Building Windows Apps with Claude Code

Agentic coding assistants have been hyped pretty big. Now the insane hype can move on to the next thing because the agents are here. As of writing this, the most impressive agent I’ve used is Claude Code. It has the best mix of speed, accuracy, and self-correction.

Interacting with Claude Code all happens within the terminal. At first I thought this was going to be a pain, but with such a well crafted user experience it is a delight to use. Most of my Windows app dev work tends to happen in Visual Studio 2022, so when I saw Claude Code did not support Windows I knew I was going to have to change things up.

Tips for Windows app devs looking to try out Claude Code (in no particular order):

• (If you haven’t already) Start by setting up Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) currently in version 2
• Set your git credentials within WSL to have Claude Code help with commits
• Run the apps by telling Claude Code to use the Windows install of .NET
• Pointing Claude Code to a sample on GitHub or local folder will go a long way
• “Planning Mode” to write a detailed spec for the feature is faster than just diving into having Claude Code dive into writing code
• A well defined plan in a markdown file should detail the UI framework you’ll be using
• Ensure the important parts of your app have tests, if not Claude Code can help write the test
• Ask Claude Code to run build and run tests and to work through any errors
• Set your code styles with a .editorconfig file and ask Claude Code to follow the style and fix all warnings.

How well does it actuallY WORK?

Overall it is okay for building Windows apps, as of mid 2025. Adding features to your app works well, but writing XAML and editing the project file frequently have repeated errors which Claude Code cannot resolve. This means for existing apps it can be valuable, but for making new apps it struggles. Claude Code also has a tendency to “enterprise-ify” your app by abstracting simple things and eagerly taking dependencies even if your situation doesn’t require that level of serious architecture.

Should you use it?

If you’re writing a lot of Windows app code then you’ll probably find good value in the $20 tier. I can’t recommend the $200 tier because of how much intervention is still needed to get apps running error free.

Let me know if you’ve tried this, I’m curious to hear if my experience is representative of other Windows Devs or not.

Joe