UI Labs

Initially this repo contains the CLI/DevFlow proof-of-concept and supporting tooling for the WPF tooling research project. Now experiments on other UI frameworks like WinForms, WinUI 3, Uno Platform, MewUI, LibreWPF, and Jalium are also included for comparison and validation purposes.

This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft, or other vendors of the frameworks.

NuGet packages

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Workspace structure

• src/DevFlow/
  • LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.Core/ — shared DevFlow core service layer (HTTP server, CSS selector/query engine, network capture, Win32 alert detection).
  • LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.XXX/ — plain runtime implementation for DevFlow for XXX UI framework (WPF, WinForms, Uno, MewUI, LibreWPF, Jalium).
  • LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.XXX.Tests/ — integration tests covering DevFlow status, tree, screenshot, tap, and scroll behavior.
  • XXXDevFlowTestApp/ — a small sample app instrumented with DevFlow for runtime validation for XXX UI framework.
  • LeXtudio.DevFlow.Driver/ — HTTP client for querying a running DevFlow agent.
  • LeXtudio.DevFlow.Inspector/ — browser-based live UI inspector server (devflow inspector).
  • LeXtudio.DevFlow.Broker/ — multi-agent broker daemon for discovery/registration (devflow broker).
  • LeXtudio.DevFlow.Analyzers/ — Roslyn analyzer validating [DevFlowAction] usage at compile time.
• src/Cli/ — global tool prototypes for scaffolding and project workflows, one CLI per UI framework.
• docs/ — plan and session documentation for the CLI/DevFlow work.

Key goals

• Build DevFlow agents that expose runtime UI state for WinForms, WPF, WinUI 3, Uno Platform, MewUI, LibreWPF, and Jalium apps via HTTP.
• Reuse shared DevFlow infrastructure where it makes sense, while keeping platform code in focused runtime packages.
• Validate the approach with an end-to-end integration test and a live sample app.

DevFlow feature set

Every agent (regardless of UI framework) exposes the same HTTP surface, reachable through each CLI's devflow subcommand:

Area	Highlights
UI tree & interaction	Live tree/element inspection, screenshots, tap/fill/clear/focus/key/scroll/back
extensions	Discover and invoke [DevFlowAction]-annotated methods in the running app
inspector	Browser-based live UI inspector — proxies screenshots + tree + interaction over HTTP
broker	Multi-agent discovery daemon (start/stop/status/list) for targeting a specific running app
network	Captured HTTP traffic (list/detail/clear) for apps using DevFlowHttp.CreateClient()
ui	CSS-selector queries (query), point hit-testing (hit-test), and structural assertions (assert)
alert	Detect and dismiss native dialog boxes (detect/dismiss)
webview	WebView context listing, screenshot, and CDP command execution (WPF/WinForms/LibreWPF)
batch / commands	Scripted multi-command execution over stdin and machine-readable command schema discovery

How to use DevFlow with WPF/WinForms/WinUI 3/Uno Platform/MewUI/LibreWPF/Jalium

Build all relevant projects

cd src
dotnet build labs.slnx

Run the WPF sample app

cd src\DevFlow\WpfDevFlowTestApp
dotnet run --no-build

The sample app starts DevFlow on port 9223 and exposes:

• GET http://localhost:9223/api/v1/agent/status
• GET http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/tree
• GET http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/element?id=<id>
• GET http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/screenshot
• POST http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/tap
• POST http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/actions/scroll

Run the WinUI 3/Uno Platform sample app

cd src\DevFlow\UnoDevFlowTestApp
dotnet run -f net10.0-desktop --no-build

This launches the sample app on Uno Platform and it starts DevFlow on port 9223 and exposes:

• GET http://localhost:9223/api/v1/agent/status
• GET http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/tree
• GET http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/element?id=<id>
• GET http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/screenshot
• POST http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/tap
• POST http://localhost:9223/api/v1/ui/actions/scroll

Note: WinUI apps can also use the WinApp CLI UI commands to achieve a similar runtime UI inspection and interaction workflow. DevFlow is therefore optional for WinUI scenarios when comparable WinApp CLI support already exists.

To launch the sample app on WinUI 3,

cd src\DevFlow\UnoDevFlowTestApp
dotnet run -f net10.0-windows10.0.19041.0 --no-build

Run the WinForms sample app

cd src\DevFlow\WinFormsDevFlowTestApp
dotnet run --no-build

The sample app starts DevFlow on port 9223 by default and exposes the same shared DevFlow HTTP API used by the other runtime agents.

Run the MewUI sample app

cd src\DevFlow\MewUIDevFlowTestApp
dotnet run --no-build

The sample app starts DevFlow on port 9223 by default and exposes the same shared DevFlow HTTP API used by the other runtime agents.

Run the LibreWPF sample app

cd src\DevFlow\LibreWpfDevFlowTestApp
dotnet run --no-build

The sample app starts DevFlow on port 9223 by default and exposes the same shared DevFlow HTTP API used by the other runtime agents.

Run the Jalium sample app

cd src\DevFlow\JaliumDevFlowTestApp
dotnet run --no-build

The sample app starts DevFlow on port 9223 by default and exposes the same shared DevFlow HTTP API used by the other runtime agents.

Run WPF integration tests

cd src\DevFlow\LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.WPF.Tests
dotnet test --project LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.WPF.Tests.csproj

Run WinUI 3/Uno Platform integration tests

cd src\DevFlow\LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.Uno.Tests
dotnet test --project LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.Uno.Tests.csproj

Run WinForms integration tests

cd src\DevFlow\LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.WinForms.Tests
dotnet test --project LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.WinForms.Tests.csproj

Run MewUI integration tests

cd src\DevFlow\LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.MewUI.Tests
dotnet test --project LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.MewUI.Tests.csproj

Use in your projects

You can use prebuilt NuGet packages

Install packages to a WPF project

dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.WPF
dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Driver

Install packages to a WinUI 3/Uno Platform project

dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.Uno
dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Driver

Install packages to a WinForms project

dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.WinForms
dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Driver

Install packages to a MewUI project

dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.MewUI
dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Driver

Install packages to a LibreWPF project

dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.LibreWpf
dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Driver

Install packages to a Jalium project

dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Agent.Jalium
dotnet add package LeXtudio.DevFlow.Driver

Install WPF CLI tool

dotnet tool install -g LeXtudio.Wpf.Cli
dotnet wpflex --help

Install WinUI 3/Uno Platform CLI tool

dotnet tool install -g LeXtudio.Uno.Cli
dotnet unolex --help

Install WinForms CLI tool

dotnet tool install -g LeXtudio.WinForms.Cli
dotnet winflex --help

Install MewUI CLI tool

dotnet tool install -g LeXtudio.MewUI.Cli
dotnet mewlex --help

Install LibreWPF CLI tool

dotnet tool install -g LeXtudio.LibreWpf.Cli
dotnet librewpf --help

Install Jalium CLI tool

dotnet tool install -g LeXtudio.Jalium.Cli
dotnet jalex --help

Notes

• The DevFlow agent is intentionally lightweight and focused on WPF/WinForms/WinUI 3/Uno Platform/MewUI/LibreWPF/Jalium runtime automation.
• The host app and test app demonstrate live UI tree inspection, screenshot capture, tap, and scroll interaction, plus the extensions/inspector/broker/network/ui/alert feature set described above.
• Documentation for the DevFlow plan is available under docs/devflow/.

License

MIT

Copyright

(c) 2026 LeXtudio Inc. All rights reserved.