Pinget

This directory contains Pinget: portable implementations intended to remain compatible with WinGet behavior where practical.

The current goal is to keep the Rust, C#, and PowerShell surfaces aligned while preserving WinGet-compatible behavior. Within this directory, treat paths as if pinget\ were the repository root.

Layout

Path	Language	Output	Notes
rust	Rust	pinget CLI + pinget-core library	Cargo workspace with a reusable core crate and a CLI crate
dotnet	C# / .NET 10	pinget CLI + Devolutions.Pinget.Core library + Devolutions.Pinget.Client PowerShell module	Solution with a reusable core library, CLI app, tests, and a PowerShell engine/cmdlet layer

Current scope

Both implementations currently cover a substantial WinGet-like subset:

• search, show, list, upgrade
• source list, source update, source export, source add, source edit, source remove, source reset
• cache warm
• download, hash, validate, export, error, settings export, settings set, settings reset, features
• pin list, pin add, pin remove, pin reset
• install, uninstall, repair, import

Structured manifest output is also supported:

• show --output json|yaml
• search --manifests --output json|yaml

The C# implementation also ships the Devolutions.Pinget.Client PowerShell 7 module that mirrors the upstream Microsoft.WinGet.Client cmdlet family with renamed Pinget nouns, backed by Devolutions.Pinget.Core.

Pinget CLI

The prebuilt pinget CLI published in GitHub Releases is the Rust build. Download the archive for your platform, extract it, and put the pinget executable on your PATH.

pinget --help
pinget --info
pinget source list
pinget source update

Examples below use Devolutions packages from the community WinGet manifests:

# Discover packages.
pinget search Devolutions
pinget search --id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager --exact
pinget search --id Devolutions.MsRdpEx --exact --versions

# Inspect package metadata.
pinget show --id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager --exact
pinget show --id Devolutions.MsRdpEx --exact --versions

# Produce structured manifest output for automation.
pinget show --id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager --exact --output json
pinget search Devolutions --manifests --output yaml

# Download installers without installing them.
pinget download --id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager --download-directory .\downloads

# Query installed packages and available upgrades.
pinget list Devolutions
pinget upgrade

# Package action commands execute installers on supported platforms.
pinget install --id Devolutions.MsRdpEx --scope user --silent
pinget uninstall --id Devolutions.MsRdpEx --silent

PowerShell module

The Devolutions.Pinget.Client module is available from the PowerShell Gallery:

# Recommended for current PowerShellGet/PSResourceGet environments.
Install-PSResource -Name Devolutions.Pinget.Client -Repository PSGallery

# PowerShellGet v2 alternative.
Install-Module -Name Devolutions.Pinget.Client -Scope CurrentUser

The module requires PowerShell 7.4 or later and exposes WinGet-style cmdlets with Pinget nouns instead of WinGet nouns. It is implemented over Devolutions.Pinget.Core.

Import-Module Devolutions.Pinget.Client

Get-PingetVersion
Get-Command -Module Devolutions.Pinget.Client
Get-PingetSource

Examples below use Devolutions packages from the community WinGet manifests:

# Discover Devolutions packages.
Find-PingetPackage -Query Devolutions
Find-PingetPackage -Id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager
Find-PingetPackage -Id Devolutions.MsRdpEx

# Inspect package metadata and available versions.
$rdm = Find-PingetPackage -Id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager | Select-Object -First 1
$rdm.AvailableVersions | Select-Object -First 5
$rdm.GetPackageVersionInfo($rdm.AvailableVersions[0]) |
    Format-List Id, DisplayName, Version, Publisher, InstallerType, InstallerUrl

# Query installed packages.
Get-PingetPackage -Name Devolutions
Get-PingetPackage -Id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager

# Preview package operations. Remove -WhatIf to execute them.
Install-PingetPackage -Id Devolutions.MsRdpEx -Scope User -WhatIf
Update-PingetPackage -Id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager -WhatIf
Uninstall-PingetPackage -Id Devolutions.MsRdpEx -WhatIf

# Download installers without installing them.
Export-PingetPackage -Id Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager -DownloadDirectory .\downloads

Useful exported cmdlets include Find-PingetPackage, Get-PingetPackage, Install-PingetPackage, Update-PingetPackage, Uninstall-PingetPackage, Repair-PingetPackage, Export-PingetPackage, Get-PingetSource, Add-PingetSource, Remove-PingetSource, Reset-PingetSource, and the user-setting cmdlets.

NuGet package

The Devolutions.Pinget.Core library is available on nuget.org for .NET applications that want to use Pinget package discovery, source caches, manifest metadata, downloads, and installed package state programmatically.

dotnet add package Devolutions.Pinget.Core

The package targets .NET 8 and .NET 10. Repository.Open() is the main entry point; pass RepositoryOptions when you want source diagnostics, an isolated app root, or a custom user agent.

