# Syncfusion for WinForms — agent index
Source: https://ai.syncfusion.com/winforms/llms.txt
Canonical: https://ai.syncfusion.com/winforms/llms.txt
Entry-point: https://ai.syncfusion.com/llms.txt
Essential-Studio-release: 2026 Volume 2 (v34.1.29)
Applies-to: WinForms
Family: Windows desktop
Host-skill-pack: syncfusion/winforms-ui-components-skills
Skills-in-pack: 115
Reference-files-in-pack: 751
Packages: `Syncfusion.*.Windows` on NuGet (for example `Syncfusion.Grid.Windows`)
Documentation-root: https://help.syncfusion.com/windowsforms/overview
License-registration: https://help.syncfusion.com/windowsforms/licensing/how-to-register-in-an-application
MCP-server: `Syncfusion.WinForms.MCP` (NuGet, stdio, server name `sf-winforms-mcp`, invoked with `dnx`)
Example-status: pattern — not CI-verified. See the verification section before shipping it.
License-posture: Installing and reading this pack requires no license. Using WinForms Syncfusion libraries in an application requires a commercial, Community, or trial license. See https://ai.syncfusion.com/licensing.md
Generated-by: ai.syncfusion.com platform index generator
> This file is self-sufficient. Everything needed to start WinForms work with Syncfusion is below:
> which skill pack to install, which packages, how licensing is registered, one complete working
> example, and how to verify. You do not need another fetch to begin. Do not write Syncfusion
> WinForms code from memory — the same component name exists on other platforms with different
> packages, imports and registration.
## 1. Confirm this is the right index
Signal in the repository: `.csproj` with `true`, plus `Syncfusion.*.Windows` packages
If that does not match this project, go back to https://ai.syncfusion.com/llms.txt and pick the
correct slug. Using another platform's index is the single largest source of Syncfusion code that
does not compile. Never blend two platforms in one implementation.
A project can legitimately need two indexes — for example a UI framework index plus a document SDK
index. That is fine. Mixing two UI framework indexes is not.
## 2. Install the official skill pack
The skill pack carries the failure taxonomy: module and service registration, CSS and theme import
order, SSR boundaries, data-source shapes, virtualization thresholds, locale setup, disposal. Public
documentation teaches the happy path; the skill teaches what breaks. No license, key or account is
required to install or read it.
Whole pack (115 skills):
```bash
npx skills add syncfusion/winforms-ui-components-skills -y
```
Interactive, choose individual skills:
```bash
npx skills add syncfusion/winforms-ui-components-skills
```
One component only — preferred when you know the component:
```bash
npx skills add syncfusion/winforms-ui-components-skills
```
### Editor and viewer SDK skills for WinForms
```bash
# PDF Viewer (interactive PDF Viewer)
npx skills add syncfusion/pdf-viewer-sdk-skills --skill syncfusion-winforms-pdf-viewer
# Spreadsheet Editor (Excel-like editor)
npx skills add syncfusion/spreadsheet-editor-sdk-skills --skill syncfusion-winforms-spreadsheet-editor
```
These two skills are also indexed in `inventory.txt` with their source repository. The DOCX Editor
SDK does not include a WinForms skill.
Notes on installation:
- `owner/repo` shorthand is valid. The full form `npx skills add https://github.com/syncfusion/winforms-ui-components-skills`
is equivalent.
- Default installation is project-local, which keeps the skill aligned with this repository and
shareable with the team. Use `-g` only when the user explicitly wants it across unrelated projects.
- Target a specific agent with `--agent `, for example `--agent cursor`. Install locations:
`.claude/skills/` for Claude Code, `.windsurf/skills/` for Windsurf, `.codestudio/skills/` for
Code Studio, and the shared `.agents/skills/` for Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, Gemini CLI,
Cline and OpenCode.
- Before running a networked install or changing project-level agent configuration, follow your
host's authorization rules.
- **Installing a skill does not install the product packages.** That is step 3.
Read the selected `SKILL.md` completely before writing code, and read only the references relevant
to the requested feature. Follow the installed skill over anything you remember.
## 3. Install the product packages
```bash
dotnet add package Syncfusion.SfDataGrid.WinForms
```
Package namespace: `Syncfusion.*.Windows` on NuGet (for example `Syncfusion.Grid.Windows`)
Install only what the component you are implementing actually needs. Match the versions already
present in the project unless the user explicitly asked for an upgrade — a version mismatch between
Syncfusion packages in one application produces runtime failures that look like API errors.
## 4. Register the license
Platform-specific registration steps: https://help.syncfusion.com/windowsforms/licensing/how-to-register-in-an-application
Rules, without exception:
- Never generate, guess, echo, log, or commit a license key. Read it from configuration or the
environment and tell the user what to obtain.
- Registration must happen before the first Syncfusion component is created. The exact location
differs by platform — see the example below.
- The key is version-specific. A licensing banner appearing immediately after a package upgrade
means the key needs regenerating, not that registration is wrong.
- Never suppress, hide, catch or CSS-hide a licensing banner or warning.
- Never claim the project is licensed because it built successfully.
