microsoft / microsoft/winget-cli

Different UX modes for WinGet

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Issue-Feature
Dominant language
C++
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Forks
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Avg merge
1d 11h
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Description of the new feature / enhancement

Sometimes I want winget to behave as simply an "engine" for managing packages. In that case, I want commands to either succeed or fail with meaningful output because no user is at the keyboard to respond to prompts for input.

Other times, I want winget to behave more interactively, so I can have a better UX. For example, when there are multiple packages found matching a command, I don't want to have to type the entire command again, I just want an interactive prompt to save the keyboard strokes.

Related to:

Proposed technical implementation details

I want a setting to define the default behavior.

I want a set of arguments to override the default behavior.

Note, if this is implemented in a 1.x version of WinGet, the default behavior would be in the "engine" mode above to not break existing automation.

Otherwise, this would be considered a breaking change in behavior and would be part of:

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 by reviewing related issues #1830 and #2128 to understand the existing UX and compatibility constraints. Then trace the command-line behavior and configuration entry points for prompts and automation. Done means a documented default mode and override arguments support both non-interactive engine behavior and interactive UX without breaking existing automation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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