Update ACS to WinAppSDK 2.0-exp4 + List Indices in Settings by karkarl · Pull Request #573 · microsoft/ai-dev-gallery

karkarl · 2026-01-30T00:18:22Z

Update WinAppSDK 2.0-exp4 and update AppContentSearch namespaces
Display to local indices in settings page

Copilot

Pull request overview

This pull request updates Windows App SDK from 2.0-experimental3 to 2.0-experimental4 and migrates AppContentSearch APIs from the experimental namespace to the stable namespace. Additionally, it adds a new feature to display and manage local AppContentIndex stores in the settings page.

Changes:

Updated WinAppSDK package from experimental3 to experimental4
Migrated namespace from Microsoft.Windows.AI.Search.Experimental.AppContentIndex to Microsoft.Windows.Search.AppContentIndex
Added UI in Settings page to display, browse, and delete AppContentIndex stores with storage information
Updated FlowLayout and WrapPanel properties to match WinAppSDK 2.0-exp4 API changes

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 10 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
Directory.Packages.props	Updated Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK from 2.0.0-experimental3 to 2.0.0-experimental4
AIDevGallery/Samples/WCRAPIs/SemanticSearch.xaml.cs	Updated AppContentIndex namespace from experimental to stable API
AIDevGallery/Samples/WCRAPIs/KnowledgeRetrieval.xaml.cs	Updated AppContentIndex namespace from experimental to stable API
AIDevGallery/Samples/WCRAPIs/AppIndexCapability.xaml.cs	Updated AppContentIndex namespace from experimental to stable API
AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml.cs	Added logic to enumerate and manage AppContentIndex stores including size calculation and deletion
AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml	Added new settings expander UI for displaying local indices with delete functionality
AIDevGallery/Pages/APIs/APIOverview.xaml	Updated FlowLayout from MinColumnSpacing/MinRowSpacing to MinItemSpacing for WinAppSDK 2.0-exp4
AIDevGallery/Models/AppContentIndexStores.cs	Added new model class to represent index store data for display in settings
AIDevGallery/MainWindow.xaml.cs	Updated AppContentIndex namespace from experimental to stable API
AIDevGallery/Controls/ModelPicker/ModelPickerViews/OnnxPickerView.xaml	Migrated from custom WrapPanel to built-in WrapPanel with ItemSpacing/LineSpacing properties

AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml

AIDevGallery/Models/AppContentIndexStores.cs

AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml.cs

Copilot · 2026-01-30T00:23:18Z

AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml.cs

+    private void GetAppContentIndexStorageInfo()
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            indexStores.Clear();
+
+            var localFolder = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder.Path;
+            var appContentIndicesFolder = Path.Combine(localFolder, "AppContentIndices");
+
+            indexFolderPath = appContentIndicesFolder;
+            IndexFolderPathTxt.Content = appContentIndicesFolder.Length > 100
+                ? string.Concat("...", appContentIndicesFolder.AsSpan(appContentIndicesFolder.Length - 100))
+                : appContentIndicesFolder;
+            ToolTipService.SetToolTip(IndexFolderPathTxt, appContentIndicesFolder);
+
+            if (Directory.Exists(appContentIndicesFolder))
+            {
+                // Find subdirectories under AppContentIndices. These correspond to each index associated with the app.
+                var indexFolders = Directory.GetDirectories(appContentIndicesFolder);
+                long totalIndexSize = 0;
+
+                if (indexFolders.Length > 0)
+                {
+                    foreach (var folder in indexFolders)
+                    {
+                        var indexSize = GetDirectorySize(folder);
+                        var folderName = Path.GetFileName(folder);
+
+                        indexStores.Add(new AppContentIndexStores(folderName, folder, indexSize));
+                        totalIndexSize += indexSize;
+                    }
+
+                    ToolTipService.SetToolTip(IndexFolderPathTxt, appContentIndicesFolder);
+                    TotalIndexSizeText.Text = AppUtils.FileSizeToString(totalIndexSize);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    TotalIndexSizeText.Text = string.Empty;
+                }
+
+                if (indexStores.Count > 0)
+                {
+                    IndexStorageExpander.IsExpanded = true;
+                }
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                indexFolderPath = null;
+                IndexFolderPathTxt.Content = "Index storage not found";
+                TotalIndexSizeText.Text = string.Empty;
+            }
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            indexFolderPath = null;
+            IndexFolderPathTxt.Content = "Unable to locate index storage";
+            TotalIndexSizeText.Text = string.Empty;
+            Debug.WriteLine($"Error getting AppContentIndex storage info: {ex.Message}");
+        }
+    }


GetAppContentIndexStorageInfo performs synchronous I/O operations (Directory.Exists, Directory.GetDirectories, Directory.GetFiles) on the UI thread during OnNavigatedTo. This can cause UI freezing if the index folders are large or on slow storage. Consider making this method async and running the I/O operations on a background thread using Task.Run, similar to how GetStorageInfo is implemented as an async method. This would improve UI responsiveness and follow the performance best practices used elsewhere in the codebase.

AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml

AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml.cs

AIDevGallery/Models/AppContentIndexStores.cs

AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml.cs

haoliuu · 2026-02-03T03:41:30Z

AIDevGallery/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml

                        </toolkit:SettingsExpander.Items>
                    </toolkit:SettingsExpander>
-
+                    <toolkit:SettingsExpander x:Name="IndexStorageExpander"


nit: just a minor suggestion, not blocker. you can consider adding a "Clear all indices" button like the "Clear" button that deletes all cached models in the model cache section for better user experience :)

This can be addressed in the next PR. WindowsAppSDK 2.0preview1 change is incoming :)

- Rename ModelSize -> IndexSize in AppContentIndexStores - Make GetAppContentIndexStorageInfo async (I/O off UI thread) - Remove duplicate ToolTipService.SetToolTip call - Add AutomationProperties.Name to index folder HyperlinkButton - Remove trailing whitespace and extra blank line Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Class represents a single index store entry, not multiple. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

The Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK.Base package provides the Search WinMDs (Microsoft.Windows.Search.AppContentIndex namespace). Without it, navigating to Settings causes a TypeLoadException. Also restores correct namespace (Microsoft.Windows.Search.AppContentIndex) and updates WcrApiCodeSnippet inline samples to match. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

haoliuu

@huichen123 mentioned that VSR may not work on WindowsAppSDK 2.0 Exp4 and Exp5 in another thread. @huichen123 could you please double confirm? If that's the case, we should hold off on the upgrade for now.
@karkarl have you tested locally to see if AIDG works properly with these changes?

huichen123 · 2026-03-04T19:08:16Z

@huichen123 mentioned that VSR may not work on WindowsAppSDK 2.0 Exp4 and Exp5 in another thread. @huichen123 could you please double confirm? If that's the case, we should hold off on the upgrade for now. @karkarl have you tested locally to see if AIDG works properly with these changes?

yes, the existing QNN EP doesn't work with new ORT in exp4+

karkarl · 2026-03-04T20:25:24Z

@huichen123 mentioned that VSR may not work on WindowsAppSDK 2.0 Exp4 and Exp5 in another thread. @huichen123 could you please double confirm? If that's the case, we should hold off on the upgrade for now. @karkarl have you tested locally to see if AIDG works properly with these changes?

yes, the existing QNN EP doesn't work with new ORT in exp4+

That checks out. I'm seeing the same thing while debugging a crash I'm seeing locally with windbg. I'll just add the preview1 changes here.

haoliuu · 2026-03-05T03:12:59Z

@huichen123 mentioned that VSR may not work on WindowsAppSDK 2.0 Exp4 and Exp5 in another thread. @huichen123 could you please double confirm? If that's the case, we should hold off on the upgrade for now. @karkarl have you tested locally to see if AIDG works properly with these changes?

yes, the existing QNN EP doesn't work with new ORT in exp4+

That checks out. I'm seeing the same thing while debugging a crash I'm seeing locally with windbg. I'll just add the preview1 changes here.

Is the problem in exp4+ fixed in preview1? I noticed that exp5 released at the same time as preview1 so not sure if they have the same QNN EP issue. Or we need to hold off until the new EP is released before merging the change

karkarl added 6 commits January 28, 2026 14:16

update exp package

ec4ea99

update apis

ac82af4

fix package errors

6f0ea14

list indices

346e1c7

fix alignment

f410e8c

revert

d15efc6

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 30, 2026 00:18

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of karkarl January 30, 2026 00:18 View session

Merge branch 'main' into user/karkarl/ACSExp4

77db61c

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 30, 2026

View reviewed changes

haoliuu reviewed Feb 3, 2026

View reviewed changes

haoliuu and others added 7 commits February 4, 2026 11:23

Merge branch 'main' into user/karkarl/ACSExp4

3fa76e4

Rename AppContentIndexStores -> AppContentIndexStore (singular)

f059ead

Class represents a single index store entry, not multiple. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Merge branch 'main' into user/karkarl/ACSExp4

6b38fd3

Fix build: add missing System.Collections.Generic using

254f810

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Fix XAML: restore missing space in TextBlock tag

7945158

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

haoliuu reviewed Mar 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

haoliuu mentioned this pull request Mar 5, 2026

Bumped Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK to 2.0.0-experimental5 #587

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Update ACS to WinAppSDK 2.0-exp4 + List Indices in Settings#573

Update ACS to WinAppSDK 2.0-exp4 + List Indices in Settings#573
karkarl wants to merge 14 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom
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