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Application

Represents an app that comprises part of or all of the functionality delivered in the package.

Element hierarchy

<Package>
 └─ <Applications>
 └─ <Application>

Syntax

<Package
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10">
  ...
  <Application
    Id = 'A required value. <!-- TODO: Add description for t:ST_ApplicationId -->'
    Executable = 'An optional string between 1 and 256 characters in length that must end with ".exe" and cannot contain these characters: <, >, :, ", |, ?, or *.'
    EntryPoint = 'An optional string between 1 and 256 characters in length that cannot start or end with a whitespace character.'
    StartPage = 'An optional value. <!-- TODO: Add description for t:ST_ApplicationStartPage -->'
    ResourceGroup = 'An optional alphanumeric string between 1 and 255 characters in length. Must begin with an alphabetic character.'
    desktop4:Subsystem = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "console", or "windows".'
    iot2:Subsystem = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "console", or "windows".'
    uap10:Subsystem = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "console", or "windows".'
    desktop4:SupportsMultipleInstances = 'An optional boolean value.'
    iot2:SupportsMultipleInstances = 'An optional boolean value.'
    uap10:SupportsMultipleInstances = 'An optional boolean value.'
    uap11:CurrentDirectoryPath = 'An optional string that cannot contain these characters: <, >, |, ?, or *.'
    uap11:Parameters = 'An optional string between 1 and 32767 characters in length with a non-whitespace character at its beginning and end.'
    previewsecurity:TrustLevel = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "appContainer", "mediumIL", or "appSilo".'
    uap10:TrustLevel = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "appContainer", or "mediumIL".'
    uap10:RuntimeBehavior = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "windowsApp", "packagedClassicApp", or "win32App".'
    uap10:HostId = 'An optional alphanumeric string between 1 and 255 characters in length. Must begin with an alphabetic character.'
    uap10:Parameters = 'An optional string between 1 and 32767 characters in length with a non-whitespace character at its beginning and end.'
    previewsecurity2:RuntimeBehavior = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "windowsApp", "packagedClassicApp", "win32App", or "appSilo".'
    uap16:BaseNamedObjectsIsolation = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "none", or "package".'
    uap17:BaseNamedObjectsIsolation = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "none", or "package".'
    desktop11:AppLifecycleBehavior = 'An optional string that can have one of the following values: "systemManaged", or "unmanaged".' >

    <!-- Child elements -->
    VisualElementsChoice
    ApplicationContentUriRules?
    Extensions?
    Properties?

  </Application>
</Package>

Key

? optional (zero or one)

