WindowsAutoProfiles

WindowsAutoProfiles (WAP) installs and switches Windows app profiles. A profile can declare WinGet packages, folders, shortcuts, environment variables, PATH entries, and optional Windows Sandbox capture data for installers that are not fully represented by WinGet.

Version: 1.1

Last updated: 2026-07-04T08:45:34Z

Author: Michal Zygmunt lahcim@fajne.com

Why WAP?

WAP is not just a WinGet wrapper with named profiles. WinGet installs apps; WAP turns those apps into repeatable Windows workspaces by combining packages, folders, shortcuts, environment variables, PATH entries, and captured installer/configuration state.

The long-term vision is a Windows Workspace Manager: something closer to Docker Compose for Windows desktop environments. For example:

wap install https://github.com/lahcim/workspaces/electronics

After a few minutes, that workspace could include KiCad, shared libraries, project templates, VS Code extensions, terminal settings, environment variables, workspace folders, and Start Menu entries -- everything needed to start working in that context.

Fastest path: install a profile from GitHub

After installing the MSI, open a new terminal and initialize WAP once:

wap init

Then install and activate a published profile directly:

wap install https://github.com/lahcim/WindowsAutoProfiles/tree/main/profiles/electronics

Or download it first, review/edit it locally, then install it:

wap profile download electronics https://github.com/lahcim/WindowsAutoProfiles/tree/main/profiles/electronics
wap profile install electronics
wap profile activate electronics

If the local profile already exists, refresh it with:

wap profile download electronics https://github.com/lahcim/WindowsAutoProfiles/tree/main/profiles/electronics --force

GitHub profile URLs use this format:

https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/tree/<branch>/<path-to-profile-folder>

Install from source

git clone https://github.com/<owner>/WindowsAutoProfiles.git
Set-Location .\WindowsAutoProfiles
.\wap.ps1 init
.\wap.ps1 --examples

From source, replace wap with .\wap.ps1 in the examples above.

Common commands

Task	Command
Initialize config/state	wap init
Direct remote install	wap install <github-profile-url>
Download a profile definition	wap profile download <name> <github-profile-url> [--force]
Install a local profile	wap profile install <name>
Activate a profile	wap profile activate <name>
Add a WinGet package	wap profile winget add <profile> <packageId> [--source <source>] [--version <version>]
List profile packages	wap profile winget list <profile>
Uninstall a profile	wap profile uninstall <name>
Delete an uninstalled profile definition	wap profile remove <name> --Confirm
Start a Sandbox capture	wap capture start <name>
Delete a standalone capture	wap capture remove <name> --Confirm

WinGet versions are optional. When --version is omitted, WinGet installs the default/latest available version for the package ID and source.

What WAP manages

• Install creates workspace folders, installs enabled WinGet packages, creates shortcuts, applies enabled captures, and records ownership in .wap-state.json.
• Activate applies user environment variables and PATH fragments for one installed profile.
• Deactivate reverses only the environment/PATH changes WAP recorded.
• Uninstall removes WAP-owned package installs and shortcuts, but keeps workspace data unless you pass cleanup flags.
• Capture uses Windows Sandbox to record installer/configuration evidence for tools that need interactive setup.

Installed MSI behavior

The MSI installs WAP per user under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\WindowsAutoProfiles

It adds that folder to the current user's PATH and provides wap.cmd. wap init creates config and state beside the installed script:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\WindowsAutoProfiles\wap.config.json
%LOCALAPPDATA%\WindowsAutoProfiles\wap.settings.json
%LOCALAPPDATA%\WindowsAutoProfiles\.wap-state.json
%LOCALAPPDATA%\WindowsAutoProfiles\profiles\
%LOCALAPPDATA%\WindowsAutoProfiles\.logs\

Default workspaces are created under %USERPROFILE%\Workspaces.

Example profiles

This repository includes two sample profiles:

Profile	Purpose	Docs
developer	Git, PowerShell, Python, VS Code, GitHub CLI	profiles\developer\README.md
electronics	Arduino IDE and KiCad	profiles\electronics\README.md

Install them directly from GitHub or from a local checkout:

wap install https://github.com/lahcim/WindowsAutoProfiles/tree/main/profiles/developer
wap install https://github.com/lahcim/WindowsAutoProfiles/tree/main/profiles/electronics

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• Windows PowerShell 5.1 or newer
• WinGet for package installation
• Windows Sandbox for capture workflows
• PowerShell execution policy that allows running WAP scripts

Most host commands do not require elevation. Some WinGet installers may prompt or elevate independently. Sandbox baseline/finalize scripts require administrator rights inside the Sandbox.

Documentation

Start here:

• docs\installation.md - MSI/ZIP/source install behavior and config paths
• docs\usage.md - guided command walkthrough
• docs\cli-reference.md - full command reference
• docs\profile-schema.md - profile.yaml schema, including package versions
• docs\configuration.md - wap.config.json and wap.settings.json
• docs\capture.md - Windows Sandbox capture workflow
• docs\scenarios.md - cookbook workflows
• docs\troubleshooting.md - logs and diagnostics
• docs\index.md - complete documentation index

Safety notes

WAP tracks ownership before removing things. Profile uninstall does not delete workspace data by default, profile deletion refuses installed profiles, and standalone capture removal requires --Confirm.