microsoft / microsoft/winget-cli

Add `info` as alias for `show`

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#5,300 4 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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

Description of the new feature / enhancement

I keep using different package managers and I always mix up the subcommand for getting details about a package. For winget it is show, for apk it is info, for apt I can't even remember right now.

It would be nice to have an info alias. Or even more advanced, allow users to configure aliases, maybe even through the settings file. Key value should be fine in JSON, right?
This would also allow to add shortcuts for common commands, that I had in mind for a while. Like i for install or un for uninstall etc.

Proposed technical implementation details

For the simple alias, just add another line of code. Could probably do that myself, once I had a look at the code.

More sophisticated would be a generic way for aliases, so people can do whatever they please. Adding a new section/parser to the settings code that parses those at start and then applies them to the actual CLI args. Hopefully settings are parsed before CLI args, otherwise this would complicate the changes.

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

The issue names no files or tests. Start by locating the CLI registration for show and the settings parser or CLI-argument handling, then confirm whether the intended scope is only an info alias or configurable aliases. Done means info reaches the same behavior as show, with coverage for the chosen scope.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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