Attributes

Attribute Description Data type Required Default value
Id The unique identifier of the application within the package. This value is sometimes referred to as the package-relative app identifier (PRAID). The ID is unique within the package but not globally. There may be another package on the system that uses the same ID. The same ID cannot be used more than once in the same package. When using a Visual Studio template, the default value of this attribute is App. Developers should manually change this in the manifest. The app's identifier should not be changed after the app has been published to the Microsoft Store; doing so will disrupt the tile's position on the Start screen. A value. Yes
Executable The default launch executable. An optional string between 1 and 256 characters in length that must end with ".exe" and cannot contain these characters: <, >, :, ", |, ?, or *. No
EntryPoint The activatable class ID. An optional string between 1 and 256 characters in length that cannot start or end with a whitespace character. No
StartPage The web page that handles the extensibility point. An optional value. No
ResourceGroup A tag that you can use to group extension activations together for resource management purposes (for example, CPU and memory). An optional alphanumeric string between 1 and 255 characters in length. Must begin with an alphabetic character. No
desktop4:Subsystem Indicates whether the app is a standard UWP app or a UWP console app. An optional string that can have one of the following values: console, windows. No
iot2:Subsystem An optional string that can have one of the following values: console, windows. No
uap10:Subsystem Indicates whether the app is a standard UWP app or a UWP console app. An optional string that can have one of the following values: console, windows. No
desktop4:SupportsMultipleInstances Indicates support of multiple, separate instances of UWP apps. For more info, see the remarks section. An optional boolean value. No
iot2:SupportsMultipleInstances An optional boolean value. No
uap10:SupportsMultipleInstances Indicates support of multiple, separate instances of UWP apps. For more info, see the remarks section. An optional boolean value. No
uap11:CurrentDirectoryPath Specifies the initial directory when launching the process. This attribute supports macros. For more info, see Macros in the package manifest schema. An optional string that cannot contain these characters: <, >, |, ?, or *. No
uap11:Parameters Contains command line parameters to pass to the extension. This attribute supports macros. For more info, see Macros in the package manifest schema. An optional string between 1 and 32767 characters in length with a non-whitespace character at its beginning and end. No
previewsecurity:TrustLevel An optional string that can have one of the following values: appContainer, mediumIL, appSilo. No
uap10:TrustLevel Specifies the trust level of the extension. An optional string that can have one of the following values: appContainer, mediumIL. No
uap10:RuntimeBehavior Specifies the run time behavior of the extension. An optional string that can have one of the following values: windowsApp, packagedClassicApp, win32App. No
uap10:HostId Specifies the ID of the host runtime for the extension. An optional alphanumeric string between 1 and 255 characters in length. Must begin with an alphabetic character. No
uap10:Parameters Contains command line parameters to pass to the extension. Only supported for desktop apps that have package identity. An optional string between 1 and 32767 characters in length with a non-whitespace character at its beginning and end. No
previewsecurity2:RuntimeBehavior An optional string that can have one of the following values: windowsApp, packagedClassicApp, win32App, appSilo. No
uap16:BaseNamedObjectsIsolation Enables BaseNameObject (BNO) isolation for the app. An optional string that can have one of the following values: none, package. No
uap17:BaseNamedObjectsIsolation Enables BaseNameObject (BNO) isolation for the app. An optional string that can have one of the following values: none, package. No
desktop11:AppLifecycleBehavior Allows an app to override the lifecycle behavior associated with the runtime behavior for the extension. Apps or extensions with a RuntimeBehavior of "windowsApp" implicitly have AppLifecycleBehavior of "systemManaged" unless otherwise specified. Apps or extensions with RuntimeBehavior of "packagedClassicApp" or "win32App" implicitly have AppLifecycleBehavior of "unmanaged" unless otherwise specified. An optional string that can have one of the following values: systemManaged, unmanaged. No

Child elements

Child element Description
uap:ApplicationContentUriRules Specifies which pages in the web context have access to the system's geolocation devices (if the app has permission to access this capability) and access to the clipboard.
Extensions Defines one or more extensibility points for the app.
uap7:Properties Properties of an application.

Parent elements

Parent element Description
Applications Represents one or more apps that comprise the package.

Requirements

Item Value
Namespace http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10
desktop11 http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/desktop/windows10/11
desktop4 http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/desktop/windows10/4
iot2 http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/iot/windows10/2
previewsecurity http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/preview/windows10/security
previewsecurity2 http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/preview/windows10/security/2
uap10 http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10/10
uap11 http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10/11
uap16 http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10/16
uap17 http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10/17
Minimum OS Version

Remarks

The Application element contains attributes that are common to the extensibility points that pertain to the app. This info is used by other extensibility points to get info about the app. Application attributes are also used as activation info in the startup and management of an instance of the app (in other words, they describe how to start a process, and with what behavior).

The StartPage attribute applies only to JavaScript apps. If StartPage isn't specified, then both the Executable and EntryPoint attributes must be specified (and that applies only to C#, C++, or VB apps).

uap10 was introduced in Windows 10, version 2004 (10.0; Build 19041)

The uap10 namespace (for uap10:RuntimeBehavior and uap10:TrustLevel) was introduced in Windows 10, version 2004 (10.0; Build 19041). If your package installs on systems older than that, then you need to provide an equivalent combination of attributes (see the following section), otherwise the activation info will be incomplete, and the install will fail.

