Pinget

This directory contains Pinget: portable, COM-free WinGet-compatible implementations intended to become a standalone repository later.

The current goal is to keep the subtree self-contained enough that it can be split out with minimal rewriting. 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 + Pinget 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 a Pinget PowerShell module that mirrors the upstream Microsoft.WinGet.Client cmdlet family with renamed Pinget nouns, backed entirely by Devolutions.Pinget.Core rather than COM / WinRT APIs.

Non-goals

Pinget intentionally excludes:

• COM / WinRT / Microsoft.Management.Deployment
• 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')

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
• dotnet\tests - Pinget PowerShell Pester coverage

Extraction prep

This subtree is being prepared for later promotion into its own GitHub repository. 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 COM stack, 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 COM-free 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.