microsoft / microsoft/win-dev-skills

winui-dev-workflow: generate a .slnx solution file during greenfield scaffold

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enhancement
Dominant language
C#
Stars
442
Forks
33
Avg merge
2h 59m
Merged PRs (30d)
11

Description

97: #97

Problem

From Joe's blog post:

The first thing I noticed was that no solution file was created. The project built fine on its own, but I had to set up the .slnx manually afterward.

dotnet new winui-mvvm -n <Name> (the template our winui-dev-workflow skill uses) doesn't emit a solution file. CLI-only users don't notice; anyone who opens the result in Visual Studio does — VS will load the loose .csproj but most workflows (multi-project growth, Test Explorer, "open existing solution") assume there is one.

Proposed fix

After dotnet new winui-mvvm, the winui-dev-workflow skill should run:

dotnet new sln -n <AppName> --format slnx
dotnet sln <AppName>.slnx add <AppName>.csproj

(Adjust to whatever invocation produces a current-format .slnx on the installed SDK; fall back gracefully to legacy .sln if the SDK is too old.) This should be the default for greenfield — the agent should not need to be asked.

Related

May be subsumed by — or coordinated with — a unified "greenfield polish phase" step (see cross-cutting themes on the 97 issue).

Acceptance criteria

  • winui-dev-workflow/SKILL.md "Create or Open a Project" section adds the .slnx step.
  • Generated solution uses the new .slnx format where the installed SDK supports it; falls back to .sln cleanly otherwise.
  • Verified end-to-end: scaffold → open in Visual Studio → solution loads with project attached, builds without changes.

Acknowledgments

Identified by Joe Finney in Building Fluent Icon Finder with the WinUI Copilot skill.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start in winui-dev-workflow/SKILL.md, specifically the "Create or Open a Project" section, and review the existing greenfield scaffold steps. Add the solution-generation step using the installed SDK's current format with a clean legacy fallback, then verify the scaffold opens in Visual Studio with the project attached and builds without changes.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
build-system, developer-experience
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
72/100

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