Windows Builder

Handles the tedious parts of building Windows images with Packer: WinRM setup, PowerShell provisioners, and platform-specific configuration for AWS, Azure, and VMware. Includes working examples for installing software via Chocolatey, running Windows Updates, and cleaning up temp files before image capture. The big warning is worth noting: these builds take 45 to 120 minutes and cost real money, mostly because Windows Updates are slow. Good to have if you're maintaining golden images across environments, since the WinRM configuration alone can be finicky to get right.

skills.sh installs: 2.8K
GitHub stars: 924
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add hashicorp/agent-skills --skill windows-builder --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Windows Builder

Platform-agnostic patterns for building Windows images with Packer.

Reference: WinRM Communicator

Note: Windows builds incur significant costs and time. Expect 45-120 minutes per build due to Windows Updates. Failed builds may leave resources running - always verify cleanup.

WinRM Communicator Setup

Windows requires WinRM for Packer communication.

AWS Example

source "amazon-ebs" "windows" {
  region        = "us-west-2"
  instance_type = "t3.medium"

  source_ami_filter {
    filters = {
      name = "Windows_Server-2022-English-Full-Base-*"
    }
    most_recent = true
    owners      = ["amazon"]
  }

  ami_name = "windows-server-2022-${local.timestamp}"

  communicator   = "winrm"
  winrm_username = "Administrator"
  winrm_use_ssl  = true
  winrm_insecure = true
  winrm_timeout  = "15m"

  user_data_file = "scripts/setup-winrm.ps1"
}