Agents and skills for Windows development and debugging

Agent plugins for Windows development and debugging—from apps and services to kernel-mode drivers—with GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, and more. Add this repo as a marketplace once, then install the plugins you need.

Plugin	What it's for	Maintained in	Hosts
winappcli	Packaging, signing, and distributing Windows apps with WinApp CLI: MSIX, certificates, package identity, appxmanifest, Windows SDK setup, and the Microsoft Store. Works with Electron, .NET, C++, Rust, Flutter, and Tauri.	microsoft/winappCli	Copilot, Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw, OpenCode
winui	Native Windows apps with WinUI 3 and the Windows App SDK: scaffold, design, build, run, test, package, and ship.	microsoft/winappCli	Copilot, Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw, OpenCode
windbg	WinDbg diagnosis workflows and report validation for applications, services, UMDF/user-mode drivers, and kernel-mode drivers. Feedback.	This repo	Copilot, Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode

On Codex, OpenClaw, and OpenCode, skills load; agents aren't available.

Plugins are either hosted here under plugins/<name>/ or maintained in another repo and pinned to a release; both are first-class. winappcli and winui are maintained in microsoft/winappCli; file their issues and PRs there.

Install

You need Git (winget install Git.Git) and one of the hosts below. Replace <plugin> with a name from the table.

[!NOTE] Install each plugin from one catalog. microsoft/winappCli's own catalog (<plugin>@winappcli) and awesome-copilot ship the same plugins; installing a second copy gives you duplicate skills.

GitHub Copilot CLI

copilot plugin marketplace add microsoft/win-dev-skills
copilot plugin install <plugin>@win-dev-skills

Paste this prompt into a Copilot CLI session:

Install the Copilot CLI plugin "winui" from microsoft/win-dev-skills, then set up my machine for WinUI 3 development. Specifically:

1. Run: copilot plugin marketplace add microsoft/win-dev-skills
2. Run: copilot plugin install winui@win-dev-skills
3. Make sure these prerequisites are present (check first and change only what is missing or too old):
   - .NET SDK >= 8.0.100 (run `dotnet --list-sdks`; if none qualifies, `winget install --id Microsoft.DotNet.SDK.10 --exact --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements`)
   - WinApp CLI: must be >= 0.7.0 (parse the standalone version line from `winapp --version`); if missing, `winget install --id Microsoft.WinAppCli`; if older, `winget upgrade --id Microsoft.WinAppCli`.
   - Do not install WinUI templates separately — WinApp CLI installs and updates them on demand through `winapp new`.
   - Developer Mode (DWORD HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModelUnlock\AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense == 1) — ASK ME first before triggering UAC; if I decline, just print the elevated command for me to run later.
   - Report whether Windows Sandbox is available for UI testing. If it isn't and I want it, tell me how to enable it myself (Pro, Enterprise, or Education, not Home); don't change Windows features or reboot. Report native C++ toolchain requirements separately if I request AOT.
4. Print a short summary of what was installed vs already present, then tell me to start a new Copilot CLI, activate the "winui-dev" agent, and to ask it to build an app.

Claude Code

claude plugin marketplace add microsoft/win-dev-skills
claude plugin install <plugin>@win-dev-skills

OpenAI Codex

codex plugin marketplace add microsoft/win-dev-skills
codex plugin add <plugin>@win-dev-skills

Codex loads skills, not agents. Invoke skills by name (e.g. /winui-setup).

[!IMPORTANT] Added this catalog to Codex before as microsoft-winui? It's now named win-dev-skills, and codex plugin marketplace upgrade fails with "upgraded marketplace name win-dev-skills does not match configured marketplace microsoft-winui". Your installed plugins keep working but stop updating. Move them over once, removing plugins before the marketplace:

codex plugin remove <plugin>@microsoft-winui      # for each installed plugin
codex plugin marketplace remove microsoft-winui
codex plugin marketplace add microsoft/win-dev-skills
codex plugin add <plugin>@win-dev-skills          # for each plugin

OpenClaw

OpenClaw only reads catalogs whose plugins all live in the same repo, so it can't use this catalog today. Install from the catalog of the repo that maintains the plugin. For winappcli and winui, that's microsoft/winappCli:

openclaw plugins install <plugin> --marketplace microsoft/winappCli
openclaw gateway restart

OpenClaw loads skills, not agents. Check them with openclaw skills list.

[!IMPORTANT] Installed winui from --marketplace microsoft/win-dev-skills before? That route no longer works, and openclaw plugins update fails for it. Reinstall once with the command above.

OpenCode

OpenCode loads Agent Skills from <name>/SKILL.md folders. Clone the repo that maintains the plugin, then link its skills folder (the one containing <skill>/SKILL.md directories) into OpenCode's global skills directory, or a project's .opencode/skills/:

git clone <repo from the "Maintained in" column>
$src = "<path to the plugin's skills folder in that clone>"
$dst = "$env:USERPROFILE\.config\opencode\skills"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $dst | Out-Null
Get-ChildItem $src -Directory | ForEach-Object {
  $link = Join-Path $dst $_.Name
  if (-not (Test-Path $link)) { New-Item -ItemType Junction -Path $link -Target $_.FullName | Out-Null }
}

The links are junctions, so git pull in the clone picks up skill updates. OpenCode loads skills, not agents.

Next steps

Start a new session and ask for a real task, for example:

"Build me a WinUI 3 markdown editor with live preview and a custom title bar"

Updates

When a catalog entry moves to a new version, update with your host's usual commands:

copilot plugin marketplace update win-dev-skills; copilot plugin update <plugin>@win-dev-skills
claude plugin marketplace update win-dev-skills; claude plugin update <plugin>@win-dev-skills
codex plugin marketplace upgrade win-dev-skills

Tags up to v0.7.1 of this repo contain the winui plugin itself, so https://github.com/microsoft/win-dev-skills.git#v0.7.1 still installs that version.

Contributing

New plugins and skills for Windows development and debugging are welcome, either as a plugin in this repo under plugins/<name>/ or as a pinned entry for a plugin maintained in another repo. See CONTRIBUTING.md. For catalog or install problems, open an issue here.

Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA); see opensource.microsoft.com/cla for details. This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For support channels see SUPPORT.md, and for responsible disclosure of security issues see SECURITY.md.

Trademarks

This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos is subject to those third parties' policies.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. Third-party components and their licenses are listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.