Download Command

The download command downloads MSVC compiler and/or Windows SDK from Microsoft servers.

Basic Usage

# Download latest MSVC and Windows SDK
msvc-kit download

Options

Version Selection

You can specify versions using either short or full format:

# Short version (recommended) - automatically resolves to latest build
msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.44

# Full version - specific build number
msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.44.34823

# SDK version (always use full format)
msvc-kit download --sdk-version 10.0.26100.0

# Both
msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.44 --sdk-version 10.0.26100.0

Version Format:

Component	Short Format	Full Format	Example
MSVC	14.44	14.44.34823	--msvc-version 14.44
SDK	N/A	10.0.26100.0	--sdk-version 10.0.26100.0

When using short MSVC version (e.g., 14.44), msvc-kit automatically resolves it to the latest available build number (e.g., 14.44.34823).

Version Compatibility Guide

MSVC and Windows SDK Pairing

TL;DR: Use the latest versions of both for best compatibility. They are designed to work together.

Scenario	Recommended MSVC	Recommended SDK	Notes
General Development	Latest (14.44)	Latest (10.0.26100.0)	Best compatibility and features
Windows 11 Apps	14.42+	10.0.22621.0+	Win11 SDK required for Win11-specific APIs
Windows 10 Support	Any	10.0.19041.0+	Older SDKs still work
Legacy Projects	Match project's VS version	Match project's SDK	See version mapping below

MSVC Version ↔ Visual Studio Mapping

MSVC Toolset	Visual Studio	_MSC_VER	Support Status
14.44	VS 2022 17.14+	1944	Current
14.43	VS 2022 17.13	1943	Supported
14.42	VS 2022 17.12	1942	Supported
14.41	VS 2022 17.11	1941	Supported
14.40	VS 2022 17.10	1940	Supported
14.39	VS 2022 17.9	1939	Supported
14.38	VS 2022 17.8 (LTSC)	1938	Long-term support

Windows SDK Version ↔ Windows Version

SDK Version	Target Windows	Codename	Notes
10.0.26100.0	Windows 11 24H2		Latest, recommended
10.0.22621.0	Windows 11 22H2		Stable, widely used
10.0.22000.0	Windows 11 21H2		First Win11 SDK
10.0.19041.0	Windows 10 2004		Good Win10 baseline
10.0.18362.0	Windows 10 1903		Legacy support

Common Combinations

# Recommended: Latest everything (best for new projects)
msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.44 --sdk-version 10.0.26100.0

# Stable: Widely tested combination
msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.42 --sdk-version 10.0.22621.0

# Windows 10 focused: Maximum compatibility
msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.40 --sdk-version 10.0.19041.0

Important Notes

1. Forward Compatibility: Newer MSVC versions can target older Windows versions. Use _WIN32_WINNT macro to control target.

2. SDK Selection: The SDK version determines which Windows APIs are available at compile time, not runtime compatibility.

3. ABI Compatibility: MSVC 14.x toolsets (VS 2015-2022) share the same C++ ABI, so libraries built with 14.40 work with 14.44.

4. When in Doubt: Use the latest versions. Microsoft ensures backward compatibility.

Component Selection

# Download only MSVC (skip SDK)
msvc-kit download --no-sdk

# Download only SDK (skip MSVC)
msvc-kit download --no-msvc

Target Directory

# Custom installation directory
msvc-kit download --target C:\msvc-kit

Architecture

# Target architecture (default: x64)
msvc-kit download --arch x64

Supported architectures:

• x64 - 64-bit x86
• x86 - 32-bit x86
• arm64 - ARM64
• arm - ARM 32-bit (target only)

The host architecture is detected from the running machine and cannot be overridden on download; msvc-kit download always fetches the cross-compiler that matches the host. msvc-kit bundle --host-arch <arch> is the only command that takes an explicit host architecture.

Visual Studio Channel

Packages are discovered from a Visual Studio channel manifest. By default msvc-kit uses the newest channel that serves a manifest; pin one to stay on a specific Visual Studio release:

# Pin by major version or release year
msvc-kit download --vs-channel 17
msvc-kit download --vs-channel 2022

# Environment variable / configuration
MSVC_KIT_VS_CHANNEL=17 msvc-kit download
msvc-kit config --set-vs-channel 2022

See Visual Studio Versions & Channels for the full list and for how to add a new release.

Component Selection (Optional Extras)

# Add optional MSVC components (repeatable)
msvc-kit download --include-component spectre --include-component mfc

# Exclude packages whose id contains a pattern (case-insensitive, repeatable)
msvc-kit download --exclude-pattern spectre

--include-component accepts spectre, mfc, atl, asan, uwp, cli, modules, redist and custom:<pattern>. The standard toolchain (Tools, CRT, MFC, ATL) is always downloaded; these flags only add or remove packages on top of it.

Download Options

# Parallel downloads (default: 4)
msvc-kit download --parallel-downloads 8

# Skip hash verification (not recommended)
msvc-kit download --no-verify

Full Example

msvc-kit download \
  --msvc-version 14.44 \
  --sdk-version 10.0.26100.0 \
  --target C:\msvc-kit \
  --arch x64 \
  --parallel-downloads 8

Download Progress

The download shows progress for each package:

Downloading MSVC packages...
[1/15] Microsoft.VC.14.44.17.14.CRT.Headers.x64 (2.3 MB)
[2/15] Microsoft.VC.14.44.17.14.CRT.Source (1.1 MB)
...

Caching Behavior

Downloads are cached and skipped if already present:

Status	Meaning
cached	File exists in index with matching hash
304	Server returned Not Modified (ETag match)
size match	File size matches expected (best-effort)

To force re-download, use msvc-kit clean --cache first.

Available Versions

List available versions before downloading:

msvc-kit list --available

Output:

Available MSVC versions:
  14.44.34823
  14.43.34808
  14.42.34433
  ...

Available SDK versions:
  10.0.26100.0
  10.0.22621.0
  10.0.22000.0
  ...