Let a startup setting say what it leaves alone, offer the stop, and learn delayed by donislawdev · Pull Request #17 · donislawdev/BetterWindowsServices

donislawdev · 2026-09-24T13:37:34Z

Summary

Package 5 of the window UX audit: item UX-GUI-006, together with backlog items 231 and 232.

A startup type plan says what happens now. Disabled on a running entry says it keeps running and offers Also stop it, which adds a stop step to the same plan - one plan, one confirmation. On the command line: bws start-type <name> disabled --stop. An automatic setting on a stopped entry says it starts at the next restart.
Automatic (delayed) in the menu, and delayed on the command line, with an exact way back.
Every setting writes the start type and the delayed flag together, through one handle, the way sc.exe config does. Automatic now clears a delay.
An entry in a load order group is refused before anything is planned, with the group's name. The service manager answers the delayed flag on such an entry with error 87 - measured on a throwaway machine, and the Print Spooler is one of them.
The start type menu is built from a list of four settings instead of copied items.
The details panel's read failure says that F5 tries again (a point from the review of Let the details panel read its own entry and sit beside the list #16).

Contract changes

All additive except one change of behaviour:

New word delayed for start-type, new switch --stop (next to disabled only, exit code 2 otherwise).
Plan JSON: delayedAuto next to startType on steps and results (the listing's vocabulary), alsoStop on the action, warning kinds keepsRunning and startsAtNextBoot.
Behaviour: automatic now clears the delayed flag, and manual and disabled write it as false, like sc.exe.

Found while building

The way back from "disable and stop" started the disabled entry first, because the net effect reverses the run order. It now sets the entry back before starting it.
A hand-over across "Restart as admin" accepted Boot and System as a start type. The write side now has its own four-value type, so it cannot.

Verification

A write journey on a throwaway machine: every setting read back by sc.exe and the registry, the way back of each, the plan with --stop and its way back, and the refusal for a grouped entry - all assertions passed. On the previous build the same journey failed 13 of 51, so it can fail.
Filtered unit tests for core, command line, CLI contracts and the window classes this touches, architecture 182/182, site 26/26.
Mutation register: every entry in this area caught, none stale.
Live window: the sentence and the offer, two steps after taking it, --stop in the command, the refusal with the group name, four menu items seen from outside through UI Automation.

Not in this change

Switching an entry to trigger start.
A start offer for a stopped entry set to automatic - only the sentence.
Running the combined plan from the window - the runs went through the command line on the throwaway machine.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Summary by CodeRabbit

New Features
- Added support for delayed automatic startup, including CLI and GUI controls. Delayed startup is unavailable for entries in Windows load-order groups.
- Added an optional stop step when setting an entry to Disabled; plans clarify when changes take effect and offer to stop running entries.
- Plan details now include delayed-start settings and provide a retry message when fields cannot be read.
Bug Fixes
- Improved reporting when Windows refuses a delayed-start setting or only part of a startup-setting change succeeds.

…earn delayed A startup type plan now says what happens now, not only at the next boot. Setting a running entry to Disabled says it keeps running and offers "Also stop it", which adds a stop step to the same plan - one plan, one confirmation. On the command line the same is --stop, accepted next to disabled only. Setting a stopped entry to start automatically says it starts at the next restart. A fourth setting, Automatic (delayed), comes to the menu and to the command line as the word delayed. Every setting now writes both halves - the start type and the delayed flag - through one handle, the way sc.exe config does, so Automatic clears a delay. An entry in a load order group is refused before anything is planned, because the service manager answers the delayed flag on such an entry with error 87 (measured on a throwaway machine, the Print Spooler is one of them). A delayed entry now gets an exact way back. The plan JSON keeps startType in the listing's words and carries delayedAuto beside it, the way bws list --json does. It adds alsoStop for the action and two warning kinds, keepsRunning and startsAtNextBoot. All of these are additions, and the one change of behaviour is that automatic now clears the delayed flag. Along the way: - The write side has its own four-value type, StartSetting, so a hand-over across "Restart as admin" can no longer carry Boot or System into a plan that would only be refused when run. - The way back from "disable and stop" sets the entry back before starting it. The net effect reversed the run order and started a disabled entry first. - The start type menu is built from a list of settings instead of copied items. - The warning with an offer and the failure with an offer moved to a new theme file, PlanOffers.xaml, since PlanLines.xaml was at its ceiling. - The details panel's read failure now says that F5 reads the machine again and the panel tries once more. Not done here: switching an entry to trigger start. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The change adds delayed automatic startup settings and optional stop steps when disabling running entries. It updates planning, Windows service configuration, CLI output, GUI plans and handover, and related documentation and tests.

