Alias Cockpit

A local-first Windows desktop cockpit for generating, marking, storing, importing, exporting, and optionally synchronizing email aliases.

Current Scope

Alias Cockpit is an active WinUI 3/.NET application. Its current main screen is an offline Gmail/Outlook alias expander with saved input history, site/purpose/color markers, marked/unmarked filtering, and copy actions. The repository also contains:

• core alias generation, entropy estimation, CSV import/export dry runs, audit events, tombstones, and provider capability models;
• local SQLite repositories for aliases, saved addresses, provider accounts, and audit data;
• Windows Credential Manager secret storage;
• SimpleLogin and addy.io mock adapters plus HTTP adapter foundations;
• xUnit unit, stress, ViewModel, and infrastructure tests;
• repeatable generation, CSV, and SQLite benchmarks;
• folder-publish, portable ZIP, MSI, setup EXE, and GitHub Release tooling.

Encrypted sync, advanced provider synchronization, and full UI automation are not complete. The application does not call real provider APIs during normal startup.

Requirements

• Windows 10 version 2004 (10.0.19041.0) or newer.
• The repository's ignored local .tools\dotnet installation. Existing project documentation records a .NET 10 SDK for the .slnx solution and .NET 8 runtimes for the product projects.
• A desktop session for the UI smoke test.

The .tools\dotnet directory is not part of a clean clone. Provision a compatible SDK/runtime before using the repository-local commands; the snapshot contains no bootstrap installer for that ignored toolchain.

Run

.\.tools\dotnet\dotnet.exe run --project src\AliasCockpit.App\AliasCockpit.App.csproj

The app reads and writes local metadata at:

%LocalAppData%\AliasCockpit\aliases.sqlite

This development database is not encrypted. It may contain alias metadata, saved input addresses, marker values, audit data, and provider secret_ref values, but never provider tokens or API secrets.

Typical Workflow

1. Enter a Gmail or Outlook address, add one tag per line, and choose the number of candidates to generate.
2. Enable Gmail dot aliases and/or +tag aliases when the address and destination form support them. The dot option is disabled for unsupported domains.
3. Review the result summary, then use the All, dot, plus, marked, or unmarked filters to narrow the list.
4. Select an alias and save its site, purpose, and color marker. Save an address to the local history when it will be reused.
5. Copy the selected alias or the filtered result set. Provider operations remain explicit follow-up actions; generating a local alias does not call a provider.

Build, Test, and Format

.\.tools\dotnet\dotnet.exe build AliasCockpit.slnx -v minimal
.\.tools\dotnet\dotnet.exe test AliasCockpit.slnx -v minimal
.\.tools\dotnet\dotnet.exe run --project benchmarks\AliasCockpit.Benchmarks\AliasCockpit.Benchmarks.csproj -c Release
.\.tools\dotnet\dotnet.exe format AliasCockpit.slnx --verify-no-changes --verbosity minimal

The repository documentation notes that dotnet format can emit a non-blocking workspace-load warning; use its exit code together with build and test results.

Release Packaging

Run the complete release verification when preparing distributable files:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\verify-release.ps1

That script builds and tests the solution, runs the benchmark and format gate, publishes the app, prunes an audited set of unused WinAppSDK files, rebuilds the portable ZIP/MSI/setup EXE, validates package contents, launch-smokes the published and portable executables, and runs the basic UI smoke.

Individual commands are also available:

.\.tools\dotnet\dotnet.exe publish src\AliasCockpit.App\AliasCockpit.App.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=false -v minimal
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\prune-publish.ps1 -PublishDir src\AliasCockpit.App\bin\Release\net8.0-windows10.0.26100.0\win-x64\publish
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\package-msi.ps1
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\package-setup-exe.ps1
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\publish-github-release.ps1
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\clean-build-cache.ps1 -Artifacts

Expected artifacts:

Artifact	Purpose
src\AliasCockpit.App\bin\Release\net8.0-windows10.0.26100.0\win-x64\publish\AliasCockpit.App.exe	App executable inside the complete folder publish; not an installer or single-file bundle
artifacts\AliasCockpit-win-x64-portable.zip	Complete portable publish directory
artifacts\AliasCockpit-win-x64.msi	Per-machine WiX MSI; installation may require elevation
artifacts\AliasCockpit-win-x64-setup.exe	WiX Burn setup executable embedding the MSI

Keep the published executable beside its WinUI/.NET runtime files. The release scripts use WiX only as a build tool. scripts\publish-github-release.ps1 targets NextWeb4/alias-cockpit, tag v1.0.0, and reads credentials only at runtime from GITHUB_TOKEN, GH_TOKEN, Git Credential Manager, or the Codex integration helper.

Project Structure

Path	Responsibility
src/AliasCockpit.App/	WinUI 3 shell, main page, ViewModel, clipboard, and desktop integration
src/AliasCockpit.Core/	UI-free aliases, generation, CSV, audit, provider, secret, security, and expander contracts
src/AliasCockpit.Infrastructure/	SQLite, Windows Credential Manager, and provider adapters
tests/AliasCockpit.App.Tests/	ViewModel tests without launching a WinUI window
tests/AliasCockpit.Core.Tests/	Unit and stress coverage for domain behavior
tests/AliasCockpit.Infrastructure.Tests/	SQLite, credential-store, and provider adapter integration tests
benchmarks/AliasCockpit.Benchmarks/	Generation, CSV dry-run, and SQLite baselines
docs/	Research, architecture decisions, security model, and release notes
scripts/	Branding, publish, package, cleanup, release, and smoke-test automation

Data and Security Boundaries

• Gmail dot aliases apply only to Gmail/Googlemail addresses; Google Workspace custom domains are not assumed to share that behavior.
• +tag aliases are not accepted by every third-party form.
• Store provider tokens through WindowsCredentialManagerSecretStore; SQLite stores only references generated by the secret-key model.
• Do not put passwords, tokens, recovery codes, or other secrets in site, purpose, tag, marker, or saved-address fields.
• Provider disable/delete batches must be planned before execution. Delete requires explicit confirmation and an audit trail.
• The HTTP adapters can validate keys and perform supported alias operations when explicitly invoked, but mock adapters and fake HTTP handlers do not prove real-account end-to-end compatibility.

Creator

• HaoXiang Huang
• Rays688888@Gmail.com
• https://nextweb4.github.io/

The source icon is src/AliasCockpit.App/Assets/AppIcon.ico; packaging also uses it for the executable, WinUI window, Start Menu shortcut, Add/Remove Programs entry, and setup bundle.

Maintenance and Contributions

• Put domain behavior in src/AliasCockpit.Core/, operating-system and provider integrations in src/AliasCockpit.Infrastructure/, and presentation work in src/AliasCockpit.App/; add coverage in the matching test project.
• Review the native UI architecture decision, test strategy, and threat model before changing persistence, credentials, provider operations, or release boundaries.
• Run the build, test, benchmark, and format commands above for normal changes. Packaging changes also require the complete scripts\verify-release.ps1 path and inspection of every produced artifact.
• Keep all three README files synchronized when behavior, commands, artifact names, security limits, or licensing changes.

License

No LICENSE file was found in the audited repository. Unless the owner declares terms elsewhere, the repository should not be treated as granting an open-source license.