A collection of common interactive command line user interfaces.
[!IMPORTANT] This is the legacy version of Inquirer.js. While it still receives maintenance, it is not actively developed. For the new Inquirer, see @inquirer/prompts.
Inquirer.js
strives to be an easily embeddable and beautiful command line interface for Node.js (and perhaps the "CLI Xanadu").
Inquirer.js
should ease the process of
- providing error feedback
- asking questions
- parsing input
- validating answers
- managing hierarchical prompts
Note:
Inquirer.js
provides the user interface and the inquiry session flow. If you're searching for a full blown command line program utility, then check out commander, vorpal or args.
npm | yarn |
---|---|
npm install inquirer |
yarn add inquirer |
import inquirer from 'inquirer';
inquirer
.prompt([
/* Pass your questions in here */
])
.then((answers) => {
// Use user feedback for... whatever!!
})
.catch((error) => {
if (error.isTtyError) {
// Prompt couldn't be rendered in the current environment
} else {
// Something else went wrong
}
});
Check out the packages/inquirer/examples/
folder for code and interface examples.
yarn node packages/inquirer/examples/pizza.js
yarn node packages/inquirer/examples/checkbox.js
# etc...
[!WARNING] Those interfaces are not necessary for modern Javascript, while still maintained, they're depreciated. We highly encourage you to adopt the more ergonomic and modern API with @inquirer/prompts. Both
inquirer
and@inquirer/prompts
are usable at the same time, so you can progressively migrate.
Launch the prompt interface (inquiry session)
-
questions (Array) containing Question Object (using the reactive interface, you can also pass a
Rx.Observable
instance) -
answers (object) contains values of already answered questions. Inquirer will avoid asking answers already provided here. Defaults
{}
. - returns a Promise
Register prompt plugins under name
.
-
name (string) name of the this new prompt. (used for question
type
) - prompt (object) the prompt object itself (the plugin)
Create a self contained inquirer module. If you don't want to affect other libraries that also rely on inquirer when you overwrite or add new prompt types.
const prompt = inquirer.createPromptModule();
prompt(questions).then(/* ... */);
A question object is a hash
containing question related values:
-
type: (String) Type of the prompt. Defaults:
input
- Possible values:input
,number
,confirm
,list
,rawlist
,expand
,checkbox
,password
,editor
- name: (String) The name to use when storing the answer in the answers hash. If the name contains periods, it will define a path in the answers hash.
-
message: (String|Function) The question to print. If defined as a function, the first parameter will be the current inquirer session answers. Defaults to the value of
name
(followed by a colon). - default: (String|Number|Boolean|Array|Function) Default value(s) to use if nothing is entered, or a function that returns the default value(s). If defined as a function, the first parameter will be the current inquirer session answers.
-
choices: (Array|Function) Choices array or a function returning a choices array. If defined as a function, the first parameter will be the current inquirer session answers.
Array values can be simple
numbers
,strings
, orobjects
containing aname
(to display in list), avalue
(to save in the answers hash), and ashort
(to display after selection) properties. The choices array can also contain aSeparator
. -
validate: (Function) Receive the user input and answers hash. Should return
true
if the value is valid, and an error message (String
) otherwise. Iffalse
is returned, a default error message is provided. - filter: (Function) Receive the user input and answers hash. Returns the filtered value to be used inside the program. The value returned will be added to the Answers hash.
- transformer: (Function) Receive the user input, answers hash and option flags, and return a transformed value to display to the user. The transformation only impacts what is shown while editing. It does not modify the answers hash.
-
when: (Function, Boolean) Receive the current user answers hash and should return
true
orfalse
depending on whether or not this question should be asked. The value can also be a simple boolean. -
pageSize: (Number) Change the number of lines that will be rendered when using
list
,rawList
,expand
orcheckbox
. - prefix: (String) Change the default prefix message.
- suffix: (String) Change the default suffix message.
- askAnswered: (Boolean) Force to prompt the question if the answer already exists.
