Fix WinUI tray menu crash with invisible anchor window pattern#4
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Fix WinUI tray menu crash with invisible anchor window pattern#4
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Co-authored-by: shanselman <2892+shanselman@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: shanselman <2892+shanselman@users.noreply.github.com>
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[WIP] Fix intermittent crash in WinUI tray menu
Fix WinUI tray menu crash with invisible anchor window pattern
Jan 30, 2026
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Propagate CancellationToken through WebSocket TTS call chain
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WinUI 3's
MenuFlyout.ShowAt()requires a UIElement with visual tree context. TrayIcon doesn't provide this, causing native crashes inMicrosoft.UI.Windowing.Core.dll(exception0xe0464645) after idle periods or window interactions.Changes
New TrayMenuAnchorWindow
App._trayMenuAnchorprevents premature GCModified tray handlers
Technical Context
This pattern is documented in WinUIEx and Microsoft WinUI repos as the workaround for unpackaged apps showing flyouts from system tray. Direct assignment (
e.Flyout = ...) works in simple cases but crashes under timing-sensitive conditions when the flyout lacks valid visual context.See
TRAY_MENU_CRASH_FIX.mdfor detailed analysis of alternatives considered (custom window popup, window reuse, native Win32 menus) and why this approach was selected.Original prompt
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