Add WinML EP Catalog CMake sample with NuGet package integration by nieubank · Pull Request #593 · microsoft/WindowsAppSDK-Samples

nieubank · 2026-02-07T00:02:20Z

Adds a CMake-based C++ sample demonstrating the WinML Execution Provider Catalog C API (WinMLEpCatalog*) for discovering and registering hardware-accelerated ML execution providers with ONNX Runtime.

What the sample shows:

Creating an EP catalog and enumerating registered execution providers
Inspecting provider metadata (name, version, certification status)
Preparing certified providers with WinMLEpEnsureReady and registering them with Ort::Env
Consuming the Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK.ML NuGet package from CMake with automatic .nupkg extraction at configure time
Deploying runtime DLLs via TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS and an explicit WINML_DIRECTML_DLL copy for DirectML (which has no import library)

Build setup:

CMake 3.21+ with a single nuget preset; supports both Ninja and Visual Studio generators
build.ps1 helper script handles VS developer environment setup, prerequisite checks, and NuGet package resolution
The NuGet package is extracted directly by CMake's file(ARCHIVE_EXTRACT)

- Introduced a new sample demonstrating the WinMLEpCatalog Native C API for managing hardware-accelerated execution providers for machine learning inference on Windows. - Added CMake configuration with presets for various architectures and build types. - Created a PowerShell build script to automate the build process, including prerequisite checks and configuration. - Implemented a batch wrapper for the PowerShell script for easier command-line usage. - Included detailed README documentation covering sample usage, project structure, prerequisites, and build instructions. - Established vcpkg configuration and overlay ports for dependency management, including the Microsoft Windows AI Machine Learning SDK. - Implemented the main sample code to demonstrate provider registration and enumeration using the Windows ML API.

Adds a CMake-based C++ sample demonstrating the WinML Execution Provider Catalog C API (WinMLEpCatalog*) for discovering and registering hardware-accelerated ML execution providers with ONNX Runtime. What the sample shows: - Creating an EP catalog and enumerating registered execution providers - Inspecting provider metadata (name, version, certification status) - Preparing certified providers with WinMLEpEnsureReady and registering them with Ort::Env - Consuming the Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK.ML NuGet package from CMake with automatic .nupkg extraction at configure time - Deploying runtime DLLs via TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS and an explicit WINML_DIRECTML_DLL copy for DirectML (which has no import library) Build setup: - CMake 3.21+ with a single nuget preset; supports both Ninja and Visual Studio generators - build.ps1 helper script handles VS developer environment setup, prerequisite checks, and NuGet package resolution - No vcpkg dependency -- the NuGet package is extracted directly by CMake's file(ARCHIVE_EXTRACT)

chwarr · 2026-02-19T16:51:14Z

Samples/WindowsML/cmake/WinMLEpCatalog/build.ps1

+
+function Write-ErrorMessage {
+    param([string]$Message)
+    Write-Host "[ERROR] $Message" -ForegroundColor Red


Suggested change

Write-Host "[ERROR] $Message" -ForegroundColor Red

Write-Error $Message

Send this to the error stream? Maybe get rid of this function and call Write-Error directly.

chwarr · 2026-02-19T16:54:47Z

Samples/WindowsML/cmake/WinMLEpCatalog/CMakeLists.txt

+# Local NuGet package configuration
+set(WINML_NUGET_PACKAGE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK.ML.2.0.246-experimental.nupkg"
+    CACHE FILEPATH "Path to Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK.ML nupkg")
+set(WINML_LOCAL_PACKAGES_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/local_packages"


Consider extracting somewhere under the CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR or CMAKE_BINARY_DIR so that the source tree isn't touched.

chwarr · 2026-02-19T17:00:18Z

Samples/WindowsML/cmake/WinMLEpCatalog/CMakeLists.txt

+if(NOT DEFINED microsoft.windows.ai.machinelearning_DIR)
+    if(EXISTS "${WINML_NUGET_PACKAGE}")
+        get_filename_component(_winml_nupkg_filename "${WINML_NUGET_PACKAGE}" NAME)
+        string(REGEX REPLACE "\\.nupkg$" "" _winml_nupkg_name "${_winml_nupkg_filename}")


cmake_path(GET WINML_NUGET_PACKAGE STEM _winml_nupkg_filename) looks like it will handle getting just the filename without the extension. get_filename_component was superseded by the cmake_path() in 3.20 too.

chwarr · 2026-02-19T17:02:38Z

Samples/WindowsML/cmake/WinMLEpCatalog/CMakeLists.txt

+    if(EXISTS "${WINML_NUGET_PACKAGE}")
+        get_filename_component(_winml_nupkg_filename "${WINML_NUGET_PACKAGE}" NAME)
+        string(REGEX REPLACE "\\.nupkg$" "" _winml_nupkg_name "${_winml_nupkg_filename}")
+        set(_winml_extract_dir "${WINML_LOCAL_PACKAGES_DIR}/${_winml_nupkg_name}")


These two could use cmake_Path(APPEND ...) to construct instead of string concatenation.

chwarr · 2026-02-19T17:09:19Z

Samples/WindowsML/cmake/WinMLEpCatalog/main.cpp

+    if (FAILED(hr))
+    {
+        std::cout << "  Failed to get library path\n\n";
+        return TRUE;
+    }
+    libraryPathUtf8.resize(used > 0 ? used - 1 : 0);


Suggested change

if (FAILED(hr))

{

std::cout << " Failed to get library path\n\n";

return TRUE;

}

libraryPathUtf8.resize(used > 0 ? used - 1 : 0);

if (FAILED(hr) || used == 0)

{

std::cout << " Failed to get library path\n\n";

return TRUE;

}

libraryPathUtf8.resize(used - 1);

Minor: symmetry with the error check above and simplifies the resize call

chwarr · 2026-02-19T17:11:19Z

Samples/WindowsML/cmake/WinMLEpCatalog/main.cpp

+            }
+        }
+
+        WinMLEpCatalogRelease(catalog);


Can the catalog be released after the enumeration is done?

chwarr · 2026-02-19T17:12:19Z

Samples/WindowsML/cmake/WinMLEpCatalog/main.cpp

+
+        std::cout << std::format("\nRegistered {} certified provider(s).\n", ctx.registeredProviders.size());
+
+        // Unregister providers before env goes out of scope


A bit more explanation about why this is needed would be helpful.
env is a C++ object, so I would expect it to automatically clean itself up.

nieubank added 2 commits February 6, 2026 19:01

nieubank changed the title ~~Add Windows ML EP Catalog Sample with CMake and vcpkg integration~~ Add WinML EP Catalog CMake sample with NuGet package integration Feb 18, 2026

chwarr reviewed Feb 19, 2026

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Add WinML EP Catalog CMake sample with NuGet package integration#593

Add WinML EP Catalog CMake sample with NuGet package integration#593
nieubank wants to merge 2 commits intorelease/experimentalfrom
user/nieubank/winmlepcatalog_vcpkg

nieubank commented Feb 7, 2026 •

edited

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	Write-Host "[ERROR] $Message" -ForegroundColor Red
	Write-Error $Message


		std::cout << std::format("\nRegistered {} certified provider(s).\n", ctx.registeredProviders.size());

		// Unregister providers before env goes out of scope

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nieubank commented Feb 7, 2026 •

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