@clack/prompts

Build beautiful, minimal interactive CLI apps. Pre-styled, tree-shakeable, 80% smaller than alternatives.

Quick Start

npm install @clack/prompts

import { intro, outro, text, isCancel, cancel } from '@clack/prompts';

intro('create-my-app');

const name = await text({ message: 'Project name?' });
if (isCancel(name)) { cancel('Cancelled.'); process.exit(0); }

outro(`Done! Created ${name}.`);

Core Pattern — Always Guard Cancellation

Every prompt can return a cancel symbol (user pressed Ctrl+C). Always use isCancel():

const result = await text({ message: 'Name?' });
if (isCancel(result)) {
  cancel('Cancelled.');
  process.exit(0);
}

Choosing the Right Component

Common Patterns

Sequential Prompts with group()

Chain prompts where later ones depend on earlier answers:

import * as p from '@clack/prompts';

const result = await p.group(
  {
    name: () => p.text({ message: 'What is your name?' }),
    age: () => p.text({ message: 'What is your age?' }),
    color: ({ results }) =>
      p.multiselect({
        message: `What is your favorite color ${results.name}?`,
        options: [
          { value: 'red', label: 'Red' },
          { value: 'blue', label: 'Blue' },
        ],
      }),
  },
  {
    onCancel: ({ results }) => {
      p.cancel('Operation cancelled.');
      process.exit(0);
    },
  },
);

Task Runner with Spinners

Run sequential tasks, each with its own spinner:

import { tasks } from '@clack/prompts';

await tasks([
  {
    title: 'Installing via npm',
    task: async () => {
      // Return a string = success with checkmark
      return 'Installed via npm';
    },
  },
  {
    title: 'Running tests',
    task: async () => {
      throw new Error('Tests failed!');  // Error = red X
    },
  },
]);

Standalone Spinner

import { spinner } from '@clack/prompts';

const s = spinner();
s.start('Uploading...');
try { await upload(); s.stop('Uploaded!'); }
catch { s.stop('Upload failed'); }

Progress Bar

const p = progress({ max: 100 });
p.start('Downloading');
for (const chunk of chunks) { p.advance(1); }
p.stop('Done');

Live Sub-Process Output with taskLog

import { taskLog } from '@clack/prompts';

const log = taskLog({ title: 'npm install' });
for await (const line of npmInstall()) { log.message(line); }
log.success('Done!');   // Clears output on success
// log.error('Failed!'); // Keeps output visible on failure

Styled Logging (no user input)

import { log } from '@clack/prompts';
import color from 'picocolors';

log.info('Starting setup...');
log.success('Config written!');
log.step('Checking dependencies...');
log.warn('Optional peer dep missing');
log.error('Build failed');
log.message('Custom', { symbol: color.cyan('~') });

Streaming Logs

For LLM output or dynamic streams:

import { stream } from '@clack/prompts';

stream.info((function* () { yield 'Info!'; })());
stream.success((async function* () { yield 'Done!'; })());
stream.message(
  (function* () { yield 'Hello'; yield ', World'; })(),
  { symbol: color.cyan('~') }
);

Selection Options Shape

Used by select, autocomplete, selectKey, multiselect, groupMultiselect:

{ value: 'ts', label: 'TypeScript' }           // Basic
{ value: 'js', label: 'JavaScript', disabled: true }  // Disabled
{ value: 'coffee', label: 'CoffeeScript', hint: 'oh no' } // With hint

Validation

Most components accept a validate(value) that returns string (error message) or undefined (valid):

const name = await text({
  message: 'Username?',
  validate(value) {
    if (!value.length) return 'Username is required!';
    if (value.length < 3) return 'At least 3 characters.';
  },
});

Full API Reference

See references/api.md for every component's complete signature, options table, and examples.