-
loop: (Boolean) Enable list looping. Defaults:
true
-
waitUserInput: (Boolean) Flag to enable/disable wait for user input before opening system editor - Defaults:
true
default
, choices
(if defined as functions), validate
, filter
and when
functions can be called asynchronously. Either return a promise or use this.async()
to get a callback you'll call with the final value.
{
/* Preferred way: with promise */
filter() {
return new Promise(/* etc... */);
},
/* Legacy way: with this.async */
validate: function (input) {
// Declare function as asynchronous, and save the done callback
const done = this.async();
// Do async stuff
setTimeout(function() {
if (typeof input !== 'number') {
// Pass the return value in the done callback
done('You need to provide a number');
} else {
// Pass the return value in the done callback
done(null, true);
}
}, 3000);
}
}
A key/value hash containing the client answers in each prompt.
-
Key The
name
property of the question object -
Value (Depends on the prompt)
-
confirm
: (Boolean) -
input
: User input (filtered iffilter
is defined) (String) -
number
: User input (filtered iffilter
is defined) (Number) -
rawlist
,list
: Selected choice value (or name if no value specified) (String)
-
A separator can be added to any choices
array:
// In the question object
choices: [ "Choice A", new inquirer.Separator(), "choice B" ]
// Which'll be displayed this way
[?] What do you want to do?
> Order a pizza
Make a reservation
--------
Ask opening hours
Talk to the receptionist
The constructor takes a facultative String
value that'll be use as the separator. If omitted, the separator will be --------
.
Separator instances have a property type
equal to separator
. This should allow tools façading Inquirer interface from detecting separator types in lists.
Note:: allowed options written inside square brackets (
[]
) are optional. Others are required.
Take type
, name
, message
, choices
[, default
, filter
, loop
] properties.
(Note: default
must be set to the index
or value
of one of the entries in choices
)
Take type
, name
, message
, choices
[, default
, filter
, loop
] properties.
(Note: default
must be set to the index
of one of the entries in choices
)
Take type
, name
, message
, choices
[, default
] properties.
Note: default
must be the index
of the desired default selection of the array. If default
key not provided, then help
will be used as default choice
Note that the choices
object will take an extra parameter called key
for the expand
prompt. This parameter must be a single (lowercased) character. The h
option is added by the prompt and shouldn't be defined by the user.
See examples/expand.js
for a running example.
Take type
, name
, message
, choices
[, filter
, validate
, default
, loop
] properties. default
is expected to be an Array of the checked choices value.
Choices marked as {checked: true}
will be checked by default.
Choices whose property disabled
is truthy will be unselectable. If disabled
is a string, then the string will be outputted next to the disabled choice, otherwise it'll default to "Disabled"
. The disabled
property can also be a synchronous function receiving the current answers as argument and returning a boolean or a string.
Take type
, name
, message
, [default
, transformer
] properties. default
is expected to be a boolean if used.
Take type
, name
, message
[, default
, filter
, validate
, transformer
] properties.
Take type
, name
, message
[, default
, filter
, validate
, transformer
] properties.
Take type
, name
, message
, mask
,[, default
, filter
, validate
] properties.
Note that mask
is required to hide the actual user input.
Take type
, name
, message
[, default
, filter
, validate
, postfix
, waitUserInput
] properties
Launches an instance of the users preferred editor on a temporary file. Once the user exits their editor, the contents of the temporary file are read in as the result. The editor to use is determined by reading the $VISUAL or $EDITOR environment variables. If neither of those are present, notepad (on Windows) or vim (Linux or Mac) is used.
The postfix
property is useful if you want to provide an extension.
prompt()
requires that it is run in an interactive environment. (I.e. One where process.stdin.isTTY
is true
). If prompt()
is invoked outside of such an environment, then prompt()
will return a rejected promise with an error. For convenience, the error will have a isTtyError
property to programmatically indicate the cause.
Internally, Inquirer uses the JS reactive extension to handle events and async flows.
