ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI

Quick Start ​

Want to add plugins to your WinUI 3 app? We'll create a shared SDK, write a small plugin, and load it in the app.

You'll work with three projects: the app displays the UI, the SDK provides shared APIs, and plugins add features.

Before you start ​

  • Install Visual Studio with WinUI 3 support and the Windows App SDK development tools.
  • Have some familiarity with C# and XAML. We'll use DryIoc for dependency injection.
  • The examples target .NET 8. If you also want to build the loader from source, install the .NET 10 SDK for its C# extension block support.

Follow these steps ​

  1. Create the SDK project for your shared code.
  2. Describe your plugins with metadata and create their base class.
  3. Create the loader and connect it to your app.
  4. Write a plugin and package it.
  5. Back in the app, load and manage your plugins.