Various updates

samples/cs/GettingStarted/Directory.Packages.props

@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
     <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>true</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local" Version="0.0.0-20251107T104536.7c7026f2" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.WinML" Version="0.0.0-20251107T104548.7c7026f2" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local" Version="0.8.0-rc.20251113T180729.6da3214b" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.WinML" Version="0.8.0-rc.20251113T180733.6da3214b" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="OpenAI" Version="2.5.0" />
   </ItemGroup>

samples/cs/GettingStarted/cross-platform/AudioTranscriptionExample/AudioTranscriptionExample.csproj

@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
 
   <!-- Include the main program -->
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Compile Include="../../src/AudioTranscriptionExample/Program.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/AudioTranscriptionExample/*.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/Shared/*.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <!-- Use WinML package for local Foundry SDK on Windows -->

samples/cs/GettingStarted/cross-platform/FoundryLocalWebServer/FoundryLocalWebServer.csproj

@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
 
   <!-- Include the main program -->
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Compile Include="../../src/FoundryLocalWebServer/Program.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/FoundryLocalWebServer/*.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/Shared/*.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <!-- Use WinML package for local Foundry SDK on Windows -->

samples/cs/GettingStarted/cross-platform/HelloFoundryLocalSdk/HelloFoundryLocalSdk.csproj

@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
 
   <!-- Include the main program -->
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Compile Include="../../src/HelloFoundryLocalSdk/Program.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/HelloFoundryLocalSdk/*.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/Shared/*.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <!-- Use WinML package for local Foundry SDK on Windows -->

samples/cs/GettingStarted/nuget.config

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <configuration>
   <packageSources>
     <clear />
-    <add key="local-feed" value="..\..\..\..\..\..\nugets" />
+    <add key="local-feed" value="c:\path_to_directory_containing_Foundry_Local_nuget_packages" />
     <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" />
   </packageSources>
   <packageSourceMapping>

samples/cs/GettingStarted/src/AudioTranscriptionExample/Program.cs

@@ -1,28 +1,32 @@
 using Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local;
-using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 
 var config = new Configuration
 {
-    AppName = "my-audio-app",
-    LogLevel = Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.LogLevel.Debug
+    AppName = "foundry_local_samples",
+    LogLevel = Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.LogLevel.Information
 };
 
-using var loggerFactory = LoggerFactory.Create(builder =>
-{
-    builder.SetMinimumLevel(Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.LogLevel.Debug);
-});
-var logger = loggerFactory.CreateLogger<Program>();
 
 // Initialize the singleton instance.
-await FoundryLocalManager.CreateAsync(config, logger);
+await FoundryLocalManager.CreateAsync(config, Utils.GetAppLogger());
 var mgr = FoundryLocalManager.Instance;
 
+
+// Ensure that any Execution Provider (EP) downloads run and are completed.
+// EP packages include dependencies and may be large.
+// Download is only required again if a new version of the EP is released.
+// For cross platform builds there is no dynamic EP download and this will return immediately.
+await Utils.RunWithSpinner("Registering execution providers", mgr.EnsureEpsDownloadedAsync());
+
+
 // Get the model catalog
 var catalog = await mgr.GetCatalogAsync();
 
+
 // Get a model using an alias
 var model = await catalog.GetModelAsync("whisper-tiny") ?? throw new System.Exception("Model not found");
 
+
 // Download the model (the method skips download if already cached)
 await model.DownloadAsync(progress =>
 {
@@ -33,26 +37,28 @@ await model.DownloadAsync(progress =>
     }
 });
 
+
 // Load the model
 Console.Write($"Loading model {model.Id}...");
 await model.LoadAsync();
 Console.WriteLine("done.");
 
+
 // Get a chat client
 var audioClient = await model.GetAudioClientAsync();
 
-// get a cancellation token
-CancellationToken ct = new CancellationToken();
 
 // Get a transcription with streaming outputs
 Console.WriteLine("Transcribing audio with streaming output:");
-var response = audioClient.TranscribeAudioStreamingAsync("Recording.mp3", ct);
+var response = audioClient.TranscribeAudioStreamingAsync("Recording.mp3", CancellationToken.None);
 await foreach (var chunk in response)
 {
     Console.Write(chunk.Text);
     Console.Out.Flush();
 }
+
 Console.WriteLine();
 
+
 // Tidy up - unload the model
 await model.UnloadAsync();

samples/cs/GettingStarted/src/FoundryLocalWebServer/Program.cs

@@ -1,36 +1,36 @@
 using Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local;
-using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 using OpenAI;
 using System.ClientModel;
 
 var config = new Configuration
 {
-    AppName = "my-app-name",
-    LogLevel = Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.LogLevel.Debug,
+    AppName = "foundry_local_samples",
+    LogLevel = Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.LogLevel.Information,
     Web = new Configuration.WebService
     {
         Urls = "http://127.0.0.1:55588"
     }
 };
 
