WindowsAutostartApi 1.0.0

WindowsAutostartApi

Unified .NET API to manage Windows autostart entries:

• Registry: HKCU/HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and RunOnce
• Startup Folder: per-user and all-users (.lnk shortcuts)

Target Framework: .NET 8 (net8.0-windows)
OS: Windows only

Features

• List all startup entries (Registry + Startup Folder)
• Add or update entries (idempotent)
• Remove entries
• Clean, extensible design (providers)

Install

dotnet add package WindowsAutostartApi

Quick Start

using WindowsAutostartApi;

var mgr = new StartupManager();

// Add HKCU\Run entry
mgr.Add(new StartupEntry(
    Name: "MyCoolApp",
    TargetPath: @"C:\Tools\MyCoolApp.exe",
    Arguments: "--minimized",
    Scope: StartupScope.CurrentUser,
    Kind: StartupKind.Run));

// Add Startup Folder shortcut
mgr.Add(new StartupEntry(
    Name: "MyCoolApp (Shortcut)",
    TargetPath: @"C:\Tools\MyCoolApp.exe",
    Arguments: "--tray",
    Scope: StartupScope.CurrentUser,
    Kind: StartupKind.StartupFolder));

// List
foreach (var e in mgr.ListAll())
    Console.WriteLine($"{e.Scope} {e.Kind}: {e.Name} -> {e.TargetPath} {e.Arguments}");

// Remove
mgr.Remove("MyCoolApp", StartupScope.CurrentUser, StartupKind.Run);
mgr.Remove("MyCoolApp (Shortcut)", StartupScope.CurrentUser, StartupKind.StartupFolder);

API Surface

• StartupEntry(string Name, string TargetPath, string? Arguments, StartupScope Scope, StartupKind Kind)

• StartupScope: CurrentUser, AllUsers

• StartupKind: Run, RunOnce, StartupFolder

• IStartupManager:

  • IReadOnlyList<StartupEntry> ListAll()
  • bool Exists(string name, StartupScope scope, StartupKind kind)
  • void Add(StartupEntry entry)
  • void Remove(string name, StartupScope scope, StartupKind kind)

Permissions

• HKCU: keine Admin-Rechte
• HKLM (AllUsers): ben�tigt Administratorrechte (UAC Elevation)

32/64-bit Notes

• Registry view defaults to 64-bit on 64-bit OS (RegistryView.Registry64).

Demo Project

A small console demo is included under samples/WindowsAutostartApi.Demo, but it is skipped by default during solution builds. Build/run it explicitly with:

dotnet run --project samples/WindowsAutostartApi.Demo -p:SkipBuild=false

Roadmap

• Optional Task Scheduler provider (Logon trigger, delay, highest privileges)