Windows Package Manager 1.28.220 RC Adds Source Editing and Detailed Listing
The latest release candidate for Windows Package Manager (winget) brings a handful of useful tweaks: a new source edit command that lets users toggle whether a source is implicit or explicit, an experimental listDetails option that returns richer output, and tighter control over log file growth. The update also patches several bugs that have been nagging users for weeks.
New Feature: source edit
With the added source edit subcommand it now becomes trivial to flip a repository between being an explicit source or one that is automatically pulled in. For example, running
winget source edit winget-font --explicit true will mark the winget‑font source as mandatory, ensuring any font installation pulls from it even if other sources are present. This is handy for teams that want to enforce a corporate font repository while still allowing the default Microsoft store to remain available.
Experimental: listDetails
The experimental flag listDetails replaces the standard tabular output of winget list with a more verbose, show‑style report. The command
winget list Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Enterprise --details now prints version numbers, publisher data, installation paths, and upgrade candidates in plain text. This mode is especially useful when scripting because it eliminates the need to parse columns; every line contains a key–value pair that can be easily captured by Select-String or similar tools.
To turn this on, add the following to winget.json:
"experimentalFeatures": {
"listDetails": true
}
The change is stable in v1.28 but still experimental, so expect occasional hiccups when a new package type arrives.
Log File Size Limits
Users who run winget on machines with limited disk space will appreciate that the release now supports limiting the size of log files. The --log-size-limit option caps the total bytes written per installation session, preventing runaway logs from filling up a SSD. Setting it to 10MB is as simple as adding --log-size-limit 10MB to any winget command.
Bug Fixes Worth Mentioning
Several long‑standing bugs have finally been squashed:
- Portable packages now use the correct directory separator regardless of manifest style, which solves failures when installing a portable tool into a path that mixes backslashes and slashes.
- The --suppress-initial-details flag no longer forces users to accept configuration agreements, making automated test suites cleaner.
- Font installation scripts have been updated to correctly handle non‑ASCII paths, eliminating crashes on German or Japanese systems.
One developer noted that after a recent driver update the winget cache became corrupted; the new patch for portable path handling fixed that issue without needing a full reinstall.
Practical Usage Scenario
A typical workflow might look like this:
- A system admin toggles the corporate font source to be implicit so all users automatically pull fonts from it, using winget source edit winget-font --explicit false.
- On each machine a PowerShell script runs winget list --details | Where-Object { $_ -match "Upgrade" } to collect upgrade candidates for installed applications.
- The same script appends --log-size-limit 5MB to every installation command, keeping log directories tidy.
The combination of explicit source control and detailed output makes it easier to audit software across a fleet without opening hundreds of registry hives.
That’s the gist of the 1.28 RC – a handful of solid improvements that keep winget lean and more script‑friendly than ever. Give it a spin on your test machines; if something feels off, drop an issue in the repo and help tighten things up further.
Release Windows Package Manager 1.28.220 · microsoft/winget-cli
This is a release candidate of Windows Package Manager v1.28. If you find any bugs or problems, please help us out by filing an issue. New in v1.28 Bumped the winget version to 1.28 to match the p...
Release Windows Package Manager 1.28.220 · microsoft/winget-cli
