@inquirer/checkbox

Simple interactive command line prompt to display a list of checkboxes (multi select).

Installation

npm install @inquirer/prompts

yarn add @inquirer/prompts

npm install @inquirer/checkbox

yarn add @inquirer/checkbox

Usage

import { checkbox, Separator } from '@inquirer/prompts';
// Or
// import checkbox, { Separator } from '@inquirer/checkbox';

const answer = await checkbox({
  message: 'Select a package manager',
  choices: [
    { name: 'npm', value: 'npm' },
    { name: 'yarn', value: 'yarn' },
    new Separator(),
    { name: 'pnpm', value: 'pnpm', disabled: true },
    {
      name: 'pnpm',
      value: 'pnpm',
      disabled: '(pnpm is not available)',
    },
  ],
});

Options

| Property | Type | Required | Description | | --------- | --------------------------------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | message | string | yes | The question to ask | | choices | Choice[] | yes | List of the available choices. | | pageSize | number | no | By default, lists of choice longer than 7 will be paginated. Use this option to control how many choices will appear on the screen at once. | | loop | boolean | no | Defaults to true. When set to false, the cursor will be constrained to the top and bottom of the choice list without looping. | | required | boolean | no | When set to true, ensures at least one choice must be selected. | | validate | async (Choice[]) => boolean \| string | no | On submit, validate the choices. When returning a string, it'll be used as the error message displayed to the user. Note: returning a rejected promise, we'll assume a code error happened and crash. | | shortcuts | See Shortcuts | no | Customize shortcut keys for all and invert. | | theme | See Theming | no | Customize look of the prompt. |

Separator objects can be used in the choices array to render non-selectable lines in the choice list. By default it'll render a line, but you can provide the text as argument (new Separator('-- Dependencies --')). This option is often used to add labels to groups within long list of options.

Choice object

The Choice object is typed as

type Choice<Value> = {
  value: Value;
  name?: string;
  checkedName?: string;
  description?: string;
  short?: string;
  checked?: boolean;
  disabled?: boolean | string;
};

Here's each property:

• value: The value is what will be returned by await checkbox().
• name: This is the string displayed in the choice list.
• checkedName: Alternative name (or format) displayed when the choice is checked.
• description: Option for a longer description string that'll appear under the list when the cursor highlight a given choice.
• short: Once the prompt is done (press enter), we'll use short if defined to render next to the question. By default we'll use name.
• checked: If true, the option will be checked by default.
• disabled: Disallow the option from being selected. If disabled is a string, it'll be used as a help tip explaining why the choice isn't available.

Also note the choices array can contain Separators to help organize long lists.

choices can also be an array of string, in which case the string will be used both as the value and the name.

Shortcuts

You can customize the shortcut keys for all and invert or disable them by setting them to null.

type Shortcuts = {
  all?: string | null; // default: 'a'
  invert?: string | null; // default: 'i'
};

Theming

You can theme a prompt by passing a theme object option. The theme object only need to includes the keys you wish to modify, we'll fallback on the defaults for the rest.

type Theme = {
  prefix: string | { idle: string; done: string };
  spinner: {
    interval: number;
    frames: string[];
  };
  style: {
    answer: (text: string) => string;
    message: (text: string, status: 'idle' | 'done' | 'loading') => string;
    error: (text: string) => string;
    defaultAnswer: (text: string) => string;
    help: (text: string) => string;
    highlight: (text: string) => string;
    key: (text: string) => string;
    disabledChoice: (text: string) => string;
    description: (text: string) => string;
    renderSelectedChoices: <T>(
      selectedChoices: ReadonlyArray<Choice<T>>,
      allChoices: ReadonlyArray<Choice<T> | Separator>,
    ) => string;
    keysHelpTip: (keys: [key: string, action: string][]) => string | undefined;
  };
  icon: {
    checked: string;
    unchecked: string;
    cursor: string;
  };
};

theme.style.keysHelpTip

This function allows you to customize the keyboard shortcuts help tip displayed below the prompt. It receives an array of key-action pairs and should return a formatted string. You can also hook here to localize the labels to different languages.

It can also returns undefined to hide the help tip entirely.

theme: {
  style: {
    keysHelpTip: (keys) => {
      // Return undefined to hide the help tip completely
      return undefined;

      // Or customize the formatting. Or localize the labels.
      return keys.map(([key, action]) => `${key}: ${action}`).join(' | ');
    };
  }
}

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Simon Boudrias (twitter: @vaxilart) Licensed under the MIT license.