# Using WinGet APIs from C# .NET
Minimal example on how to use WinGet COM APIs from C#.NET.
The code on the project named `WindowsPackageManager Interop` was extracted and modified from [Dev Home](https://github.com/microsoft/devhome/).
## Usage instructions:
1. Add the `WindowsPackageManager Interop.csproj` to your solution
2. Import the `WindowsPackageManager.Interop` Namespace.
3. Create a WinGet Package Manager Factory using the `WindowsPackageManagerStandardFactory` class.
4. Operate WinGet as stated on the official documentation: https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/blob/master/doc/specs/%23888%20-%20Com%20Api.md
> [!WARNING]
> The `CreateAppInstaller()` WinRT function does not exist. `CreatePackageManager()` must be used instead.
## ⚠️Important notes about running with admin rights⚠️
If an elevated process initializes WinGet with the `WindowsPackageManagerStandardFactory()` class, the method `CreatePackageManager()` will crash. The class `WindowsPackageManagerElevatedFactory()` must be used instead.
However, under certain scenarios (for example, Unpackaged, self-contained AppSdk executable with RegFree-WinRT enabled), the `WindowsPackageManagerElevatedFactory()` method may crash your program (no exception, just a hard crash, the bug report can be seen here: https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/issues/4377).
In such case, it may be needed to use the `WindowsPackageManagerStandardFactory()` class, but modifying the CreateInstance method as shown [here (this is how it works on UniGetUI)](https://github.com/marticliment/UniGetUI/blob/9d73f284edfd0e9c26a2a8d3d72187180ea3af23/src/WindowsPackageManager.Interop/WindowsPackageManager/WindowsPackageManagerStandardFactory.cs#L23-L29) so that the undocumented `CLSCTX.CLSCTX_ALLOW_LOWER_TRUST_REGISTRATION` flag is passed to `PInvoke.CoCreateInstance`.
# Usage example
The following example can be found on the `Demo Console App` project on this same repository.
The code prompts the user for a query and prints the found WinGet packages, filtering them by name.
```cs
using System.Security.Principal;
// Include WinGet Namespace
using WindowsPackageManager.Interop;
namespace WingetTest
{
internal class Program
{
// Read a query and call the FindPackagesForQuery() method
static public void Main(string[] args)
{
while(true)
{
Console.Write("Enter search query: ");
string? Query = Console.ReadLine();
if(Query == null || Query == "")
break;
FindPackagesForQuery(Query).Wait();
}
}
private static async Task FindPackagesForQuery(string Query)
{
WindowsPackageManagerFactory WinGetFactory;
bool IsAdministrator = new WindowsPrincipal(WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent()).IsInRole(WindowsBuiltInRole.Administrator);
// If the user is an administrator, use the elevated factory. Otherwhise COM will crash
if(IsAdministrator)
WinGetFactory = new WindowsPackageManagerElevatedFactory();
else
WinGetFactory = new WindowsPackageManagerStandardFactory();
// Create Package Manager and get available catalogs
var Manager = WinGetFactory.CreatePackageManager();
var AvailableCatalogs = Manager.GetPackageCatalogs();
foreach (var Catalog in AvailableCatalogs.ToArray())
{
// Create a filter to search for packages
var FilterList = WinGetFactory.CreateFindPackagesOptions();
// Add the query to the filter
var NameFilter = WinGetFactory.CreatePackageMatchFilter();
NameFilter.Field = Microsoft.Management.Deployment.PackageMatchField.Name;
NameFilter.Value = Query;
FilterList.Filters.Add(NameFilter);
// Find the packages with the filters
var SearchResults = await Catalog.Connect().PackageCatalog.FindPackagesAsync(FilterList);
foreach (var Match in SearchResults.Matches.ToArray())
{
// Print the packages
var Package = Match.CatalogPackage;
Console.WriteLine(Package.Name);
}
}
}
}
}
```
# Fetching installed packages
```csharp
using Microsoft.Management.Deployment;
using System.Security.Principal;
using Windows.ApplicationModel;
// Include WinGet Namespace
using WindowsPackageManager.Interop;
namespace WingetTest
{
internal class Program
{
static public void Main(string[] args)
{
// var WinGetFactory = new WindowsPackageManagerElevatedFactory();
var WinGetFactory = new WindowsPackageManagerStandardFactory();
var WinGetManager = WinGetFactory.CreatePackageManager();
// CHANGE THIS INDEX TO CHANGE THE SOURCE
int selectedIndex = 0;
PackageCatalogReference installedSearchCatalogRef;
if (selectedIndex < 0)
{
installedSearchCatalogRef = WinGetManager.GetLocalPackageCatalog(LocalPackageCatalog.InstalledPackages);
}
else
{
PackageCatalogReference selectedRemoteCatalogRef = WinGetManager.GetPackageCatalogs().ToArray().ElementAt(selectedIndex);
Console.WriteLine($"Searching on package catalog {selectedRemoteCatalogRef.Info.Name} ");
CreateCompositePackageCatalogOptions createCompositePackageCatalogOptions = WinGetFactory.CreateCreateCompositePackageCatalogOptions();
createCompositePackageCatalogOptions.Catalogs.Add(selectedRemoteCatalogRef);
createCompositePackageCatalogOptions.CompositeSearchBehavior = CompositeSearchBehavior.LocalCatalogs;
installedSearchCatalogRef = WinGetManager.CreateCompositePackageCatalog(createCompositePackageCatalogOptions);
}
var ConnectResult = installedSearchCatalogRef.Connect();
if (ConnectResult.Status != ConnectResultStatus.Ok)
{
throw new Exception("WinGet: Failed to connect to local catalog.");
}
FindPackagesOptions findPackagesOptions = WinGetFactory.CreateFindPackagesOptions();
PackageMatchFilter filter = WinGetFactory.CreatePackageMatchFilter();
filter.Field = PackageMatchField.Id;
filter.Option = PackageFieldMatchOption.ContainsCaseInsensitive;
filter.Value = "";
findPackagesOptions.Filters.Add(filter);
var TaskResult = ConnectResult.PackageCatalog.FindPackages(findPackagesOptions);
Console.WriteLine("Begin enumeration");
foreach (var match in TaskResult.Matches.ToArray())
{
if (match.CatalogPackage.DefaultInstallVersion != null)
Console.WriteLine($"Package {match.CatalogPackage.Name} is available Online: " + match.CatalogPackage.DefaultInstallVersion.PackageCatalog.Info.Name);
//else
//Console.WriteLine("Package is local only: " + match.CatalogPackage.Id);
}
Console.WriteLine("End enumeration");
}
}
}
```