Microsoft Store Publisher

Use this skill when the user wants to publish a Windows application to the Microsoft Store, create or validate an MSIX, complete a Partner Center submission, respond to certification findings, or monitor publishing status.

This skill is for Windows desktop applications, including packaged classic Win32 apps that use runFullTrust. It is based on a successful end-to-end submission using Partner Center, an unsigned Store MSIX, the Windows App Certification Kit, and browser automation against Partner Center's current web components.

Required safeguards

Treat Partner Center as a production publishing system.

1. Never accept the Microsoft Application Developer Agreement or another binding agreement without fresh, action-specific user confirmation.
2. Never press Submit for certification without fresh, action-specific user confirmation after every section is complete and the final package is validated.
3. Never cancel certification, delete a submission, change pricing, change market availability, publish manually, or send Partner Center feedback without confirmation for that exact action.
4. Never enter, retrieve, print, save, or expose passwords, passkeys, tokens, recovery codes, MFA codes, or payment information. Let the user complete credential and operating-system authentication prompts.
5. Do not use the user's everyday browser profile for automation. Use a dedicated persistent profile and let the user authenticate interactively.
6. Do not infer legal, trademark, patent, privacy, export-control, or open-source compliance. Identify the concern and state when professional review is prudent.
7. Do not claim WACK passed from an exit code alone. Find and read the generated report and verify its overall result.
8. Do not upload a package until its identity, publisher, display name, architecture, version, and signing state have been inspected.

Files in this skill

• references/submission-playbook.md - complete submission sequence.
• references/msix-checklist.md - package and manifest requirements.
• references/partner-center-dom.md - known routes, text, roles, custom elements, selectors, and automation quirks.
• references/worked-example.md - concrete lessons from a successful full-trust desktop app submission.
• scripts/partner-center-control.mjs - Playwright controller for a dedicated Edge profile.
• scripts/inspect-msix.ps1 - unpack and inspect an MSIX before upload.
• scripts/invoke-wack.ps1 - run WACK, then find, verify, and save its XML and HTML reports.
• templates/run-full-trust-rationale.md - restricted-capability explanation.
• templates/certification-notes.md - tester instructions.
• templates/store-listing.md - listing content worksheet.
• templates/submission-record.json - durable identity, package, validation, and certification handoff record.

Read the relevant reference before performing that phase. Do not rely on remembered Partner Center labels because Microsoft changes the UI.

End-to-end workflow

1. Establish scope and readiness

Collect or determine:

• Application name and reserved Store product name.
• Repository and build command.
• Application version and intended MSIX version.
• Supported architectures and minimum Windows version.
• Whether the app is WinUI, UWP, packaged Win32, Electron, Wails, Tauri, .NET, or another desktop technology.
• Native executables, helper processes, services, drivers, startup tasks, protocol handlers, file associations, codecs, and restricted capabilities.
• Privacy policy, support URL, website, licensing, notices, and corresponding source obligations.
• Real device and network requirements for certification.
• The Microsoft account the user wants selected during sign-in.

Inspect the repository before proposing package changes. Search for existing manifest templates, package scripts, signing scripts, app icons, version sources, privacy documents, third-party notices, and startup behavior.

2. Reserve the product and capture identity

In Partner Center, reserve an available product name. Avoid trademarked terms in the product name unless the user has a documented right to use them.

After reservation, capture the exact values under:

Product management > Product identity

• Store product ID
• Package identity name
• Publisher ID, usually a CN=... value
• Publisher display name
• Package family name
• Reserved product display name

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