winui-search is a command-line tool that indexes real WinUI 3 control samples so developers and AI coding agents can find the right control and copy working XAML and C# before writing markup.
winui-search is a native command-line tool that searches a curated corpus of WinUI 3 interface samples. Instead of recalling how a control is declared, you run a focused query and it returns matching controls with scenario identifiers, then fetches the full XAML and C# for the ones you pick. The corpus is drawn from the WinUI 3 Gallery, every Windows Community Toolkit scenario, and a set of platform integration patterns such as file pickers, sharing, and drag-and-drop. Its purpose is simple: ground every control choice in a shipping sample before markup is written, so property names, namespaces, and structure come from working code rather than memory.
The tool fits into a wider Windows development loop rather than replacing it. Where UI automation harnesses such as Windows Application Driver exercise an app that already runs, winui-search works earlier, at authoring time, and stays deliberately narrow: it covers WinUI 3 and toolkit material, not WPF or WinForms samples. It was built to be driven by coding agents as much as by people. Microsoft's WinUI agent plugin ships it alongside skills that require a catalogue lookup before any XAML is produced, which keeps generated interfaces consistent with the Fluent patterns the platform actually ships. Developers can run exactly the same queries by hand when reviewing a page or hunting for an unfamiliar control.
The clearest benefit of winui-search is fewer invented property names. Because every result traces back to a sample that compiles, you spend less time fixing XAML that looked plausible and more time on the interface itself. Focused queries also keep the workflow quick: batching several features into one search call and fetching up to three scenarios at once removes the back-and-forth of opening a gallery app or a browser tab. An embedded snapshot means the index works offline, with refreshes layered on top when a network is available, so a build machine or sandbox never stalls. Ranking behaviour rewards specific phrasing, which nudges users toward one control or pattern per query and produces noticeably sharper shortlists. For teams using agents, the payoff compounds: grounded lookups cut the retry loops that consume tokens and review time, and pitfall notes attached to fetch results flag the mistakes that are easy to repeat. The tool also gets out of the way once it has done its job, since it returns code to copy rather than a new process to maintain.
Key capabilities and highlights.
Enter one focused phrase per feature and receive ranked control matches drawn from the WinUI 3 Gallery, Windows Community Toolkit scenarios, and curated platform patterns, each listed with scenario identifiers you can fetch straight away. Because the ranker rewards specific phrasing, a query such as tabbed layout returns a shortlist you can judge at a glance instead of scrolling through an entire sample browser.
Fetching a scenario returns its complete XAML and C#, so you copy the canonical declaration for a control rather than reconstructing it from documentation fragments, old blog posts, or memory. The result reflects what the source gallery actually ships, which is why pasted markup usually compiles once you add the imports the tool lists separately.
A single search call accepts several focused queries, and one fetch call returns up to three scenarios at once. That keeps catalogue lookups front-loaded: gather every sample the page needs, then write markup in one pass instead of jumping back and forth between searching, reading, and coding.
An embedded snapshot keeps searching, listing, and fetching working without network access, so the tool behaves the same on a disconnected build machine, an isolated sandbox, or a proxy that blocks file downloads. When a connection exists, an update command and background refresh pull the latest gallery and toolkit material and cache it for later runs.
An optional source flag adds C#-only declarative controls from the ReactorGallery, letting developers working in that framework search their own component set alongside the standard WinUI corpus. Those results stay out of ordinary searches by default, which keeps declarative samples from crowding out controls that paste into a conventional XAML application.
Filters restrict a query to the gallery, toolkit, or reactor corpus, so experimental or framework-specific entries stay out of a standard XAML shortlist. A listing mode enumerates every indexed pattern with its identifier, which helps when you know a control exists but not the exact phrasing the ranker expects.
Fetched scenarios carry short notes about known pitfalls and controls that are easy to mistake for one another. That is guidance the sample code alone does not convey, and it tends to surface exactly where hand-written markup goes wrong, such as properties that look interchangeable but behave differently once the app is running.
Built to be called by coding agents before markup is generated, it plugs into WinUI development skills that treat a catalogue lookup as a required step rather than an optional one. That ordering reduces invented APIs in generated XAML and gives reviewers a concrete sample to compare the finished interface against.
Browse historical releases and previous builds.
Common questions about winui-search.
It is a command-line search tool for WinUI 3 interface code. It indexes control samples from the WinUI 3 Gallery, Windows Community Toolkit scenarios, and a set of curated platform patterns, then returns matching controls with identifiers and lets you fetch their full XAML and C#.
No. It does not index files, email, or installed apps on a PC. It searches a development corpus of WinUI control samples, so it is a tool for people and agents writing Windows interfaces rather than a replacement for desktop search.
Yes. An embedded snapshot of the corpus ships with the tool, so searching, listing, and fetching all work without a network connection. When GitHub is reachable, an update command refreshes the index from source and the refreshed copy is cached locally for later runs.
Four modes cover the workflow: search for ranked control matches, get an identifier to retrieve complete sample code, list to enumerate everything indexed, and update to refresh the corpus on demand.
It returns the full scenario from the source gallery rather than a hand-trimmed excerpt. C# samples list their non-obvious namespaces separately from the code body, so you add the required using directives and XAML namespace entries before compiling.
No. Its corpus is WinUI 3 Gallery and Windows Community Toolkit material, plus a curated set of platform integration patterns. Reactor controls are available behind an explicit source flag; other UI frameworks are outside its scope.
Because recalling a control's markup and namespaces is where generated interfaces most often go wrong. Fetching a shipping sample first grounds property names, structure, and imports in code that already compiles, which cuts the retry loops that slow a build session.
The search capability was originally delivered as a standalone tool bundled with Microsoft's WinUI agent plugin skills, and Microsoft later folded the same functionality into the WinApp CLI as a first-class find-ui command so control and sample discovery lives with the rest of the Windows app toolchain.
winui-search is a command-line tool that indexes real WinUI 3 control samples so developers and AI coding agents can find the right control and copy working XAML and C# before writing markup.
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