Changes

Startup settings and optional stop plans

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Startup-setting model and SCM writes `src/Bws.Core/Planning/*`, `src/Bws.Core/WindowsScmControl.cs`, `src/Bws.Core/IScmControl.cs`, `src/Bws.Core/NativeMethods.txt`, `tests/Bws.Core.Tests/StartTypeTests.cs`, `tests/Bws.Core.Tests/StartSettingTests.cs`, `tests/Bws.Core.Tests/Fakes/FakeScmControl.cs`	Adds `AutomaticDelayed` and maps each writable setting to a start type and delayed flag. The Windows SCM writes both values. Plan reversal reads the prior setting when its configuration can be read.
Plan validation, stop steps, and ordering `src/Bws.Core/Planning/`, `tests/Bws.Core.Tests/`	Rejects delayed automatic settings for entries in load-order groups. A disabled-setting plan can add a stop step after the setting. Plans add warnings for entries that remain running or start at the next boot, and use dependent ordering when a stop is included.
CLI commands and plan output `src/Bws.Cli/`, `src/Bws.Cli/Resources/`, `tests/Bws.Cli.Tests/`, `README.md`, `CHANGELOG.md`, `site/pages/cli-reference/`, `site/i18n/*`	Adds the `delayed` setting and disabled-only `--stop` option. Plan JSON reports `delayedAuto` and `alsoStop`; CLI plan text describes the new warnings and refusal.
GUI settings, stop offers, and handover `src/Bws.Gui/`, `tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/`, `tests/Bws.Architecture.Tests/*`	Displays four startup settings and adds a warning offer to include a stop step. The GUI carries the stop choice through handover and displays setting-specific labels and warnings.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 4 (Complex) | ~60 minutes

Change: Feature

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant User
  participant PlanView
  participant MainWindowMenu
  participant PlanBuilder
  User->>PlanView: Select the stop offer
  PlanView->>MainWindowMenu: Raise AlsoStopRequest
  MainWindowMenu->>PlanBuilder: Preview Disabled with AlsoStop
  PlanBuilder-->>MainWindowMenu: Return rebuilt plan
  MainWindowMenu-->>PlanView: Display plan with setting and stop steps

Suggested labels: enhancement, bug, ui

Merge Risk: 🟡 Moderate · up to 14d6f

A stop offer may change the displayed plan while the original operation is running. Resolve that before merging, and verify how grouped services handle clearing delayed start rather than assuming an error means success.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 10 | ❌ 4

❌ Failed checks (4 warnings)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Desktop Robustness	⚠️ Warning	The new `AlsoStop` button starts `Preview`, which calls `MainViewModel.PlanAsync`; that method runs plan construction in `Task.Run`. The `Closed` handler only stops the refresh timer and marks reading…	Add a window-owned cancellation token for preview planning and pass it through `PlanAsync` and the plan-building path. Cancel it during window shutdown and suppress all continuations after closure. Add an in-flight guard or disable the offe…
System Changes Are Reversible	⚠️ Warning	The PR changes Windows service state through `WindowsScmControl.Configure`, including a new two-call delayed-start write. The first write is not rolled back when the second fails, and the method repor…	Before any service write, capture the complete original start type and delayed flag in a durable recovery record. Refuse the change when that state cannot be read. Make the two-part configuration write transactional by restoring the origina…
Clear User-Facing Text	⚠️ Warning	The PR introduces inconsistent names for the same setting in CLI-facing text. `src/Bws.Cli/Resources/cli.en.json` consistently says “start type” in the new refusal and warning messages and in `cli.sho…	Use one term in the CLI documentation. Replace “A startup type changes the next boot and nothing now” in `README.md` and `site/i18n/en.json` with “A start type changes what happens at the next boot, not what happens now.” Apply the same ter…
Scope, Duplication And Docs	⚠️ Warning	The PR updates the README, site CLI reference, and CHANGELOG for the new CLI and plan behavior. However, it makes backward-incompatible public API changes without a `Breaking changes` section or migra…	Add a `Breaking changes` section to the PR description and document the migration from `StartType` to `StartSetting`, including replacements for `IScmControl.Configure`, `BulkAction`, `ServiceAction`, `PlanStep`, `ReversalStep`, and `StartT…

