/avalonia-viewmodels-zafiro

name: avalonia-viewmodels-zafiro
description: "Optimal ViewModel and Wizard creation patterns for Avalonia using Zafiro and ReactiveUI."
risk: none
source: community
date_added: "2026-02-27"

Avalonia ViewModels with Zafiro

This skill provides a set of best practices and patterns for creating ViewModels, Wizards, and managing navigation in Avalonia applications, leveraging the power of **ReactiveUI** and the **Zafiro** toolkit.

Core Principles

1. **Functional-Reactive Approach**: Use ReactiveUI (`ReactiveObject`, `WhenAnyValue`, etc.) to handle state and logic. 2. **Enhanced Commands**: Utilize `IEnhancedCommand` for better command management, including progress reporting and name/text attributes. 3. **Wizard Pattern**: Implement complex flows using `SlimWizard` and `WizardBuilder` for a declarative and maintainable approach. 4. **Automatic Section Discovery**: Use the `[Section]` attribute to register and discover UI sections automatically. 5. **Clean Composition**: map ViewModels to Views using `DataTypeViewLocator` and manage dependencies in the `CompositionRoot`.

Guides

• [ViewModels & Commands](viewmodels.md): Creating robust ViewModels and handling commands.
• [Wizards & Flows](wizards.md): Building multi-step wizards with `SlimWizard`.
• [Navigation & Sections](navigation_sections.md): Managing navigation and section-based UIs.
• [Composition & Mapping](composition.md): Best practices for View-ViewModel wiring and DI.

Example Reference

For real-world implementations, refer to the **Angor** project:

• `CreateProjectFlowV2.cs`: Excellent example of complex Wizard building.
• `HomeViewModel.cs`: Simple section ViewModel using functional-reactive commands.

When to Use

This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.