winget reports pinned packages during update, but pin list is empty.

[donpellegrino]

Relevant area(s)

WinGet CLI

Relevant command(s)

winget pin, winget upgrade

Brief description of your issue

Running winget update --all reports packages are pinned. winget pin list reports no pins are configured. These are mutually exclusive and this is an inconsistent state.

Steps to reproduce

Note for this test case I have never used the winget pin feature to manually pin any packages.

PS C:\Users\User01> winget update --all
No installed package found matching input criteria.

The following packages have an upgrade available, but require explicit targeting for upgrade:
Name    Id              Version  Available Source
-------------------------------------------------
Discord Discord.Discord 1.0.9242 1.0.9243  winget
1 package(s) are pinned and need to be explicitly upgraded.
PS C:\Users\User01> winget pin list
There are no pins configured.
PS C:\Users\User01>

Expected behavior

winget should be consistent in managing pins.

Actual behavior

winget is inconsistent in managing pins.

Environment

PS C:\Users\User01> winget --info
Windows Package Manager v1.28.240
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.26200.8655
System Architecture: X64
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.28.240.0

Winget Directories
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logs                               %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\DiagOutputDir
User Settings                      %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\settings.json
Portable Links Directory (User)    %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links
Portable Links Directory (Machine) C:\Program Files\WinGet\Links
Portable Package Root (User)       %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root              C:\Program Files\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root (x86)        C:\Program Files (x86)\WinGet\Packages
Installer Downloads                %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
Configuration Modules              %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Configuration\Modules

Links
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy Statement   https://aka.ms/winget-privacy
License Agreement   https://aka.ms/winget-license
Third Party Notices https://aka.ms/winget-3rdPartyNotice
Homepage            https://aka.ms/winget
Windows Store Terms https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/storedocs/terms-of-sale

Admin Setting                             State
--------------------------------------------------
LocalManifestFiles                        Disabled
BypassCertificatePinningForMicrosoftStore Disabled
InstallerHashOverride                     Disabled
LocalArchiveMalwareScanOverride           Disabled
ProxyCommandLineOptions                   Disabled
DefaultProxy                              Disabled

[Trenly]

I believe the root cause of this is that a package who's manifest declares that it requires explicit upgrade (Discord.Discord, in this case) is pinned by the manifest. So, even though it isn't a user pin which shows up in winget pin list, that's why winget upgrade reports that a package is pinned.

Definitely an area that is confusing