Winget list does not show some applications

[s016aq]

I have added OpenJS.NodeJS.* to our whitelist but I'm noticing it does not work as expected. WAU does not see it when running.
I have figured out it's due to the initial install is done manually with an elevated account.
When I run winget list on an affected client it shows:

Winget-AutoUpdate                      Romanitho.Winget-AutoUpdate            2.11.0            2.12.0           winget 
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 LocalDB      ARP\Machine\X64\{E5B3A478-C4C3-49E3-8… 15.0.4382.1                               
Node.js                                ARP\Machine\X64\{F4937DE9-DA3D-4B72-9… 24.13.0          

As you can see, empty in the 'source' column.
But if I run winget list --id openJS.NodeJS.LTS it shows:

Name    Id                Version Available Source                                                                      
--------------------------------------------------                                                                      
Node.js OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS 24.13.0 24.15.0   winget

On my test VM (where I installed as SYSTEM) it works with winget list and it gets updated fine.
I guess it has something to do with how the application register itself depending on who installed it.

I realize this is maybe not a WAU issue, but since it works with winget list --id openJS.NodeJS.LTS, maybe there is some solution?

[Romanitho]

It looks like your instance of NodeJS is installed in the user profile. If you reinstall it using Winget with admin (or system) privileges, WAU should be able to update it properly.

[KnifMelti]

Then, lesson learned 👌: it depends on which technology is doing the installation; manually elevated user/SYSTEM standard MSI installation or WinGet MSI standard installation.
Or?

[s016aq]

yeah, but what is the difference? And why does winget list --id openjs.nodejs work?
I guess WAU uses winget list to figure out which applications are installed. And it fails to find node.js if not installed by winget.
But if WAU instead used winget list --id openjs.nodejs it would succeed in finding node.js
I get that it can't check every application id known to man, but maybe those in the whitelist? Just guessing here.

[KnifMelti]

function Get-WingetSystemApps does the checking of installed SYSTEM apps:

<#
.SYNOPSIS
    Exports a list of system-installed WinGet applications.

.DESCRIPTION
    Retrieves the list of applications installed in the system context
    and saves their package identifiers to a configuration file. This
    list is used to exclude system apps from user-context updates.

.PARAMETER src
    The WinGet source repository name to query.

.EXAMPLE
    Get-WingetSystemApps -src "winget"

.NOTES
    Output file: $WorkingDir\config\winget_system_apps.txt
    Used by Get-WingetOutdatedApps to filter user-context updates.
#>
function Get-WingetSystemApps {
    Param(
        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory = $True, HelpMessage = "You MUST supply value for winget repo, we need it")]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$src
    )

    # Output file for system apps list
    $jsonFile = "$WorkingDir\config\winget_system_apps.txt"

    # Export installed apps from WinGet to JSON format
    & $Winget export -o $jsonFile --accept-source-agreements -s $src | Out-Null

    # Parse JSON and extract package identifiers
    $InstalledApps = get-content $jsonFile | ConvertFrom-Json

    # Write app identifiers to text file
    Set-Content $InstalledApps.Sources.Packages.PackageIdentifier -Path $jsonFile

    # Sort the list for consistency
    Get-Content $jsonFile | Sort-Object | Set-Content $jsonFile

}

[s016aq]

This has nothing to do with who installs it. Manual msi installation msiexec /i node-v24.13.0-x64.msi /qb does not work.
Winget install, as the same user winget install openJS.NodeJS.LTS --version 24.13 (uses the exakt same msi), works.

[KnifMelti]

Well, sorry then...
...maybe Get-WingetOutdatedApps.ps1:

<#
.SYNOPSIS
    Retrieves the list of applications with available updates from WinGet.

.DESCRIPTION
    Queries WinGet for applications with available updates and returns
    a structured list. Parses WinGet's tabular output and handles
    non-Latin characters and text formatting issues.

.PARAMETER src
    The WinGet source repository name to query (e.g., "winget").

