Creating a winget package to install a single executable

[johnwhitington]

I want people to be able to install my (entirely self-contained, just one executable) command line tool using WinGet.

As I understand it, Winget doesn't have support for directly installing executables. It requires that there is already a (.msi, .exe, etc.) installer.

So, it sounds like I need to make a .msi or similar installer first which a) copies the executable to Program Files/ProductName/foo.exe and b) adds Program Files/ProductName to the PATH.

Then, I can create a Winget manifest which will use that installer (and perhaps Winget will intercept the PATH-alteration and do it itself?)

Is that about right? I apologise for asking elementary questions, but I'm new to Windows and I'm into hour four of internet searches and seem to be going round in circles...

Also: What's the best installer-builder to use for this simple case?

[Trenly]

WinGet has supported loose executables for a while now. You can use a tool like WinGetCreate to author the manifest, and simply specify the installer type as portable

[johnwhitington]

Thanks! All sorted now.