Installation of valid local manifest exits with code -1978335231

[jacklul]

Relevant area(s)

WinGet CLI

Relevant command(s)

winget install

Brief description of your issue

I made myself local manifest to install QNapi as portable:

# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://aka.ms/winget-manifest.installer.1.12.0.schema.json

PackageIdentifier: QNapi.QNapi
PackageVersion: 0.2.3
InstallerType: zip
NestedInstallerType: portable
NestedInstallerFiles:
- RelativeFilePath: QNapi/qnapi.exe
  PortableCommandAlias: qnapi
Installers:
- Architecture: x86
  InstallerUrl: https://github.com/QNapi/qnapi/releases/download/0.2.3/QNapi-0.2.3-portable.zip
  InstallerSha256: 03CF7BF82565DE8B31745B1862F751EC9EE789F8E50AF41D361EE9246F99F827
ManifestType: installer
ManifestVersion: 1.12.0

Rest of the files are taken from https://github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/tree/master/manifests/q/QNapi/QNapi/0.2.3

I have other local manifests that are basically 1:1 the same to this one and they install fine.

Installation of this manifest finishes unexpectedly:

2026-05-17 09:35:10.821 [CORE] WinGet, version [1.28.240], activity [{D728BC5E-0758-4199-9E43-864C2FCA05EB}]
2026-05-17 09:35:10.821 [CORE] Process: winget.exe[19732], Offset: 00007FFE23A90000
2026-05-17 09:35:10.822 [CORE] OS: Windows.Desktop v10.0.26200.8457
2026-05-17 09:35:10.822 [CORE] Command line Args: winget  install --manifest ".\QNapi.QNapi" --scope user --installer-type portable --verbose --verbose-logs
2026-05-17 09:35:10.822 [CORE] Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.28.240.0
2026-05-17 09:35:10.822 [CORE] IsCOMCall:0; Caller: winget-cli
2026-05-17 09:35:10.829 [CLI ] WinGet invoked with arguments: 'install' '--manifest' '.\QNapi.QNapi' '--scope' 'user' '--installer-type' 'portable' '--verbose' '--verbose-logs'
2026-05-17 09:35:10.829 [CLI ] Found subcommand: install
2026-05-17 09:35:10.829 [CLI ] Leaf command to execute: root:install
2026-05-17 09:35:10.830 [CORE] Setting action: Get, Type: Secure, Name: admin_settings
2026-05-17 09:35:10.831 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.831 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.831 [CORE] Admin setting 'DefaultProxy' was not found or did not contain the expected format
2026-05-17 09:35:10.831 [CORE] Setting action: Get, Type: Secure, Name: admin_settings
2026-05-17 09:35:10.831 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.831 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.831 [CORE] Admin setting 'DefaultProxy' was not found or did not contain the expected format
2026-05-17 09:35:10.831 [CORE] Setting action: Get, Type: Secure, Name: admin_settings
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [CORE] Admin setting 'DefaultProxy' was not found or did not contain the expected format
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [CORE] Setting action: Get, Type: Secure, Name: admin_settings
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [CORE] Admin setting 'DefaultProxy' was not found or did not contain the expected format
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [CORE] Setting action: Get, Type: Secure, Name: admin_settings
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [CORE] Admin setting 'DefaultProxy' was not found or did not contain the expected format
2026-05-17 09:35:10.832 [CLI ] Executing command: install
2026-05-17 09:35:10.833 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.833 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.833 [YAML] Detected UTF-8
2026-05-17 09:35:10.834 [CLI ] Manifest fields: Name [QNapi (Local)], Version [0.2.3]
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Market Filter created with market: PL
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Locale Comparator created with Required Locales: [] , Preferred Locales: [pl] , IsInstalledLocale: 0
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Architecture Comparator created with allowed architectures: [X64, X86, Neutral]
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] InstallerType Comparator created with Required InstallerTypes: [portable] , Preferred InstallerTypes: []
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Starting installer selection.
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Installer [X86,portable,Unknown,] is current best choice
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Completed installer selection.
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Selected installer Architecture: 1
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Selected installer URL: https://github.com/QNapi/qnapi/releases/download/0.2.3/QNapi-0.2.3-portable.zip
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Selected installer InstallerType: portable
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Selected installer Scope: Unknown
2026-05-17 09:35:10.835 [CLI ] Selected installer Language: 
2026-05-17 09:35:11.067 [CLI ] Found existing installer file at 'C:\Users\Jacklul\AppData\Local\Temp\WinGet\QNapi.QNapi.0.2.3\03cf7bf82565de8b31745b1862f751ec9ee789f8e50af41d361ee9246f99f827'. Verifying file hash.
2026-05-17 09:35:11.090 [CLI ] Existing installer file hash matches. Will use existing installer.
2026-05-17 09:35:11.090 [CLI ] Installer hash verified
2026-05-17 09:35:11.090 [CORE] Started applying motw using IAttachmentExecute to C:\Users\Jacklul\AppData\Local\Temp\WinGet\QNapi.QNapi.0.2.3\03cf7bf82565de8b31745b1862f751ec9ee789f8e50af41d361ee9246f99f827

Steps to reproduce

Attaching all files used for my local manifest
QNapi.QNapi.installer.yaml
QNapi.QNapi.locale.en-US.yaml
QNapi.QNapi.yaml

Expected behavior

The package to install successfully.

Actual behavior

Process exists with code -1978335231.

Environment

❯ winget --info
Windows Package Manager v1.28.240
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.26200.8457
System Architecture: X64
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.28.240.0

Winget Directories
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logs                               %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\Diag…
User Settings                      %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\sett…
Portable Links Directory (User)    %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links
Portable Links Directory (Machine) C:\Program Files\WinGet\Links
Portable Package Root (User)       %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root              C:\Program Files\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root (x86)        C:\Program Files (x86)\WinGet\Packages
Installer Downloads                %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
Configuration Modules              %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Configuration\Modules

Links
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy Statement   https://aka.ms/winget-privacy
License Agreement   https://aka.ms/winget-license
Third Party Notices https://aka.ms/winget-3rdPartyNotice
Homepage            https://aka.ms/winget
Windows Store Terms https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/storedocs/terms-of-sale

Admin Setting                             State
--------------------------------------------------
LocalManifestFiles                        Enabled
BypassCertificatePinningForMicrosoftStore Disabled
InstallerHashOverride                     Disabled
LocalArchiveMalwareScanOverride           Disabled
ProxyCommandLineOptions                   Disabled
DefaultProxy                              Disabled

[github-actions]

The following issues might be duplicates:

• Doesn't actually install portable executables from zip packages from local manifest #6185

AI-generated content by genai-issue-dedup may be incorrect.

[Trenly]

@jacklul - Does the same issue happen with the latest preview build?

[jacklul]

@jacklul - Does the same issue happen with the latest preview build?

Checked with v1.29.170-preview - it works.

[Trenly]

• Resolved by Improve MOTW error handling in download flow #6127