Extend Windows Explorer and JumpList launch modes for PowerShell (Default/Conhost, Terminal, NoProfile, Custom Profile, Admin variants) by Copilot · Pull Request #182 · kilasuit/PowerShell

Copilot · 2026-05-26T04:08:36Z

This change expands Windows shell launch surfaces so PowerShell can be opened from both Explorer context menus and taskbar JumpList with explicit host/profile modes. It adds first-class options for Terminal, NoProfile, and Custom Profile, keeps default-terminal behavior in Explorer, and adds elevated variants for both Explorer and JumpList modes.

Explorer context menu (WiX installer)
- Updated submenu labels and command registrations in assets/wix/Product.wxs:
  - Restored default entry to Open here (preserves Windows default terminal behavior)
  - Open here in Conhost
  - Open here in Terminal
  - Open here with No Profile
  - Open here with Custom Profile
- Added elevated variants for the new modes:
  - Open here in Conhost as Administrator
  - Open here in Terminal as Administrator
  - Open here with No Profile as Administrator
  - Open here with Custom Profile as Administrator
- Kept existing “Run as Administrator” entry and current working-directory/title behavior.
Taskbar JumpList tasks (ConsoleHost)
- Refactored JumpList construction to create multiple tasks instead of only the elevated entry.
- Added task definitions for Conhost, Terminal, NoProfile, and Custom Profile in TaskbarJumpList.cs.
- Added admin variants for those JumpList modes with dedicated localized titles.
- Terminal entries (both normal and admin) are added conditionally only when wt.exe is present.
Localized display strings
- Added ConsoleHostStrings resource entries for launch-mode labels, including standard and admin variants.
Installer coverage update
- Extended WindowsInstaller.Tests.ps1 with focused assertions for the adjusted Explorer menu definitions, including Conhost and elevated Conhost command entries.

var entries = new (string Title, string ExecutablePath, string Arguments, bool RunAsAdministrator)[]
{
    (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenInConhost, cmdPath, string.Empty, false),
    (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenInTerminal, terminalPath, $"-w 0 nt \"{cmdPath}\"", false),
    (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenWithNoProfile, cmdPath, "-NoProfile", false),
    (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenWithCustomProfile, cmdPath, "-NoProfile -Command \"if (Test-Path $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost) { . $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost }\"", false),
    (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenInConhostAsAdministrator, cmdPath, string.Empty, true),
    (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenInTerminalAsAdministrator, terminalPath, $"-w 0 nt \"{cmdPath}\"", true),
    (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenWithNoProfileAsAdministrator, cmdPath, "-NoProfile", true),
    (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenWithCustomProfileAsAdministrator, cmdPath, "-NoProfile -Command \"if (Test-Path $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost) { . $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost }\"", true),
};

…r menu Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/kilasuit/PowerShell/sessions/d8f9d463-af7b-4937-ae09-47af038e7919 Co-authored-by: kilasuit <6355225+kilasuit@users.noreply.github.com>

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T04:31:43Z

    <?endif?>
  <?endif?>
  <!-- Explorer context submenu entries. The ampersand denotes the keyboard shortcut. -->
-  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuDialogText = "Open &here"?>


Keep this as we want to allow for default terminal

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T04:32:34Z

+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuDialogText = "Open here in &Conhost"?>
+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuTerminalDialogText = "Open here in &Terminal"?>
+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuNoProfileDialogText = "Open here with &No Profile"?>
+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuCustomProfileDialogText = "Open here with C&ustom Profile"?>
  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuElevatedDialogText = "Open here as &Administrator"?>


