winui-dev-workflow

Create or Open a Project

New app — scaffold with a template:

dotnet new winui-mvvm -n <AppName>
cd <AppName>

Creates an MVVM project with CommunityToolkit.Mvvm, TitleBar, MicaBackdrop, and Frame navigation. Do NOT mkdir first — -n creates the folder.

Existing app — read the .csproj to understand:

• <TargetFramework> (e.g., net10.0-windows10.0.26100.0)
• <PackageReference> versions (WindowsAppSDK, CommunityToolkit)
• Project structure and established patterns

Install Packages

dotnet add package <Name>

Never specify --version — omitting it gets the latest stable and avoids outdated API mismatches.

Build & Run

Use the BuildAndRun.ps1 script (included with this skill) — it handles everything:

.\BuildAndRun.ps1

Invoke the script with mode: "async". The script stays attached to the running app so a mode: "sync" call blocks your turn for the entire lifetime of the app. The output contains the PID of the running app once the app starts, which looks like this:

✅ <pkg> launched (PID: 12345)

What the script does automatically:

1. Checks Developer Mode is enabled (fails fast if not)
2. Finds the .csproj in the current directory
3. Auto-detects platform (x64 or ARM64)
4. Builds with MSBuild (or falls back to dotnet build)
5. Finds the build output folder
6. Launches with winapp run --debug-output

Options:

.\BuildAndRun.ps1                          # auto-find csproj, build, run (should use async invocation)
.\BuildAndRun.ps1 MyApp.csproj             # explicit project
.\BuildAndRun.ps1 -Detach                  # run in detached mode, no debug output or exceptions (safe to use mode: "sync")
.\BuildAndRun.ps1 -SkipRun                 # build only (safe to use mode: "sync")
.\BuildAndRun.ps1 /p:Configuration=Release # override defaults

If build fails: Read ALL errors, batch-fix them in one pass, then run BuildAndRun.ps1 again.

If the app crashes on launch: read_powershell the shell — first-chance exceptions appear in the output.

Common Errors

Prerequisites

If any of these are missing when you try to access them — winapp or dotnet not recognized, the WinUI templates aren't installed, Developer Mode is off — do not try to install them yourself and do not try to work around it. Stop and tell the user the prerequisite is missing and ask them to run /winui-setup (a user-invoked skill that installs and verifies everything). Once they've finished, retry the failed command.

Critical Rules

• ❌ NEVER run the packaged .exe directly — always use winapp run or BuildAndRun.ps1
• ❌ NEVER add <WindowsPackageType>None to work around launch issues
• ❌ NEVER delete Package.appxmanifest
• ❌ NEVER use AnyCPU — always x64 or ARM64

References

• BuildAndRun.ps1 — included with this skill, handles build + run automatically