But if your package has <TargetDeviceFamily MinVersion="10.0.19041.0">, or higher, then it installs only on systems that support the uap10 namespace. In that case, you should use the uap10:RuntimeBehavior and uap10:TrustLevel attributes in preference to the older equivalent combinations (see the following section).

Combinations of activation info attributes

You can specify activation info attributes on the Application element; and you can optionally specify them on an app-scope Extension element. If they're not specified on Extension, then they're inherited from the parent Application. You specify these attributes in combinations—for example, EntryPoint, RuntimeBehavior, and TrustLevel have overlapping meaning, and they're specified (and/or inherited) in combinations. Here are some valid combinations of activation info attributes.

  1. Executable, uap10:RuntimeBehavior="packagedClassicApp", uap10:TrustLevel=["mediumIL", or "appContainer" (the default if omitted)]
  2. Executable, uap10:RuntimeBehavior="win32App", uap10:TrustLevel="mediumIL" (for other requirements, see the Description earlier in this topic for uap10:RuntimeBehavior).
  3. Executable, EntryPoint="windows.fullTrustApplication" (equivalent to uap10:RuntimeBehavior="packagedClassicApp", uap10:TrustLevel="mediumIL")
  4. Executable, EntryPoint="windows.partialTrustApplication" (equivalent to uap10:RuntimeBehavior="packagedClassicApp", uap10:TrustLevel="appContainer")
  5. Executable, EntryPoint="<anything else>"

As you can see, if your target system doesn't support the uap10 namespace, then you can specify the EntryPoint attribute instead. Similarly, the equivalent of uap10:TrustLevel="appContainer"` on older systems is EntryPoint="windows.partialTrustApplication".

But it's redundant to specify both uap10:RuntimeBehavior/uap10:TrustLevel and EntryPoint at the same time. But if you do that, then it's an error if they contradict.

Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app activations require EntryPoint. So if you specify Executable and uap10:RuntimeBehavior="windowsApp" (with no EntryPoint), then that's an error. In this same case, EntryPoint would specify something other than "windows.fullTrustApplication" and "windows.partialTrustApplication"; and values other than those two already say the same thing as uap10:RuntimeBehavior="windowsApp". So uap10:RuntimeBehavior would be redundant in this case, and you'd specify Executable and EntryPoint.

Setting uap10:RuntimeBehavior="win32App" and uap10:TrustLevel="appContainer" isn't supported.

Setting uap10:TrustLevel="mediumIL" while uap10:RuntimeBehavior="windowsApp" requires the Microsoft.coreAppActivation_8wekyb3d8bbwe Custom Capability.

This is also true if uap10:TrustLevel="mediumIL" and EntryPoint is any other value than "windows.fullTrustApplication" or "windows.partialTrustApplication".

You can read more about this custom capability here in Custom Capabilities.

Important notes about multi-instancing apps

  • If an app declares SupportsMultipleInstances within the Application element, then all foreground extensions will also be multi-instanced.
  • If the app declares SupportsMultipleInstances within the Application element, then it does not need to be declared at the Extensions level (for example, in a BackgroundTasks or AppService element).
  • The app should only declare SupportsMultipleInstances on background tasks, background audio, or app services.
  • Console apps will always be multi-instanced and must explicitly declare SupportsMultipleInstances.
  • Apps can use the ResourceGroup declaration in the manifest to group multiple background tasks into the same host. This conflicts with multi-instancing, where each activation goes into a separate host. Therefore, an app cannot declare both SupportsMultipleInstances and ResourceGroup in the manifest.

For more info about using the SupportsMultipleInstances attribute to support multiple, separate instances of UWP apps, see Create a multi-instance Universal Windows App.

Examples

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