I should be able to `winget create` to call `wingetcreate`

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#989 3 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Assessment

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

Research direction

Start at the client’s command registration for create and trace the existing install pipeline described in the proposal. Review how wingetcreate could be detected and how remaining arguments and exit codes would be forwarded. Done means the shim handles consent, non-interactive guidance, installation, and transparent new/update invocation while resolving the listed version and automation questions.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Issue-Feature

Description of the new feature/enhancement

I should be able to execute winget create and have the new manifest creation tool executed.

https://github.com/microsoft/winget-create/discussions/19?converting=1#discussioncomment-787509

Proposed technical implementation details (optional)

wingetcreate ships as a separate tool (its own winget package Microsoft.WingetCreate, a standalone executable, and a GitHub Action), so the client can''t assume it is present. Proposal for a lightweight bridge:

  1. Register a create command in the client that acts as a shim rather than reimplementing manifest creation.
  2. On first invocation, detect whether wingetcreate is installed (on PATH, or via the installed-package catalog for Microsoft.WingetCreate).
  3. If missing, prompt the user for consent and install it via the existing install pipeline (winget install Microsoft.WingetCreate). Respect --disable-interactivity (fail with actionable guidance rather than prompting) and honor an --accept-package-agreements-style flow.
  4. Forward the remaining arguments to wingetcreate and surface its exit code, so winget create new ..., winget create update ..., etc. pass through transparently.
  5. Subsequent calls skip the install check (fast path) once the tool is present, optionally offering to upgrade it when out of date.

Open questions:

  • Should the client pin/verify a minimum wingetcreate version for argument compatibility?
  • Behavior in system context / non-interactive automation (CI) where auto-install may be undesirable - likely require the tool to be pre-provisioned and error out with guidance.
  • Whether to gate this behind an experimental feature flag initially.
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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