RepositoryOptions.AppRoot = null is the system WinGet mode on Windows. It uses the real Desktop App Installer / WinGet source state and is intended for embedded apps that need to align with winget.exe source list and winget source export. Use a custom app root when you want isolated sources and caches for tests, probes, or app-private package catalogs.

using Devolutions.Pinget.Core;

var diagnostics = new List<RepositoryWarning>();
using var repository = Repository.Open(new RepositoryOptions
{
    AppRoot = null,
    UserAgent = "my-app/1.0",
    Diagnostics = diagnostics.Add,
});

foreach (var update in repository.UpdateSources())
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{update.Name}: {update.Detail}");
}

var search = repository.Search(new PackageQuery
{
    Query = "Devolutions",
    Count = 10,
});

foreach (var package in search.Matches)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{package.Id} {package.Version}");
}

var rdm = repository.Show(new PackageQuery
{
    Id = "Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager",
    Exact = true,
});

Console.WriteLine($"{rdm.Manifest.Name} {rdm.Manifest.Version}");

var serializable = rdm.ToSerializableManifest();
var json = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(
    serializable,
    PingetJsonContext.Default.SerializableShowManifest);

var (_, installerPath) = repository.DownloadInstaller(
    new PackageQuery
    {
        Id = "Devolutions.MsRdpEx",
        Exact = true,
    },
    Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "downloads"));

Console.WriteLine(installerPath);

For embedded show and exact package resolution, Core exposes structured diagnostics in result SourceWarnings, in SourceSearchException.Warning, and through RepositoryOptions.Diagnostics. Single-source search failures surface the source name, source kind, source URL, cache path, HTTP status when available, and the original exception message instead of looking like a clean no-match. Multiple-source ambiguity is exposed as MultiplePackageMatchesException.Matches, so callers do not need to parse source names out of exception text.

Repository.ShowManifest(query) and ShowResult.ToSerializableManifest() return the same serializable manifest model used by the C# CLI show --output json|yaml path, including all installers and the Core-selected installer. Use PingetJsonContext for reflection-free System.Text.Json serialization in hosts that set JsonSerializer.IsReflectionEnabledByDefault to false.

Non-goals

Pinget intentionally excludes:

• DSC-backed configuration flows (configure, dscv3, Microsoft.WinGet.Configuration)
• mcp

When upstream behavior fundamentally depends on those components, Pinget prefers explicit limits over fake-success shims.

Portability model

Pinget is designed to keep source-backed functionality working cross-platform where practical.

• Commands like search, show, cache warm, download, source, and manifest shaping are intended to work on Windows and Linux.
• On Linux, installed-state and package-action behavior is best-effort:
  • list and upgrade inventory return empty results with an unsupported warning
  • install, uninstall, executed upgrade, and non-dry-run import return explicit no-op results with unsupported warnings

Custom REST sources

Both implementations support custom REST sources, including third-party services such as winget.pro.

pinget source add winget.pro https://api.example.test/feed --type Microsoft.Rest
pinget source add -n winget.pro -a https://api.example.test/feed -t Microsoft.Rest --trust-level trusted

Notes:

• Microsoft.Rest maps to the existing REST source kind in both implementations.
• Microsoft.PreIndexed.Package maps to the preindexed source kind.
• --trust-level, --explicit, and source priority metadata are persisted as source metadata and influence source selection behavior.

Build and test

From the parent winget-cli repository root:

Set-Location .\pinget

Rust

cargo +nightly fmt --manifest-path rust\Cargo.toml --all
cargo clippy -q --manifest-path rust\Cargo.toml --workspace --tests -- -D warnings
cargo test -p pinget-core --manifest-path rust\Cargo.toml
cargo test -p pinget-cli --manifest-path rust\Cargo.toml
cargo build -p pinget-cli --manifest-path rust\Cargo.toml

Run:

cargo run -p pinget-cli --manifest-path rust\Cargo.toml -- search WinMerge

C#

dotnet format dotnet\Devolutions.Pinget.slnx
dotnet build dotnet\Devolutions.Pinget.slnx -c Release
dotnet test dotnet\src\Devolutions.Pinget.Core.Tests\Devolutions.Pinget.Core.Tests.csproj -c Release
pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -File (Resolve-Path 'dotnet\tests\RunTests.ps1')
pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -File (Resolve-Path 'scripts\Build-PowerShellModule.ps1') -NoBuild -OutputRoot dist\powershell-module -Clean

Run:

dotnet run --project dotnet\src\Devolutions.Pinget.Cli\Devolutions.Pinget.Cli.csproj -- search WinMerge

Repository structure

Rust

• rust\crates\pinget-core - pinget-core library source
• rust\crates\pinget-cli - pinget CLI wrapper
• rust\tools - parity and comparison helpers

C#

• dotnet\src\Devolutions.Pinget.Core - Devolutions.Pinget.Core library
• dotnet\src\Devolutions.Pinget.Cli - Devolutions.Pinget.Cli wrapper
• dotnet\src\Devolutions.Pinget.Core.Tests - unit tests
• dotnet\src\Devolutions.Pinget.PowerShell.Engine - PowerShell engine over the C# core
• dotnet\src\Devolutions.Pinget.PowerShell.Cmdlets - PowerShell cmdlet implementation for the Devolutions.Pinget.Client module
• dotnet\tests - Pinget PowerShell Pester coverage

Compatibility guidance

Pinget is maintained with WinGet compatibility in mind. Current prep rules:

1. Prefer subtree-relative paths in docs and scripts.
2. Keep Pinget-specific documentation under this directory instead of the parent repo when practical.
3. Avoid introducing dependencies on the native WinGet DSC/configuration stack or MCP.
4. Keep Rust and C# toolchain instructions runnable from this directory as a future repository root.

Status

Pinget is best treated as an experimental portable winget implementation focused on:

• source-backed package discovery
• manifest retrieval and shaping
• custom REST source support
• reusable library surfaces in Rust and C#
• a PowerShell automation surface over the C# implementation

It is not intended to be a drop-in, fully complete replacement for the native Windows Package Manager client.