✅ Passed checks (10 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly summarizes the main changes: startup-setting behavior, the optional stop action, and delayed automatic startup. It is specific, plain-language, and 81 characters long.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Tests For Changed Behavior	✅ Passed	The PR adds and updates tests for the changed runtime behavior. `StartSettingTests` covers delayed settings, delayed-flag writes, reverse operations, warnings, load-order-group refusal, stop ordering,…
No Secrets Or Debug Leftovers	✅ Passed	The review-scoped diff adds no CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, .claude, or .env paths. Added-line scans found no credentials, tokens, private keys, personal emails, private IPs, internal hostnames, or absolute …
No Hardcoded Ui Styling	✅ Passed	The PR changes WPF UI code, but it does not add hardcoded appearance values on individual controls. New margins and foregrounds use shared resources such as `MarginBelowSearch`, `MarginBetweenControls…
No Obvious Performance Problems	✅ Passed	No clear performance problem was introduced. Plan previews still run through MainViewModel.PlanAsync and Task.Run, so SCM planning I/O remains off the WPF UI thread. The new warning materialization is…
Safe File Parsing	✅ Passed	No unsafe file parsing was introduced. The PR uses `JsonSerializer.Serialize` only for in-memory plan data and uses `JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Wire>` only for the bounded `--carry` argument; the argu…
No Resource Leaks	✅ Passed	No resource leak is introduced. The new menu and warning event handlers attach to controls owned by the same window/control and are registered once, so they do not accumulate across plans. `WindowsScm…

Full details: Desktop Robustness

Explanation

The new AlsoStop button starts Preview, which calls MainViewModel.PlanAsync; that method runs plan construction in Task.Run. The Closed handler only stops the refresh timer and marks readings unwanted, so it does not cancel or invalidate this planning work. The offer also remains available while previewing because Warnings gates offers on run state (_run/Busy), while _previews only drops stale results and does not prevent duplicate background plans. This introduces background work after window close and allows repeated long preview operations.

Resolution

Add a window-owned cancellation token for preview planning and pass it through PlanAsync and the plan-building path. Cancel it during window shutdown and suppress all continuations after closure. Add an in-flight guard or disable the offer until Preview completes so repeated clicks cannot start multiple planning tasks.

Full details: System Changes Are Reversible

Explanation

The PR changes Windows service state through WindowsScmControl.Configure, including a new two-call delayed-start write. The first write is not rolled back when the second fails, and the method reports a half-written state. PlanSteps saves the original setting only when both reads are available; StartSettings.Of returns null for unreadable or unsupported settings, but PlanBuilder still allows the write. Reversal is only rendered as copyable commands through NetEffect and PlanText; it is not durable or automatically executed. The runner's stop/close path skips requested setting steps, crash/abandonment explicitly puts nothing back, and no startup recovery journal or hook exists. Therefore a changed service can remain modified after a failed write, stop, app close, crash, or next start.

Resolution

Before any service write, capture the complete original start type and delayed flag in a durable recovery record. Refuse the change when that state cannot be read. Make the two-part configuration write transactional by restoring the original pair if the second write fails. Persist pending changes before execution and automatically restore incomplete changes on explicit stop, app close, crash recovery, and the next application start. Add a visible Restore/Stop-all action in both interfaces, and limit recovery records and execution to the services selected by the user.

Full details: Clear User-Facing Text

Explanation

The PR introduces inconsistent names for the same setting in CLI-facing text. src/Bws.Cli/Resources/cli.en.json consistently says “start type” in the new refusal and warning messages and in cli.show.startType, but the new README.md --stop description and site/i18n/en.json switch.stop description say “A startup type”. Both descriptions document the start-type command, so readers see two names for one setting.

Resolution

Use one term in the CLI documentation. Replace “A startup type changes the next boot and nothing now” in README.md and site/i18n/en.json with “A start type changes what happens at the next boot, not what happens now.” Apply the same terminology to the new changelog prose, or define an explicit distinction if “startup type” is intended to be a separate concept.

Full details: Scope, Duplication And Docs

Explanation

The PR updates the README, site CLI reference, and CHANGELOG for the new CLI and plan behavior. However, it makes backward-incompatible public API changes without a Breaking changes section or migration guidance. The diff changes IScmControl.Configure(string, StartType) to Configure(string, StartSetting), changes public record parameters and properties from StartType? to StartSetting?, and removes StartTypeWords.TryRead while changing StartTypeWords.Of and adding Read. Bws.Core is a library project, and the old signatures are not retained in the head revision. The description's Contract changes text covers the feature behavior but does not document these API breaks or a consumer migration.

Resolution

Add a Breaking changes section to the PR description and document the migration from StartType to StartSetting, including replacements for IScmControl.Configure, BulkAction, ServiceAction, PlanStep, ReversalStep, and StartTypeWords.TryRead. Preferably retain compatibility overloads/adapters and the old parser member where feasible; otherwise version the API and provide a clear migration path for consumers of Bws.Core.

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Actionable comments posted: 6

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Inline comments:
In `@src/Bws.Cli/Resources/cli.en.json`:
- Line 13: Qualify the `start-type` documentation so it states that changing the
setting leaves the current running state unchanged only when `--stop` is not
specified. Apply the equivalent correction to the CLI help at
`src/Bws.Cli/Resources/cli.en.json` (line 13), the English reference at
`site/pages/cli-reference/en.html` (line 60), and the Polish reference at
`site/pages/cli-reference/pl.html` (line 53).
- Line 42: Update the cli.stopNeedsDisabled message to keep the disabled-only
restriction but clarify that a running entry may remain running with other
settings and must be stopped separately using bws stop NAME.

