over --direction.	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui pen

Inject synthetic pen/stylus input using the Windows synthetic-pointer API. Taps or draws ink strokes with configurable pressure, tilt and eraser mode, at an element's center or explicit screen x,y coordinates. Requires an unlocked, interactive desktop with the target window foregroundable (Windows 10 1809+).

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--at	Pen contact point as screen coordinates x,y (as reported by 'ui inspect'). Defaults to the selector's element center. Ignored when --path is given.	(none)
--duration-ms	Total glide time in milliseconds distributed across the stroke path segments (default: ~10 ms per segment).	(none)
--eraser	Use the eraser end of the pen instead of the tip.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--path	Ink stroke path as a whitespace-separated list of x,y pairs, e.g. "10,10 20,30 40,50".	(none)
--pressure	Pen pressure from 0.0 to 1.0 (default: 0.5).	0.5
--tilt-x	Pen tilt along the x-axis in degrees (-90 to 90, default: 0).	(none)
--tilt-y	Pen tilt along the y-axis in degrees (-90 to 90, default: 0).	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui hover

Move the mouse to an element's center to trigger hover effects (tooltips, flyouts, visual states). Uses SendInput for realistic mouse movement and waits for a configurable dwell time.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--dwell-time	Time in milliseconds to wait after hovering for hover effects to appear (default: 800)	800
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui send-keys

Send synthetic keyboard input to a window. Supports named keys (down, enter, tab), modifier combos (ctrl+shift+t), raw virtual keys (vk=0xNN), and literal text. Use --verbatim to type the whole argument literally, or --target to focus an element first. Two transports via --via: post-message (default, HWND-targeted, bypasses UIPI) or send-input (OS-wide). For per-keystroke KeyDown on typed text (e.g. a WinUI 3/WPF TextBox), use --via send-input.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<keys>	No	Keys to send. Whitespace-separated tokens: named keys (down, enter, tab, esc, f5), modifier combos (ctrl+shift+t, alt+f4), raw virtual keys (vk=0x42), or literal text (hello). Use text= to type a single value verbatim when it would otherwise be read as a key name or combo (text=enter types "enter"; text=ctrl+a types "ctrl+a"); backslash escapes \s \t \n \r \ are supported (text=a\s\sb types "a b"). To type the whole argument literally without escaping each token, pass --verbatim instead. Quote multi-token strings, e.g. "ctrl+a delete".

Options

Option	Description	Default
--allow-system-keys	Allow synthesizing system-/shell-reserved combos (win+, alt+f4, alt+tab, ctrl+esc, …) via --via send-input, which are refused by default because they act on the OS/shell beyond the target app. Opt in to drive global hotkeys (e.g. PowerToys' win+shift+v, win+r). No effect on --via post-message (already window-scoped; a warning is emitted if set without send-input). Note: win+l and ctrl+alt+del stay blocked even with this flag — win+l locks the workstation (LockWorkStation() via the shell hook), which is unrecoverable from automation, and ctrl+alt+del is a Secure Attention Sequence (SAS) that Windows drops from injected input regardless of this flag, so it can never take effect.	(none)
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--target	Optional selector (slug or text) to focus before sending keys.	(none)
--verbatim	Type the entire keys argument as literal text — no named-key, combo, or vk= interpretation, and exact whitespace preserved. The whole-argument form of the per-token text= escape: --verbatim "down down enter" types the words instead of pressing Down, Down, Enter.	(none)
--via	Transport: post-message (default, HWND-targeted, bypasses UIPI; typed text raises TextChanged but not a per-character KeyDown) or send-input (OS-wide; typed text raises a real per-character KeyDown + TextChanged). Named keys and combos raise KeyDown on both, but keyboard accelerators/shortcuts (KeyboardAccelerator, e.g. ctrl+t) only fire via send-input. post-message targets the focused child control and works for classic Win32/WinForms controls, but WinUI 3 / UWP / XAML controls are windowless and ignore posted messages — use send-input for those (a warning is emitted when the target looks like a XAML app).	post-message
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui set-value

Set a value on an element programmatically. Works for TextBox, ComboBox, Slider, and other editable controls via UIA ValuePattern/RangeValuePattern, with a LegacyIAccessible (put_accValue) fallback for TextPattern-only edit controls — no app foreground required. Some rich text controls (e.g. WinUI 3 RichEditBox and WPF RichTextBox) don't support setting their value programmatically — use the 'send-keys' command with '--via send-input' to type into them instead. Usage: winapp ui set-value -a

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId
<value>	No	Value to set (text for TextBox/ComboBox, number for Slider)

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui focus

Move keyboard focus to the specified element using UIA SetFocus.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui scroll-into-view

Scroll the specified element into the visible area using UIA ScrollItemPattern.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui scroll

Scroll a container element using ScrollPattern. Use --direction to scroll incrementally, --to to jump to top/bottom, or --wheel to synthesize mouse-wheel input.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--direction	Scroll direction: up, down, left, right	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--to	Scroll to position: top, bottom	(none)
--wheel	Rotate the mouse wheel over the element by this many notches (1 = one notch up, -1 = one notch down). Synthesizes real wheel input instead of using ScrollPattern.	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui wait-for

Wait for an element to appear, disappear, or have a property reach a target value. Polls at 100ms intervals until condition met or timeout.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
<selector>	No	Semantic slug (e.g., btn-minimize-d1a0) or text to search by name/automationId

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--contains	Use substring matching for --value instead of exact match	(none)
--gone	Wait for element to disappear instead of appear	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--property	Property name to read or filter on	(none)
--timeout	Timeout in milliseconds	5000
--value	Wait for element value to equal this string. Uses smart fallback (TextPattern -> ValuePattern -> Name). Combine with --property to check a specific property instead.	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)

winapp ui list-windows

List all visible windows with their HWND, title, process, and size. Use -a to filter by app name. Use the HWND with -w to target a specific window.

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--show-hidden	Include untitled zero-size windows that are hidden by default	(none)

winapp ui get-focused

Show the element that currently has keyboard focus in the target app.

Options

Option	Description	Default
--app	Target app (process name, window title, or PID). Lists windows if ambiguous.	(none)
--json	Format output as JSON	(none)
--window	Target window by HWND (stable handle from list output). Takes precedence over --app.	(none)