microsoft / microsoft/winget-cli

Portable packages should support side by side

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Issue-Feature Portable
Dominant language
C++
Stars
26.4k
Forks
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Avg merge
1d 11h
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Description of the new feature / enhancement

Today if a user wants to switch between two different versions of a portable package they need to upgrade/downgrade (downgrade with -- force) between the two different packages. It would be very convenient if winget could support switching between two different versions of a portable package without (un)installing between the versions.

Specifically, there should be a way to switch which version of the package is registered on the PATH.

The lack of portable side by side packages was noticed with the Microsoft.Gaming.TAK.CLI.

Proposed technical implementation details

Preferably Winget would offer command line arguments to switch between two different portable package versions, updating the version on the PATH accordingly.

Contributor guide

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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 tracing the winget CLI entry points for portable-package registration and PATH updates. Define how command-line arguments would select between installed versions, using Microsoft.Gaming.TAK.CLI as the motivating case. Done means two portable versions can coexist and the selected version is registered on PATH without uninstalling either.

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
30/100

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