Request to Add an Option to Provide Winget Output in Dictionary Format

[Xeon-774]

Description of the new feature / enhancement

Implement an option to output results in a structured dictionary format.
Currently, winget outputs search results in a matrix format suitable for terminal display. By introducing an option to provide output in a structured dictionary format, users can obtain parseable data more easily.

Additional Notes:
This issue highlights three distinct problems observed from the current output behavior.
Related URLs:

Proposed technical implementation details

Expected Behavior:
An option to enable structured dictionary format output.
For example, executing winget search --return-dict softwarename should return output in the following format:

[
    {"Name": "Vivaldi Browser", "Id": "XP99GVQDX7JPR4", "Version": "Unknown", "Match": None, "Source": "msstore"},
    {"Name": "Vivaldi", "Id": "Vivaldi.Vivaldi", "Version": "7.1.3570.58", "Match": "ProductCode: vivaldi", "Source": "winget"},
    {"Name": "Vivaldi (Snapshot)", "Id": "Vivaldi.Vivaldi.Snapshot", "Version": "7.2.3617.3", "Match": "ProductCode: vivaldi", "Source": "winget"}
]

Actual Behavior:
Currently, there is no option to output results in a structured dictionary format.

Name               Id                       Version     Match                Source
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vivaldi Browser    XP99GVQDX7JPR4           Unknown                          msstore
Vivaldi            Vivaldi.Vivaldi          7.1.3570.58 ProductCode: vivaldi winget
Vivaldi (Snapshot) Vivaldi.Vivaldi.Snapshot 7.2.3617.3  ProductCode: vivaldi winget

Reproduction Steps:
execute the following commands in PowerShell:
winget search vivaldi
winget search vivaldi > output.txt

Environment:
OS: Windows 10 (Build 19045)
Winget Version: v1.10.320
PowerShell Version: 5.1.19041.5486
VSCode Version: 1.97.2
Terminal: VSCode Integrated Terminal (PowerShell)

Desired Features/Improvements:
Provide an option to output results in a structured dictionary format for easier parsing.
Example: winget search --return-dict *softwarename*

[mdanish-kh]

@Xeon-774 Have you tried out WinGet's PowerShell module? You can use a command like the following to get the desired JSON:

Find-WinGetPackage -Name vivaldi | ConvertTo-Json

Sample output

[
  {
    "Version": "Unknown",
    "Name": "Vivaldi Browser",
    "Id": "XP99GVQDX7JPR4",
    "IsUpdateAvailable": false,
    "Source": "msstore",
    "AvailableVersions": [
      "Unknown"
    ]
  },
  {
    "Version": "7.1.3570.58",
    "Name": "Vivaldi",
    "Id": "Vivaldi.Vivaldi",
    "IsUpdateAvailable": false,
    "Source": "winget",
    "AvailableVersions": [
      "7.1.3570.58",
      "7.1.3570.54",
      "7.1.3570.50",
      "7.1.3570.48",
      ....
    ]
  },
  {
    "Version": "7.2.3617.3",
    "Name": "Vivaldi (Snapshot)",
    "Id": "Vivaldi.Vivaldi.Snapshot",
    "IsUpdateAvailable": false,
    "Source": "winget",
    "AvailableVersions": [
      "7.2.3617.3",
      "7.2.3616.4",
      "7.2.3610.4",
      "7.2.3597.3",
      ....
    ]
  }
]

[mdanish-kh]

• Duplicate of JSON Formatted Output Support #184

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

Hello @Xeon-774,

We've identified this as a duplicate of another issue or PR that already exists. This specific instance is being closed in favor of the linked issue. Please add your 👍 to the other issue to raise its priority. Thanks for your contribution!

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