template-desktop-csharp

A production-ready GitHub template for C# 14 / .NET 10 LTS desktop apps — offline-first, WinUI 3 + Fluent 2, Velopack auto-update, supply-chain hardened out of the box.

Click Use this template → Create a new repository to scaffold a new project from this baseline.

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What it's for

• Native Windows desktop apps — productivity tools, browser-extension companion apps, capture / clipboard / automation utilities, small games, anything that runs locally.
• Offline-first by default: the app must work with no network. Optional network features (auto-update, telemetry, sync) are opt-in and degrade gracefully when offline.
• Useful as the seed for shell extensions, tray apps, single-window tools — anywhere a packaged .exe + auto-update story beats Electron / Tauri.

Why this template

Every dependency, language version, and GitHub Action is pinned to a release that is still in active LTS / current support after 2028-01-01, so a freshly-spawned repo should start with zero open Dependabot or CodeQL Code-scanning alerts.

Layer	Pick	Supported until	Why
Runtime	.NET 10 LTS	2028-11-10	LTS, ships C# 14, AOT-friendly, faster JIT
Language	C# 14	(= .NET 10)	extension members, field-backed props, implicit Span<T>
UI	WinUI 3 via Windows App SDK 1.8.x	rolling LTS	native Fluent 2, dark/light, Mica, no WebView baggage
Design	Fluent 2	rolling	Microsoft's current design system, Figma-aligned
MVVM	CommunityToolkit.Mvvm 8.4.x	active	source-gen ObservableProperty, AOT-safe
Installer / updater	Velopack (latest)	active	one-command installer + delta updates, replaces Squirrel/ClickOnce
IDE	Visual Studio 2026 or JetBrains Rider 2026.x	rolling	C# 14 + Win App SDK templates
(optional) JS sidecar	Node.js 24 LTS "Krypton"	2028-04-30	only if you ship a web companion / installer GUI
CI	actions/checkout@v6, actions/setup-dotnet@v5, github/codeql-action@v3	rolling	latest GA pins

When a dependency upgrade lands, bump versions in this file + Directory.Packages.props together so the table stays the source of truth.

Quick start

# 1. Use this template on GitHub, clone your new repo, then:
dotnet --version          # expect 10.0.x
dotnet workload install windowsappsdk    # WinUI 3 workload
dotnet restore
dotnet build -c Release

# 2. Run the app
dotnet run --project src/App

Pack a release with Velopack (filled in once the project is scaffolded):

dotnet tool install -g vpk
vpk pack --packId YourApp --packVersion 0.1.0 --packDir publish/

Repository layout (planned)

.
├── .github/                    # workflows, issue/PR templates, FUNDING, dependabot
├── docs/
│   ├── pc_spec.md              # dev machine spec (EN)
│   ├── dev_env.md              # toolchain & workflow (EN)
│   ├── ABOUT_THE_AUTHOR.md     # social / contact
│   └── i18n/vi/…               # Vietnamese mirrors
├── src/                        # application code (added by you)
├── tests/                      # unit / integration / UI tests
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── SECURITY.md
├── SUPPORT.md
├── ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md
├── LICENSE                     # intentionally empty — pick after `Use this template`
└── README.md

CI / automation included

See .github/workflows/ — every workflow either runs in this repo directly or calls a reusable workflow from poli0981/.github.

Workflow	Trigger	Purpose
build.yml	push / PR	restore → build → test (.NET 10, Release)
codeql-csharp.yml	push / PR / weekly	CodeQL static analysis for C#
release.yml	tag v*	build, sign, publish GitHub Release + Velopack feed
announce-release.yml	release published	Discord announcement (reusable)
notify-ci-failure.yml	any workflow fails on main	Discord alert (reusable)
notify-release-pipeline.yml	release pipeline events	Discord status (reusable)
auto-create-discussion.yml	release / critical security advisory	open a Discussion thread
stale.yml	daily cron	close stale issues / PRs
labeler.yml	PR opened	auto-label PR by path

Optional / configure-per-repo:

• dependabot.yml — weekly NuGet + GitHub Actions updates, grouped to one PR per area.
• lock-threads.yml — lock issues 30 days after they close.

Status

v0.0.0 — template only. No application code yet. First real app spun off from this template will define the src/ baseline.

Author & contact

See docs/ABOUT_THE_AUTHOR.md.

Funding

If something built from this template helps you, you can chip in via the Sponsor ❤ button at the top of any repo created from it (configured in .github/FUNDING.yml).

License

Not set yet — LICENSE is intentionally empty. Pick one (MIT / Apache-2.0 / GPL-3.0 / proprietary) per new repo after running Use this template.