Winget List - add machine-parseable output

[apcsb]

Description of the new feature / enhancement

#1155
Winget List is useful for scripting to check if a package is present, but current output is human-oriented.
I often need to check if a specific package version is installed, or what version of a specific package is installed.
Currently I have to parse text output, which is not fun, given the variable column names/widths etc.

Proposal: Add an option to display the results as CSV/JSON/XML/anything else machine readable vs human-readable for scripting. This is in addition to what export offers. Export currently dumps a lot, requires a file and takes a lot of time. This should run quickly (a single package and dump to stdout (for capture/redirection).

Proposed technical implementation details

winget list <query> --out-json
returns a JSON object into stdout (for redirection / capture)

Optionally --out-csv, --out-xml etc.

[stephengillie]

This would be very useful for projects like:

• Watch-PRTitles winget-pkgs#96846

[Trenly]

Have you tried using the PowerShell Cmdlets? They should provide the output as a PowerShell object which can be used natively or converted to a structured format like JSON

[denelon]

Duplicate of #1753

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

@apcsb we've identified this Issue as a duplicate of another one that already exists. This specific instance is being closed in favor of tracking the concern over on the referenced Issue. Thanks for your report! Be sure to add your 👍 to the other issue to help raise the priority.