-using var loggerFactory = LoggerFactory.Create(builder =>
-{
-    builder.SetMinimumLevel(Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.LogLevel.Debug);
-});
-
-var logger = loggerFactory.CreateLogger<Program>();
 
 // Initialize the singleton instance.
-await FoundryLocalManager.CreateAsync(config, logger);
+await FoundryLocalManager.CreateAsync(config, Utils.GetAppLogger());
 var mgr = FoundryLocalManager.Instance;
 
+
+// Ensure that any Execution Provider (EP) downloads run and are completed.
+// EP packages include dependencies and may be large.
+// Download is only required again if a new version of the EP is released.
+// For cross platform builds there is no dynamic EP download and this will return immediately.
+await Utils.RunWithSpinner("Registering execution providers", mgr.EnsureEpsDownloadedAsync());
+
+
 // Get the model catalog
 var catalog = await mgr.GetCatalogAsync();
 
-// Get a model using an alias
-//var model = await catalog.GetModelAsync("qwen2.5-0.5b") ?? throw new Exception("Model not found");
-var model = await catalog.GetModelVariantAsync("qwen2.5-0.5b-instruct-generic-cpu:3")  ?? throw new Exception("Model not found");
 
+// Get a model using an alias
+var model = await catalog.GetModelAsync("qwen2.5-0.5b") ?? throw new Exception("Model not found");
 // Download the model (the method skips download if already cached)
 await model.DownloadAsync(progress =>
 {
@@ -41,11 +41,13 @@ await model.DownloadAsync(progress =>
     }
 });
 
+
 // Load the model
 Console.Write($"Loading model {model.Id}...");
 await model.LoadAsync();
 Console.WriteLine("done.");
 
+
 // Start the web service
 Console.Write($"Starting web service on {config.Web.Urls}...");
 await mgr.StartWebServiceAsync();
@@ -61,7 +63,6 @@ await model.DownloadAsync(progress =>
 });
 
 var chatClient = client.GetChatClient(model.Id);
-
 var completionUpdates = chatClient.CompleteChatStreaming("Why is the sky blue?");
 
 Console.Write($"[ASSISTANT]: ");

samples/cs/GettingStarted/src/HelloFoundryLocalSdk/Program.cs

@@ -1,28 +1,32 @@
 using Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local;
 using Betalgo.Ranul.OpenAI.ObjectModels.RequestModels;
-using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+using System.Diagnostics;
 
 CancellationToken ct = new CancellationToken();
 
 var config = new Configuration
 {
-    AppName = "my-app-name",
-    LogLevel = Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.LogLevel.Debug
+    AppName = "foundry_local_samples",
+    LogLevel = Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.LogLevel.Information
 };
 
-using var loggerFactory = LoggerFactory.Create(builder =>
-{
-    builder.SetMinimumLevel(Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.LogLevel.Debug);
-});
-var logger = loggerFactory.CreateLogger<Program>();
 
 // Initialize the singleton instance.
-await FoundryLocalManager.CreateAsync(config, logger);
+await FoundryLocalManager.CreateAsync(config, Utils.GetAppLogger());
 var mgr = FoundryLocalManager.Instance;
 
+
+// Ensure that any Execution Provider (EP) downloads run and are completed.
+// EP packages include dependencies and may be large.
+// Download is only required again if a new version of the EP is released.
+// For cross platform builds there is no dynamic EP download and this will return immediately.
+await Utils.RunWithSpinner("Registering execution providers", mgr.EnsureEpsDownloadedAsync());
+
+
 // Get the model catalog
 var catalog = await mgr.GetCatalogAsync();
 
+
 // List available models
 Console.WriteLine("Available models for your hardware:");
 var models = await catalog.ListModelsAsync();
@@ -34,21 +38,55 @@
     }
 }
 
-// Get a model using an alias
-//var model = await catalog.GetModelAsync("qwen2.5-0.5b") ?? throw new Exception("Model not found");
-var model = await catalog.GetModelVariantAsync("qwen2.5-0.5b-instruct-generic-cpu:3")  ?? throw new Exception("Model not found");
-
-// is model cached
-Console.WriteLine($"Is model cached: {await model.IsCachedAsync()}");
 
 // print out cached models
 var cachedModels = await catalog.GetCachedModelsAsync();
-Console.WriteLine("Cached models:");
+Console.WriteLine("\nCached models:");
 foreach (var cachedModel in cachedModels)
 {
     Console.WriteLine($"- {cachedModel.Alias} ({cachedModel.Id})");
 }
 