.OUTPUTS
    Array of Software objects with Name, Id, Version, and AvailableVersion.
    Returns descriptive string if no updates are found.

.EXAMPLE
    $outdated = Get-WingetOutdatedApps -src "winget"

.NOTES
    Excludes system-installed apps when running in user context.
    Results are randomized to prevent update ordering bias.
#>
function Get-WingetOutdatedApps {

    Param(
        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory = $True, HelpMessage = "You MUST supply value for winget repo, we need it")]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$src
    )

    # Define class for structured output
    class Software {
        [string]$Name
        [string]$Id
        [string]$Version
        [string]$AvailableVersion
    }

    # Get upgrade list from WinGet
    try {
        $upgradeResult = & $Winget upgrade --source $src | Where-Object { $_ -notlike "   *" } | Out-String
    }
    catch {
        Write-ToLog "Error while receiving winget upgrade list: $_" "Red"
        $upgradeResult = $null
    }

    # Check if output contains valid data (header separator line)
    if (!($upgradeResult -match "-----")) {
        return "No update found. 'Winget upgrade' output:`n$upgradeResult"
    }
    else {

        # Split output into lines, removing empty lines
        $lines = $upgradeResult.Split([Environment]::NewLine) | Where-Object { $_ }

        # Find the separator line (starts with "-----")
        $fl = 0
        while (-not $lines[$fl].StartsWith("-----")) {
            $fl++
        }

        # Get header line (one line before separator)
        $fl = $fl - 1

        # Split header into columns (preserving trailing spaces for positioning)
        $index = $lines[$fl] -split '(?<=\s)(?!\s)'

        # Calculate column positions (handle non-Latin characters by replacing with **)
        $idStart = $($index[0] -replace '[\u4e00-\u9fa5]', '**').Length
        $versionStart = $idStart + $($index[1] -replace '[\u4e00-\u9fa5]', '**').Length
        $availableStart = $versionStart + $($index[2] -replace '[\u4e00-\u9fa5]', '**').Length

        # Parse each data line
        $upgradeList = @()
        For ($i = $fl + 2; $i -lt $lines.Length; $i++) {
            # Fix ellipsis character in long names
            $line = $lines[$i] -replace "[\u2026]", " "

            # Handle multiple tables (new header encountered)
            if ($line.StartsWith("-----")) {
                $fl = $i - 1
                $index = $lines[$fl] -split '(?<=\s)(?!\s)'
                $idStart = $($index[0] -replace '[\u4e00-\u9fa5]', '**').Length
                $versionStart = $idStart + $($index[1] -replace '[\u4e00-\u9fa5]', '**').Length
                $availableStart = $versionStart + $($index[2] -replace '[\u4e00-\u9fa5]', '**').Length
            }

            # Check if line contains an application entry (has format word.word)
            if ($line -match "\w\.\w") {
                $software = [Software]::new()

                # Calculate name declination for non-Latin character handling
                $nameDeclination = $($line.Substring(0, $idStart) -replace '[\u4e00-\u9fa5]', '**').Length - $line.Substring(0, $idStart).Length
                $software.Name = $line.Substring(0, $idStart - $nameDeclination).TrimEnd()
                $software.Id = $line.Substring($idStart - $nameDeclination, $versionStart - $idStart).TrimEnd()
                $software.Version = $line.Substring($versionStart - $nameDeclination, $availableStart - $versionStart).TrimEnd()
                $software.AvailableVersion = $line.Substring($availableStart - $nameDeclination).TrimEnd()

                $upgradeList += $software
            }
        }

        # In user context, filter out system-installed apps
        if ($IsSystem -eq $false) {
            $SystemApps = Get-Content -Path "$WorkingDir\config\winget_system_apps.txt" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
            $upgradeList = $upgradeList | Where-Object { $SystemApps -notcontains $_.Id }
        }

        # Return randomized list to prevent update ordering bias
        return $upgradeList | Sort-Object { Get-Random }

    }

}