How do I rename the package identifier?

[kjxbyz]

How do I rename the package identifier? What steps do I need to take?

[Trenly]

First, you need to submit a PR to remove the old version. Then, you need to create a new PR adding the same manifest back, but with a different Package Identifier and placed under the correct folder. In order to be approved, both PRs should be submitted around the same time - if you submit just the removals they likely won't be approved until the PR for adding the new one is also submitted.

Since the validation pipelines only support one manifest per PR, each version requires its own set of PRs - one to remove the old manifest and one to add the new one. The removal and addition cannot be done in the same PR.

If you use YamlCreate there is an option to move packages which can do most of the work for you if you have a cloned fork of the repository, the GitHub CLI, and Git installed

[kjxbyz]

I have three packages, each with several versions. Is this migration solution a bit inefficient?

[Trenly]

It was never built to be efficient. Changing a package identifier is generally considered a breaking change because any users who have used winget export will not be able to import their packages and will receive an error when using winget import that the package is not found unless the user passes in a flag.

So, if you want to change a package identifier you absolutely can, but the system is designed for packages to remain under a single identifier which is why it is so inefficient to move them

[kjxbyz]

Is it acceptable for older versions of packages to use older identifiers and newer versions to use newer identifiers?