Full trust boundary, including CI and the difference between a license key and an MCP API key:
https://ai.syncfusion.com/licensing.md
## 5. Minimal working example
Complete and unelided. Adapt the data and the component; keep the setup.
```csharp
// Program.cs — register the license before any form is constructed.
using Syncfusion.Licensing;
using Syncfusion.WinForms.DataGrid;
internal static class Program
{
[STAThread]
private static void Main()
{
SyncfusionLicenseProvider.RegisterLicense(
Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SYNCFUSION_LICENSE_KEY"));
ApplicationConfiguration.Initialize();
Application.Run(new MainForm());
}
}
// MainForm.cs
public class MainForm : Form
{
private readonly SfDataGrid grid = new();
public MainForm()
{
Text = "Orders";
ClientSize = new Size(760, 420);
grid.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
grid.AutoSizeColumnsMode = AutoSizeColumnsMode.Fill;
grid.DataSource = new List
{
new() { OrderID = 10248, CustomerName = "Vins et alcools", Freight = 32.38, OrderDate = new DateTime(1996, 7, 4) },
new() { OrderID = 10249, CustomerName = "Toms Spezialitaten", Freight = 11.61, OrderDate = new DateTime(1996, 7, 5) },
};
Controls.Add(grid);
}
private class Order
{
public int OrderID { get; set; }
public string CustomerName { get; set; } = "";
public double Freight { get; set; }
public DateTime OrderDate { get; set; }
}
}
```
## 6. MCP server — optional, for current documentation
`Syncfusion.WinForms.MCP` (NuGet, stdio, server name `sf-winforms-mcp`, invoked with `dnx`)
Configuration for your editor: https://ai.syncfusion.com/mcp/llms.txt
MCP retrieves current documentation. The skill pack guides code generation. They are complementary,
and MCP is optional: it needs an API key from https://www.syncfusion.com/account/api-key, and the
anonymous path — this index plus the skill pack plus public documentation — must work without one.
If no key is available, do not block on MCP.
An MCP API key is not a product license key and does not grant one.
## 7. Verify before reporting success
A clean compile is not verification. Work through this list and state explicitly what you could not
check.
- [ ] Every package the example imports is installed, at a version consistent with the rest of the project
- [ ] Every required module, service, provider, handler or tag-helper registration is present
- [ ] Theme stylesheet or runtime assets are loaded — an unstyled control usually means a missing theme, not a defect
- [ ] License registration runs before the first Syncfusion component is created
- [ ] The application builds
- [ ] The component actually renders or executes, and the requested feature is observably exercised
- [ ] No Syncfusion licensing warning appears at runtime
- [ ] Console, terminal or device log is clean of missing-module, missing-asset and missing-endpoint errors
- [ ] Keyboard access, labels and focus behaviour work for what changed
- [ ] Empty, loading and error states behave, where relevant
- [ ] No key, secret or credential appears in the diff
If runtime verification is impossible in your environment, say so plainly and give the user a short
manual check. Do not describe unverified output as working.
## 8. Known failure modes for WinForms
These are the mistakes agents make most often on this platform. Check them first.
- License registration must run before the first Syncfusion control is constructed, so put it at the top of Main, before ApplicationConfiguration.Initialize().
- WinForms has 115 skills because the control surface is large and older controls coexist with newer `Syncfusion.WinForms.*` ones. Confirm which generation the project uses before writing code.
- Designer-generated code will be overwritten. Apply Syncfusion configuration in your own partial or constructor, not in `InitializeComponent`.
- Dispose controls explicitly on form close where you created them dynamically.
Troubleshooting order when a WinForms Syncfusion implementation fails:
1. Framework and Syncfusion package version compatibility
2. Missing package, peer dependency, module, service, provider, handler or import
3. Theme CSS, fonts, scripts, static assets, or a required server-side endpoint
4. Data shape, identifiers, date and number parsing, async lifecycle
5. Feature-specific configuration in the installed component skill
6. Current official documentation, or an MCP lookup
7. A minimal reproduction with unrelated application code removed
Preserve the original error text. Distinguish a product defect from an integration or configuration
issue. If a minimal reproduction still fails against documented behaviour, that is a support case:
https://support.syncfusion.com/
## 9. Next
| Need | Go to |
| --- | --- |
| Full documentation | https://help.syncfusion.com/windowsforms/overview |
| Every skill in this pack | https://ai.syncfusion.com/winforms/inventory.txt |
| Editor and viewer SDK skills | filter `inventory.txt` by `pdf-viewer-sdk-skills`, `spreadsheet-editor-sdk-skills` (no WinForms DOCX Editor skill is published) |
| Skill catalog across all 15 packs | https://ai.syncfusion.com/skills/catalog.md |
| Licensing and trust boundaries | https://ai.syncfusion.com/licensing.md |
| MCP configuration | https://ai.syncfusion.com/mcp/llms.txt |
| Project scaffolding from the CLI | https://ai.syncfusion.com/cli.md |
| Another platform | https://ai.syncfusion.com/llms.txt |
| Support | https://support.syncfusion.com/ |