Microsoft has released a preview build of Windows Package Manager version 1.29 that brings real improvements for power users and automation scripts. The most notable addition is an experimental source priority feature allowing administrators to rank manifests so the tool prefers specific sources without prompting for disambiguation. Script writers will appreciate a new no-progress flag that suppresses spinners for cleaner output and updated GitHub API authentication to prevent rate limit failures in CI pipelines. Even though this is a pre-release that might have bugs, these updates finally tackle the search result ordering issues and integration reliability problems on Windows systems.

Windows Package Manager 1.29 Brings Source Priority and Better Automation Control

The preview build for the next version of the Windows Package Manager arrives with tweaks that actually matter to script writers and power users. Source priority gets an experimental overhaul while new flags help clean up automation output. These changes address long-standing frustration points regarding result ordering and progress bar noise.

How Windows Package Manager Handles Source Priority

This feature allows administrators to assign a numerical value to sources when added or later through the source edit command. Sources with higher priority are sorted first in the list which results in them getting put first in the results if other things are equal. The logic behind this prevents the dreaded multiple packages found error when one source has a unique result but is buried under lower priority entries. It remains experimental and defaults to disabled so existing workflows do not break unexpectedly during testing phases.

Automation Improvements for the Command Line

A new no-progress flag disables all progress reporting including spinners and bars across every command. This takes precedence over visual settings and provides clean output for environments where progress indicators are undesirable or interfere with parsing scripts. The PowerShell module also gains authenticated GitHub API requests automatically using environment variables to increase rate limits. CI/CD pipelines often fail due to these throttles so this change removes a common point of failure without requiring manual token handling in every script.

REST Result Match Criteria Update

Search result ordering for Microsoft Store and other REST sources now attempt to correctly set match criteria that factor into the result ordering. This prevents them from being sorted to the top automatically just because they are REST sources rather than community manifests. Users looking for portable applications will finally see them ranked appropriately against store versions based on actual field matches.

Release Windows Package Manager 1.29.70-preview

This is a preview build of WinGet for those interested in trying out upcoming features and fixes. While it has had some use and should be free of major issues, it may have bugs or usability problem...

Release Windows Package Manager 1.29.70-preview · microsoft/winget-cli

The update is available as a preview so testers should expect occasional quirks but these fixes target real pain points.