Add the above but also for as Administrator

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T04:35:02Z

+        private static bool TryCreateJumpListLink(string executablePath, string arguments, string title, bool runAsAdministrator, out IShellLinkW jumpListLink, out string errorMessage)
+        {
+            jumpListLink = (IShellLinkW)new CShellLink();
+            var nativePropertyStore = (IPropertyStore)jumpListLink;
+            jumpListLink.SetPath(executablePath);
+            jumpListLink.SetArguments(arguments);
+            jumpListLink.SetShowCmd(0);
+
+            if (runAsAdministrator)
+            {
+                var shellLinkDataList = (IShellLinkDataListW)jumpListLink;
+                shellLinkDataList.GetFlags(out uint flags);
+                flags |= 0x00800000; // SLDF_ALLOW_LINK_TO_LINK
+                flags |= 0x00002000; // SLDF_RUNAS_USER
+                shellLinkDataList.SetFlags(flags);
+            }
+
+            var pkeyTitle = new PropertyKey(new Guid("{F29F85E0-4FF9-1068-AB91-08002B27B3D9}"), 2);
+            var hResult = nativePropertyStore.SetValue(in pkeyTitle, new PropVariant(title));
+            if (hResult < 0)
+            {
+                errorMessage = $"SetValue on IPropertyStore with title '{title}' failed with HResult '{hResult}'.";
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            hResult = nativePropertyStore.Commit();
+            if (hResult < 0)
+            {
+                errorMessage = $"Commit on IPropertyStore with title '{title}' failed with HResult '{hResult}'.";
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            errorMessage = string.Empty;
+            return true;
+        }


Is there any way that we can move this to be as part of the installation and not done here as part of a first run?

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T04:41:57Z

@copilot please read the comments and make the requested changes - i shouldn't have needed to ask you to do this

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/kilasuit/PowerShell/sessions/bf9072fe-33f2-4567-9ff4-633bb19061d3 Co-authored-by: kilasuit <6355225+kilasuit@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-05-26T04:45:47Z

@copilot please read the comments and make the requested changes - i shouldn't have needed to ask you to do this

Implemented in commit 0babcc43.

Changes made:

Restored Explorer default entry back to Open here so it continues to honor the OS default terminal setting.
Added elevated Explorer submenu variants for Terminal, NoProfile, and Custom Profile (with HasLUAShield + command entries).
Updated WindowsInstaller.Tests.ps1 to validate the adjusted labels and new elevated command keys.

Validation run: Invoke-Pester test/powershell/Installer/WindowsInstaller.Tests.ps1 passed.

For the JumpList question: moving that setup to installer time is generally not suitable because JumpList tasks are per-user shell state and are reliably applied in user context at runtime.

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T04:48:45Z

+  <data name="OpenInConhost" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open in Conhost</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenInTerminal" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open in Terminal</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenWithNoProfile" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open with No Profile</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenWithCustomProfile" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open with Custom Profile</value>
+  </data>


These also need to be extended for the admin versions too @copilot

Done in commit f3721c5c (plus follow-up clarification in b414a68). I added admin-specific ConsoleHost resource strings for all launch modes and updated JumpList entries to use them:

Open in Conhost as Administrator

Open in Terminal as Administrator

Open with No Profile as Administrator

Open with Custom Profile as Administrator

Screenshot: not available from this headless CI sandbox (no Windows Explorer/JumpList UI session).

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T04:49:26Z

+                        (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenInConhost, cmdPath, string.Empty, false),
+                        (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenInTerminal, terminalPath, $"-w 0 nt \"{cmdPath}\"", false),
+                        (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenWithNoProfile, cmdPath, "-NoProfile", false),
+                        (ConsoleHostStrings.OpenWithCustomProfile, cmdPath, "-NoProfile -Command \"if (Test-Path $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost) { . $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost }\"", false),
+                        (ConsoleHostStrings.RunAsAdministrator, cmdPath, string.Empty, true),


this is going to need to be extended too @copilot

Implemented in f3721c5c (with follow-up in b414a68). The JumpList entries at TaskbarJumpList.cs:109-116 now include admin variants for Conhost, Terminal, NoProfile, and Custom Profile.

Screenshot: not available from this headless CI environment (no Windows JumpList UI session).

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/kilasuit/PowerShell/sessions/3b345007-402e-4f4d-8cb0-c64da8232786 Co-authored-by: kilasuit <6355225+kilasuit@users.noreply.github.com>

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/kilasuit/PowerShell/sessions/a4d08f65-e874-4c77-a3cd-fd98a0580925 Co-authored-by: kilasuit <6355225+kilasuit@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-05-26T04:54:44Z

@copilot please read the comments and make the requested changes - i shouldn't have needed to ask you to do this

All requested updates from the review threads are now in this branch, including the admin extensions in both resources and JumpList entries (0babcc43, f3721c5c, b414a68).

Screenshot: not available from this headless CI environment (no Windows Explorer/JumpList UI session).