+
+// Get a model using an alias.
+var model = await catalog.GetModelAsync("qwen2.5-0.5b") ?? throw new Exception("Model not found");
+
+// `model.SelectedVariant` indicates which variant will be used by default.
+//
+// Models in Model.Variants are ordered by priority, with the highest priority first.
+// The first downloaded model is selected by default.
+// The highest priority is selected if no models have been downloaded.
+Console.WriteLine("\nThe default selected model variant is: " + model.Id);
+if (model.SelectedVariant != model.Variants.First())
+{
+    Debug.Assert(await model.SelectedVariant.IsCachedAsync());
+    Console.WriteLine("The model variant was selected due to being locally cached.");
+}
+
+
+// OPTIONAL: `model` can be used directly and `model.SelectedVariant` will be used as the default.
+//           You can explicitly select or use a specific ModelVariant if you want more control
+//           over the device and/or execution provider used.
+//           Model and ModelVariant can be used interchangeably in methods such as
+//           DownloadAsync, LoadAsync, UnloadAsync and GetChatClientAsync.
+//
+// Choices:
+//   - Use a ModelVariant directly from the catalog if you know the variant Id
+//     - `var modelVariant = await catalog.GetModelVariantAsync("qwen2.5-0.5b-instruct-generic-gpu:3")`
+//
+//   - Get the ModelVariant from Model.Variants
+//     - `var modelVariant = model.Variants.First(v => v.Id == "qwen2.5-0.5b-instruct-generic-cpu:4")`
+//     - `var modelVariant = model.Variants.First(v => v.Info.Runtime?.DeviceType == DeviceType.GPU)`
+//       - optional: update selected variant in `model` using `model.SelectVariant(modelVariant);` if you wish to use
+//                   `model` in your code.
+
+// For this example we explicitly select the CPU variant, and call SelectVariant so all the following example code
+// uses the `model` instance.
+Console.WriteLine("Selecting CPU variant of model");
+var modelVariant = model.Variants.First(v => v.Info.Runtime?.DeviceType == DeviceType.CPU);
+model.SelectVariant(modelVariant);
+
+
 // Download the model (the method skips download if already cached)
 await model.DownloadAsync(progress =>
 {

samples/cs/GettingStarted/src/Shared/Utils.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+using System.Text;
+
+internal static class Utils
+{
+    private static readonly ILoggerFactory _loggerFactory;
+
+    static Utils()
+    {
+        _loggerFactory = Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.LoggerFactory.Create(builder =>
+        {
+            builder.SetMinimumLevel(Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.LogLevel.Information);
+        });
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Get a dummy application logger.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <returns>ILogger</returns>
+    internal static ILogger GetAppLogger()
+    {
+        return _loggerFactory.CreateLogger("FoundryLocalSamples");
+    }
+
+    internal static async Task RunWithSpinner<T>(string msg, T workTask) where T : Task
+    {
+        // Start the spinner
+        using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
+        var spinnerTask = ShowSpinner(msg, cts.Token);
+
+        await workTask;     // wait for the real work to finish
+        cts.Cancel();       // stop the spinner
+        await spinnerTask;  // wait for spinner to exit
+    }
+
+    private static async Task ShowSpinner(string msg, CancellationToken token)
+    {
+        Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
+
+        var sequence = new[] { '◴','◷','◶','◵' };
+
+        int counter = 0;
+
+        while (!token.IsCancellationRequested)
+        {
+            Console.Write($"{msg}\t{sequence[counter % sequence.Length]}");
+            Console.SetCursorPosition(0, Console.CursorTop);
+            counter++;
+            await Task.Delay(200, token).ContinueWith(_ => { });
+        }
+
+        Console.WriteLine($"\nDone.\n");
+    }
+}

samples/cs/GettingStarted/windows/AudioTranscriptionExample/AudioTranscriptionExample.csproj

@@ -5,13 +5,14 @@
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
     <!-- For Windows use the following -->
-    <TargetFramework>net8.0-windows10.0.26100</TargetFramework>
+    <TargetFramework>net9.0-windows10.0.26100</TargetFramework>
     <WindowsAppSDKSelfContained>true</WindowsAppSDKSelfContained>
     <Platforms>ARM64;x64</Platforms>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Compile Include="../../src/AudioTranscriptionExample/Program.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/AudioTranscriptionExample/*.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/Shared/*.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <!-- Use WinML package for local Foundry SDK on Windows -->

samples/cs/GettingStarted/windows/FoundryLocalWebServer/FoundryLocalWebServer.csproj

@@ -5,13 +5,14 @@
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
     <!-- For Windows use the following -->
-    <TargetFramework>net8.0-windows10.0.26100</TargetFramework>
+    <TargetFramework>net9.0-windows10.0.26100</TargetFramework>
     <WindowsAppSDKSelfContained>true</WindowsAppSDKSelfContained>
     <Platforms>x64;ARM64</Platforms>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Compile Include="../../src/FoundryLocalWebServer/Program.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/FoundryLocalWebServer/*.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="../../src/Shared/*.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <!-- Use WinML package for local Foundry SDK on Windows -->