GoldenGateGlass

GoldenGateGlass is a Windows 10/11 desktop utility and theme-engine sample for app-owned glass surfaces. It recreates a modern translucent visual language with original assets, reversible Windows integration, and accessible fallbacks. It does not patch system files, ship Apple artwork, depend on unsupported theme hacks, or modify registry styling by default.

Current status: alpha preview. The app demonstrates glass-styled surfaces, settings, telemetry, and a tray icon for its own windows; it is not a system-wide Windows theme. Version 0.2.0-alpha adds a reversible shell companion mode that can attach app-owned overlays to File Explorer and selected apps without patching them.

Architecture

• src/GoldenGateGlass.App is the WinUI 3 MSIX app shell with a custom title bar, sidebar, toolbar pills, flyout, dialog, settings window, command palette, and live telemetry display.
• src/GoldenGateGlass.App/Services/ShellOverlayManager.cs tracks selected target windows and attaches reversible click-through companion overlays.
• src/GoldenGateGlass.Theme owns theme JSON, token validation, import/export, defaults, and local user persistence.
• src/GoldenGateGlass.Rendering evaluates OS capabilities, reduced transparency/motion settings, performance pressure, adaptive contrast, and material descriptions for app-owned surfaces.
• src/GoldenGateGlass.NativeComposition is a native C++ DLL that sets reversible DWM attributes on this app's own windows.
• src/GoldenGateGlass.Tests contains smoke tests for theme parsing, fallback policy, contrast classification, and performance-governor behavior.
• assets/shaders, assets/svg, and assets/png contain original shader and visual assets.

Setup

Requirements:

• Visual Studio 2022 17.10 or newer
• .NET 8 SDK
• Windows App SDK workload
• Desktop development with C++ workload and Windows 10/11 SDK

Build:

cd src
start GoldenGateGlass.sln

In Visual Studio, select GoldenGateGlass.App as the startup project and build for x64, x86, or ARM64. MSIX packaging is enabled by default.

Supported OS Matrix

OS	Support	Behavior
Windows 11 22H2+ / build 22621+	Primary	Tier A: DWM/system backdrop plus custom glass overlays
Windows 11 21H2 / build 22000+	Secondary	Tier B: custom composition where system backdrop APIs are incomplete
Windows 10 22H2 / build 19045	Fallback	Tier C: owned-surface blur/tint with flatter materials
Older Windows App SDK-compatible Windows 10 builds	Best effort	Tier C, reduced visual effects

Effect Tier Matrix

Tier	Backdrop	Blur	Highlights	Refraction	Motion
A	DWM system backdrop where supported	Full token radius	Enabled	Enabled unless performance governor disables it	Respects Windows animation setting
B	Custom app-owned composition	Scaled blur	Enabled	Disabled on low-power paths	Respects Windows animation setting
C	App-owned flat/blur surfaces	Reduced or none	Optional	Disabled	Reduced by default

Customization

The default theme is in src/GoldenGateGlass.App/Assets/Themes/golden-gate-default.json. Runtime edits are persisted to:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\GoldenGateGlass\theme.json

Settings expose clarity, tint strength, highlight intensity, shadow depth, adaptive contrast, reduced motion override, low-power mode, reset, export, and import.

Alpha Install

Download the latest alpha release ZIP from GitHub Releases, extract it, then run:

.\1-Install-GoldenGateGlass.cmd

The alpha package is signed with a self-signed certificate. The installer script trusts the included certificate for Windows package installation, installs the MSIX and its dependencies, and uses a UAC prompt because self-signed MSIX certificates must be trusted before Windows App Installer can accept them. Do not double-click the .msix directly for alpha builds. Production distribution should use a trusted code-signing certificate or Microsoft Store packaging.

For this alpha, run the installer as administrator and launch the installed app as administrator when testing the full tray and DWM integration path.

Shell Companion Mode

GoldenGateGlass can now detect File Explorer and optional target apps, then draw app-owned companion overlays that follow the target window. This mode adds a glass border, ambient halo, optional side rail, and Explorer command palette without modifying Explorer, injecting into other processes, patching system files, or changing Windows theme registry keys.

Target app toggles live in Settings. File Explorer is enabled by default; Notepad, Windows Terminal, and Visual Studio Code are opt-in.

Known Limitations

• This project supplies HLSL shader source and rendering policy, but the demo shell uses WinUI brush fallbacks until the shader pipeline is wired into a Win2D/D2D host surface.
• Native DWM calls are best-effort and fail closed on unsupported Windows builds.
• Screenshot regression is documented in docs/SCREENSHOT_REGRESSION.md; full CI automation depends on a Windows runner with interactive desktop support.
• The shell demonstrates app-owned surfaces only. It does not theme other applications or the OS shell.

Uninstall

Use 2-Uninstall-GoldenGateGlass.cmd from the extracted alpha release folder, or uninstall the MSIX package from Windows Settings. The alpha uninstaller can stop the app, remove the MSIX package, optionally remove local user data, and remove the self-signed alpha certificate from Trusted People.

Optional user data is stored at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\GoldenGateGlass

No system files, global registry styling keys, or unsupported theme state are modified.