A reference distilled from the official documentation for file operations, app data, file pickers, and data serialization provided by Windows App SDK / WinRT. It covers file reading and writing in desktop apps, settings persistence, file access through user selection, and data storage using JSON / XML / SQLite. Read the appropriate README.md according to the user's task, and from there follow through to the individual files.
Directory structure
skills/windows-data-storage/
SKILL.md
references/
storage-files/
README.md
storage-file.md
storage-folder.md
istorage-item.md
file-io.md
path-io.md
cached-file-manager.md
storage-stream-transaction.md
irandom-access-stream.md
data-reader-writer.md
storage-item-thumbnail.md
storage-library.md
storage-library-change-tracker.md
storage-provider-sync-root-manager.md
downloads-folder.md
streamed-file-content.md
access-sd-card.md
system-io-vs-windows-storage.md
app-data-settings/
README.md
application-data.md
application-data-container.md
application-data-composite-value.md
windows-app-sdk-application-data.md
settings-limits-and-roaming.md
packaged-vs-unpackaged-app-data.md
app-data-versioning-and-migration.md
pickers-access/
README.md
file-open-picker.md
file-save-picker.md
folder-picker.md
hwnd-initialization.md
windows-app-sdk-pickers.md
storage-application-permissions.md
known-folders.md
file-access-permissions.md
data-serialization/
README.md
json-object.md
json-array.md
json-value.md
xml-document.md
json-vs-system-text-json.md
sqlite-data-access.md
ef-core-sqlite-provider.md
application-data-storage.md
caching-strategy.md
storage-file-query-result.md
query-options.md
common-file-query.md
storage-folder-item-query-result.md
Exploration procedure
Derive the category from the task, and identify the target page in the category's README.md:
- Find the category corresponding to the task in the mapping table below
- That category's
references/{category}/README.mdIdentify the target page by referring to - Read the target page's
.mdto check the details
Task → Category Mapping
| Task | Category | Reference README |
|---|---|---|
| I want to get, create, delete, and enumerate files and folders with StorageFile / StorageFolder | storage-files | references/storage-files/README.md |
| I want to read and write text and binary with FileIO / PathIO / DataReader / DataWriter | storage-files | references/storage-files/README.md |
| I want to handle stream consistency with CachedFileManager / IRandomAccessStream / StorageStreamTransaction | storage-files | references/storage-files/README.md |
| I want to decide whether to use System.IO or Windows.Storage | storage-files | references/storage-files/README.md |
| I want to save local and roaming settings with ApplicationData / ApplicationDataContainer | app-data-settings | references/app-data-settings/README.md |
| I want to know the differences in ApplicationData between packaged and unpackaged apps | app-data-settings | references/app-data-settings/README.md |
| I want to handle app data versioning, migration, and size limits | app-data-settings | references/app-data-settings/README.md |
| I want to let the user select files and folders with FileOpenPicker / FileSavePicker / FolderPicker | pickers-access | references/pickers-access/README.md |
| I want to initialize the picker's HWND and set the WindowId in a desktop app | pickers-access | references/pickers-access/README.md |
| I want to handle access permissions and known folders with KnownFolders / StorageApplicationPermissions | pickers-access | references/pickers-access/README.md |
| I want to parse and generate structured data with JsonObject / JsonArray / JsonValue / XmlDocument | data-serialization | references/data-serialization/README.md |
| I want to build a local database with SQLite / EF Core | data-serialization | references/data-serialization/README.md |
| I want to handle file queries and caching strategies with QueryOptions / CommonFileQuery / StorageFileQueryResult | data-serialization | references/data-serialization/README.md |
| I want to enumerate query results for folders and mixed items with StorageFolderQueryResult / StorageItemQueryResult | data-serialization | references/data-serialization/README.md |
This skill handles only the file, settings, and data storage APIs of Windows App SDK / WinRT. Control UI is handled by windows-winui-controls, and lifecycle, windows, and notifications are handled by windows-app-sdk; none of these are covered here.