This mean you can take advantage of this feature to provide more advanced flows. For example, you can dynamically add questions to be asked:
const prompts = new Rx.Subject();
inquirer.prompt(prompts);
// At some point in the future, push new questions
prompts.next({
/* question... */
});
prompts.next({
/* question... */
});
// When you're done
prompts.complete();
And using the return value process
property, you can access more fine grained callbacks:
inquirer.prompt(prompts).ui.process.subscribe(onEachAnswer, onError, onComplete);
You should expect mostly good support for the CLI below. This does not mean we won't look at issues found on other command line - feel free to report any!
-
Mac OS:
- Terminal.app
- iTerm
-
Windows (Known issues):
- Windows Terminal
- ConEmu
- cmd.exe
- Powershell
- Cygwin
-
Linux (Ubuntu, openSUSE, Arch Linux, etc):
- gnome-terminal (Terminal GNOME)
- konsole
-
nodemon - Makes the arrow keys print gibrish on list prompts. Workaround: Add
{ stdin : false }
in the configuration file or pass--no-stdin
in the CLI. Please refer to this issue -
grunt-exec - Calling a node script that uses Inquirer from grunt-exec can cause the program to crash. To fix this, add to your grunt-exec config
stdio: 'inherit'
. Please refer to this issue -
Windows network streams - Running Inquirer together with network streams in Windows platform inside some terminals can result in process hang. Workaround: run inside another terminal. Please refer to this issue
Please refer to the GitHub releases section for the changelog
Unit test
Please add a unit test for every new feature or bug fix. yarn test
to run the test suite.
Documentation Add documentation for every API change. Feel free to send typo fixes and better docs!
We're looking to offer good support for multiple prompts and environments. If you want to help, we'd like to keep a list of testers for each terminal/OS so we can contact you and get feedback before release. Let us know if you want to be added to the list (just tweet to @vaxilart) or just add your name to the wiki
Copyright (c) 2023 Simon Boudrias (twitter: @vaxilart)
Licensed under the MIT license.
You can build custom prompts, or use open sourced ones. See @inquirer/core
documentation for building custom prompts.
You can either call the custom prompts directly (preferred), or you can register them (depreciated):
import customPrompt from '$$$/custom-prompt';
// 1. Preferred solution with new plugins
const answer = await customPrompt({ ...config });
// 2. Depreciated interface (or for old plugins)
inquirer.registerPrompt('custom', customPrompt);
const answers = await inquirer.prompt([
{
type: 'custom',
...config,
},
]);
When using Typescript and registerPrompt
, you'll also need to define your prompt signature. Since Typescript is static, we cannot infer available plugins from function calls.
import customPrompt from '$$$/custom-prompt';
declare module 'inquirer' {
interface QuestionMap {
// 1. Easiest option
custom: Parameters<typeof customPrompt>[0];
// 2. Or manually define the prompt config
custom_alt: { message: string; option: number[] };
}
}
autocomplete
Presents a list of options as the user types, compatible with other packages such as fuzzy (for search)
checkbox-plus
Checkbox list with autocomplete and other additions
inquirer-date-prompt
Customizable date/time selector with localization support
datetime
Customizable date/time selector using both number pad and arrow keys
inquirer-select-line
Prompt for selecting index in array where add new element
command
Simple prompt with command history and dynamic autocomplete
inquirer-fuzzy-path
Prompt for fuzzy file/directory selection.
inquirer-emoji
Prompt for inputting emojis.
inquirer-chalk-pipe
Prompt for input chalk-pipe style strings
inquirer-search-checkbox
Searchable Inquirer checkbox
inquirer-search-list
Searchable Inquirer list
inquirer-prompt-suggest
Inquirer prompt for your less creative users.
inquirer-s3
An S3 object selector for Inquirer.
inquirer-autosubmit-prompt
Auto submit based on your current input, saving one extra enter
inquirer-file-tree-selection-prompt
Inquirer prompt for to select a file or directory in file tree
inquirer-tree-prompt
Inquirer prompt to select from a tree
inquirer-table-prompt
A table-like prompt for Inquirer.
inquirer-table-input
A table editing prompt for Inquirer.
inquirer-interrupted-prompt
Turning any existing inquirer and its plugin prompts into prompts that can be interrupted with a custom key.
inquirer-press-to-continue
A "press any key to continue" prompt for Inquirer.js