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T06:07:00Z

+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuTerminalDialogText = "Open here in &Terminal"?>
+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuNoProfileDialogText = "Open here with &No Profile"?>
+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuCustomProfileDialogText = "Open here with C&ustom Profile"?>
  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuElevatedDialogText = "Open here as &Administrator"?>
+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuTerminalElevatedDialogText = "Open here in Terminal as A&dministrator"?>
+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuNoProfileElevatedDialogText = "Open here with No Profile as Adm&inistrator"?>
+  <?define ExplorerContextSubMenuCustomProfileElevatedDialogText = "Open here with Custom Profile as Admi&nistrator"?>


This also needs open here in conhost variants

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T06:07:57Z

+  <data name="OpenInConhost" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open in Conhost</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenInTerminal" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open in Terminal</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenWithNoProfile" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open with No Profile</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenWithCustomProfile" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open with Custom Profile</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenInConhostAsAdministrator" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open in Conhost as Administrator</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenInTerminalAsAdministrator" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open in Terminal as Administrator</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenWithNoProfileAsAdministrator" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open with No Profile as Administrator</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="OpenWithCustomProfileAsAdministrator" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Open with Custom Profile as Administrator</value>
+  </data>


this also needs additional entries

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T06:09:02Z

            }
        }
+
+        private static bool TryCreateJumpListLink(string executablePath, string arguments, string title, bool runAsAdministrator, out IShellLinkW jumpListLink, out string errorMessage)


You've created this but I don't see where it's called at all

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T06:09:44Z

@copilot I've made additional comments please can you fix these

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/kilasuit/PowerShell/sessions/34f8bae0-334d-4e96-896b-985023a5c73b Co-authored-by: kilasuit <6355225+kilasuit@users.noreply.github.com>

kilasuit · 2026-05-26T09:58:44Z

@copilot please retry

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/kilasuit/PowerShell/sessions/3a9b82f5-d941-4b1e-8fa1-245c5034d145 Co-authored-by: kilasuit <6355225+kilasuit@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-05-26T10:03:23Z

@copilot please retry

Retried and pushed fixes in 7c99cf5: installer coverage now asserts the Conhost Explorer variants, and the accidentally tracked testResults.xml artifact was removed from the branch. Screenshot: not available in this headless CI environment.

Initial plan

2602b79

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and kilasuit May 26, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:08 View session

Copilot AI linked an issue May 26, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

Extend options to run PowerShell via jumplist and explorer context menus #181

Open

Add conhost/terminal/profile launch options for jump list and explore…

99751b9

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Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Add options to run PowerShell via jumplist and context menus~~ Extend Windows Explorer and JumpList launch modes for PowerShell (Conhost, Terminal, NoProfile, Custom Profile) May 26, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:17

Copilot AI requested a review from kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:17

kilasuit requested changes May 26, 2026

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Copilot AI requested a review from kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:36

Copilot finished work on behalf of kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:36

Copilot started work on behalf of kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:42 View session

Adjust Explorer launch menu defaults and admin variants

0babcc4

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/kilasuit/PowerShell/sessions/bf9072fe-33f2-4567-9ff4-633bb19061d3 Co-authored-by: kilasuit <6355225+kilasuit@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~Extend Windows Explorer and JumpList launch modes for PowerShell (Conhost, Terminal, NoProfile, Custom Profile)~~ Extend Windows Explorer and JumpList launch modes for PowerShell (Default/Conhost, Terminal, NoProfile, Custom Profile, Admin variants) May 26, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:46

kilasuit reviewed May 26, 2026

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Copilot AI and others added 2 commits May 26, 2026 04:51

Add admin JumpList titles for all launch modes

f3721c5

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Clarify terminal JumpList filtering for admin and non-admin entries

b414a68

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Copilot finished work on behalf of kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:52

Copilot AI requested a review from kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:52

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Copilot AI and others added 2 commits May 26, 2026 04:54

Progress: verified latest review feedback already implemented

2e4d52e

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Remove accidentally committed test artifact

f368b57

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Copilot finished work on behalf of kilasuit May 26, 2026 04:55

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Changes before error encountered

8a81075

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Copilot AI requested a review from kilasuit May 26, 2026 06:14

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Add conhost installer assertions and remove test artifact

7c99cf5

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Copilot finished work on behalf of kilasuit May 26, 2026 10:03

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