In `@src/Bws.Core/WindowsScmControl.cs`:
- Around line 201-210: Update WriteFlag so error 87 from ChangeServiceConfig2W
is treated as success only when delayed is false; preserve the existing failure
behavior for attempts to enable delayed start.

In `@src/Bws.Gui/ActionBar.xaml`:
- Line 124: Update the stale comment above StartTypeButton to describe the four
settings now offered by StartTypeMenu, including “Automatic (delayed),” and
remove the claim that delayed automatic is configured separately. Preserve the
explanation for omitting Boot and System; align any replacement wording with the
current behavior.

In `@src/Bws.Gui/MainWindow.Menu.cs`:
- Around line 303-305: Update AlsoStop to proceed only while the planned action
is still being asked for, and define a shared StillAsking state that requires
the plan to be showing with no active run and Busy false. Reuse StillAsking when
creating PlanWarningLine warnings so the offer is unavailable during or after a
run.

In `@src/Bws.Gui/Resources/gui.en.json`:
- Line 323: Update gui.plan.offer.alsoStop.hint to use wording that works for
one or many entries and clarifies that the stop step applies to each entry still
running after its startup type is set, while already-stopped entries are
excluded; preserve the note that nothing happens until the button is pressed.

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between e99c509 and 14d6f87.

📒 Files selected for processing (68)

CHANGELOG.md
README.md
site/i18n/en.json
site/i18n/pl.json
site/pages/cli-reference/en.html
site/pages/cli-reference/pl.html
src/Bws.Cli/CommandLine.Reading.cs
src/Bws.Cli/CommandLine.cs
src/Bws.Cli/OptionSurface.cs
src/Bws.Cli/PlanJson.cs
src/Bws.Cli/PlanText.cs
src/Bws.Cli/Program.cs
src/Bws.Cli/Refusals.cs
src/Bws.Cli/Resources/cli.en.json
src/Bws.Cli/StartTypeAsk.cs
src/Bws.Cli/WriteCommands.cs
src/Bws.Core/IScmControl.cs
src/Bws.Core/NativeMethods.txt
src/Bws.Core/Planning/BulkPlan.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/BulkPlanBuilder.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/CriticalEntries.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/EquivalentCommand.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/NetEffect.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/OperationPlan.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/PlanBuilder.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/PlanRun.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/PlanSteps.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/PlanWarnings.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/StartSetting.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/StartTypeWarnings.cs
src/Bws.Core/Planning/StartTypeWords.cs
src/Bws.Core/WindowsScmControl.cs
src/Bws.Gui/ActionBar.xaml
src/Bws.Gui/ActionBar.xaml.cs
src/Bws.Gui/App.xaml
src/Bws.Gui/MainWindow.HandOver.cs
src/Bws.Gui/MainWindow.Menu.cs
src/Bws.Gui/MainWindow.xaml.cs
src/Bws.Gui/PlanView.xaml
src/Bws.Gui/PlanView.xaml.cs
src/Bws.Gui/Resources/gui.en.json
src/Bws.Gui/Themes/PlanLines.xaml
src/Bws.Gui/Themes/PlanOffers.xaml
src/Bws.Gui/ViewModels/Catalogue.Specimens.cs
src/Bws.Gui/ViewModels/CellFaces.cs
src/Bws.Gui/ViewModels/HandOver.cs
src/Bws.Gui/ViewModels/PlanWarningLine.cs
src/Bws.Gui/ViewModels/PlanWords.cs
src/Bws.Gui/ViewModels/Planned.Sections.cs
src/Bws.Gui/ViewModels/Planned.Title.cs
src/Bws.Gui/ViewModels/Planned.cs
tests/Bws.Architecture.Tests/AppearanceGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Architecture.Tests/DeadCodeGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Cli.Tests/EquivalentCommandBridgeGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Cli.Tests/StartSettingCommandTests.cs
tests/Bws.Core.Tests/BulkPlanTests.cs
tests/Bws.Core.Tests/CriticalEntryGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Core.Tests/Fakes/FakeScmControl.cs
tests/Bws.Core.Tests/StartSettingTests.cs
tests/Bws.Core.Tests/StartTypeTests.cs
tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/ActionBarGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/AlsoStopGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/CarryOutLabelGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/ForcedStopViewGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/HandOverTests.cs
tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/PluralGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/WaitingGuards.cs
tests/Bws.Gui.Tests/WpfHost.cs

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