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https://github.com/sboudrias/inquirer.jsA collection of lightweight, performant, and easy-to-use interactive command-line user interface prompts for Node.js applications. It includes a variety of prompt types such as checkbox, confirm, and editor, as well as a core library (@inquirer/core) for building custom prompts using a hook-based rendering paradigm (useState, useKeypress, useEffect, useMemo) and a theming system for visual customization.
Inquirer.js is a collection of common interactive command line user interfaces for Node.js. It is designed to ease the process of:
Note: Inquirer.js provides the user interface and the inquiry session flow. It is not a full-blown command line program utility (for those needs, consider commander, vorpal, or args).
The @inquirer/prompts package provides several interactive prompt types. Each has its own specific configuration options and behavior:
input: Standard text input.select: A list of options where the user selects one.checkbox: A list of options where the user can select multiple items.confirm: A boolean (yes/no) confirmation prompt.search: An input prompt with search/filtering capabilities.password: A text input that masks characters.expand: A prompt that offers multiple choices via single-character keys.editor: Launches the user's preferred editor (via $VISUAL or $EDITOR) to edit content in a temporary file.number: Similar to input but includes built-in number validation.rawlist: A list prompt (specific implementation details available in its own documentation).Beyond the core packages, there is a variety of community-maintained prompts for specialized UI needs:
ctrl+up/down.Validation in the search prompt drives the autocomplete behavior:
validate, the prompt compares the value to the current search term.tab also triggers term autocomplete.This pattern allows for progressive autocomplete searches where users can narrow down results by selecting items.
The createPrompt() function is the entry point for building prompts. It accepts a rendering function that runs every time the prompt state changes. The rendering function must return either a single string or a tuple of two strings [prompt, content].
To finish the prompt and return a value to the caller, you must invoke the done(answer) callback.
import { createPrompt } from '@inquirer/core';
const input = createPrompt((config, done) => {
// Logic goes here
return '? My question';
});
const answer = await input({/* config */});A question object is a hash containing configuration for a specific prompt. Key properties include:
input. Possible values: input, number, confirm, list, rawlist, expand, checkbox, password, editor.{ name, value, short }.true if valid, or a String error message if invalid.answers object.true.true.Note on Asynchronicity: default, choices, validate, filter, and when can be asynchronous. You can return a Promise or use the legacy this.async() method.
{
/* 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 {
done(null, true);
}
}, 3000);
}
}The core design of @inquirer/external-editor is synchronous. This ensures the editor has complete control over stdin and stdout, preventing conflicts with other packages (like readline) that might attempt to use the same streams in an interactive CLI environment.
If you must use asynchronous patterns, use editAsync() or runAsync(). Warning: If you use async methods while other listeners are active on stdin, stdout, or stderr, you may encounter issues. Ensure you remove any other listeners on these streams before proceeding.
The CLI automatically discovers workspaces using:
workspaces field in package.json.pnpm-workspace.yaml files.Behavioral Notes:
package.json is treated as a single-package project.You can enable alternative navigation keybindings (Vim or Emacs) in two ways:
INQUIRER_KEYBINDINGS environment variable to vim, emacs, or vim,emacs.keybindings in the theme object of the prompt configuration.Inquirer supports dynamic question flows by accepting an RxJS-compatible Observable. You can push new questions into the stream over time.
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();You can also access fine-grained callbacks via the ui.process property on the returned object:
inquirer.prompt(prompts).ui.process.subscribe(onEachAnswer, onError, onComplete);You can enable alternative navigation keybindings (Vim or Emacs) globally by setting the INQUIRER_KEYBINDINGS environment variable:
INQUIRER_KEYBINDINGS=vimINQUIRER_KEYBINDINGS=emacsINQUIRER_KEYBINDINGS=vim,emacsTo override the global setting for a specific prompt, use the theme.keybindings option within the prompt configuration.
You can enable alternative navigation keybindings globally by setting the INQUIRER_KEYBINDINGS environment variable to vim, emacs, or vim,emacs.
Note: When Vim keybindings are enabled, type-to-search is disabled to prevent navigation keys from being interpreted as search input. You can override this per-prompt using theme.keybindings in the theme object.