Configuration

Configuration

csharpDialog has no configuration file. Every dialog is configured entirely by its command line and, while running, by its command file. There is no settings file, no policy ADMX, and nothing in the registry that changes how a dialog is drawn.

What follows is the complete set of paths, registry keys and environment variables the code does read or write, plus the built-in defaults, so you know what to inspect and what to clean up.

Paths

Written by csharpDialog

Path	Purpose
%ProgramData%\ManagedNotifications\logs\csharpdialog.log	Diagnostic log. Rolls at 5 MB, five generations kept as .1 … .5 (.1 is newest)
%ProgramData%\ManagedUtilities\logs\csharpdialog.log	Legacy log location. On first write, a new build moves this file and its rotated generations to the current location so history survives the upgrade
%ProgramData%\csharpDialog\IconCache\	Icon download cache. Filenames are the first 16 hex characters of the URL's SHA-256 plus the original extension. Entries expire after 30 days by default
The --commandfile path	Created with a two-line comment header if absent, along with any missing parent directories
%ProgramData%\ManagedInstalls\first_run_completed	Timestamp marker, written only when a --firstrun/--autolaunch dialog closes and the directory already exists

The log location is deliberately ManagedNotifications rather than the ManagedUtilities root used by sibling tools; the dialog tools own their own root.

Read by csharpDialog

These are Cimian client paths, resolved from the standard folders rather than hardcoded drive letters. They matter only when --cimian, --firstrun or --autolaunch is used.

Path	Purpose
%ProgramData%\ManagedInstalls\reports\run.log	Primary log tailed by the Cimian monitor. The client truncates it at the start of each run, so it only ever holds the current run
%ProgramData%\ManagedInstalls\logs\<yyyy-MM-dd>\<HHmm>\run.log	Fallback: the newest per-session log is tailed when the report log is absent
%ProgramData%\ManagedInstalls\manifests\*.yaml	Scanned for managed_installs: lists to seed the dialog's list rows
%ProgramData%\ManagedInstalls\icons\	Cimian's icon cache. Checked first when resolving an icon reference by basename
%ProgramData%\ManagedInstalls\.cimian.bootstrap	Present for the life of a bootstrap run; one of the first-run indicators
%ProgramFiles%\Cimian\managedsoftwareupdate.exe	Started by the monitor if no managedsoftwareupdate process is already running
%USERPROFILE%\ntuser.dat	Creation time is used as the profile-age first-run signal

Registry

Read

Key	Value	Used for
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize	AppsUseLightTheme	Dark mode. 0 means dark; anything else, or an unreadable key, means light
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE	OOBECompleted, OOBECompletedTime	Post-OOBE detection; counts as first-run within one hour of completion
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer	FirstRun	Windows first-login marker
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce	value names	Any name containing FirstLogin, Welcome or Setup counts as a first-run signal
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Cimian	FirstRun, InstallDate	Cimian first-run marker; an install within the last two hours counts as first-run
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Cimian	FirstRun	Per-user Cimian first-run marker
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters	Domain	Reported as DomainJoined in the detection result
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CloudDomainJoin\JoinInfo	subkey count	Reported as AzureADJoined
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AAD\Storage	presence	Reported as WorkplaceJoined

The join status is recorded in the detection result and logged; it does not change what the dialog shows.

Written

Only when a first-run dialog completes:

Key	Values
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Cimian	FirstRun = 0, FirstRunCompleted = yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Cimian	FirstRun = 0, LastUserFirstRun = yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss — attempted, skipped silently without admin rights

The MSI additionally writes HKLM\Software\csharpDialog with InstallPath and Version. Nothing reads those; they are the installer's own record.

Environment variables

csharpDialog itself reads no environment variables. Two are read by the build script:

Variable	Used by	Meaning
SIGNING_CERT_CN	build.ps1	Subject name passed to signtool /n. Falls back to a placeholder that will fail to match a certificate
SIGNTOOL_PATH / SIGNTOOL	build.ps1	Path to signtool.exe, or to the directory containing it, when it is not on PATH

Defaults

The values a dialog starts with when the corresponding flag is not given:

Setting	Default	Where it comes from
Title	empty	Configuration default
Message	empty	Configuration default
Button 1 text	OK	Added automatically when no button flag is present
Window width	750 px	The window's XAML (the configuration model's own 450 px default is not what dialog.exe shows)
Window height	1000 px	The window's XAML
Minimum size	500 × 400 px	The window's XAML
Fullscreen host cap	850 × 1200 px	The overlay's XAML
Progress maximum	100	Fixed in the window's XAML; --progress-max does not change it
Progress bar visible	no	Turned on by --progress, --progresstext or --firstrun
List visible	no	Turned on by --listitem or --firstrun
Timeout	none	Dialog waits indefinitely
Topmost	off	The overlay used by --fullscreen/--kiosk is always topmost
Theme	follows the system light/dark setting	Registry, above
Background / text colour, font	#f8f9fa / #2c3e50, Segoe UI 14	Configuration defaults; not applied by dialog.exe
Icon cache expiry	30 days	IconCacheService constructor default
Icon download timeout	10 s	IconCacheService
Command-file debounce	100 ms	CommandFileMonitor
Cimian log poll	2 s timer plus a 500 ms change debounce	CimianMonitor

The JSON configuration model

The source contains a full JSON dialog schema — title, message, buttons[], progress, listItems[], styling, behavior, and a multi-step workflow — with a parser and a validator. It is not reachable. No CLI flag loads it, and the window's config: command handler returns false without doing anything.

Treat it as an unfinished feature, not as configuration. If you are looking for the swiftDialog --jsonfile equivalent, it does not exist yet; build the command line, or generate a command file, from your script instead.

The same applies to the four built-in themes (corporate, dark, modern, enterprise) and the setstyle styling layer: they are implemented in the core library but no command or flag routes to them, and setstyle is not even in the command parser's accepted verb list.