inquirer-command-prompt

A simple, but powerful prompt with history management and autocomplete for Inquirer

Installation

npm install inquirer-command-prompt --save

Usage

inquirer.registerPrompt(
   'command',
   require('inquirer-command-prompt')
)

You can change the name command with whatever you like, the actual prompt is anonymous.

Example

  return inquirer.prompt([
      {
        type: 'command',
        name: 'cmd',
        message: '>',
        validate: val => {
          return val
              ? true
              : 'I you don\'t know the available commands, type help for help'
        },
        // optional
        autoCompletion: ['ls', 'echo', 'find', 'cat', 'help'],
        context: 0,
        short: false
      }
    ]).then(answers => {
      return Promise.resolve(answers.cmd)
    }).catch(err => {
      console.error(err.stack)
    })

Options

autoCompletion

It is optional. It can be an array or a function which returns an array accepting as a parameter the part of the command that's been already typed.

The first element of the array can be an options object. Right now, the only implemented option is filter. Suppose that you want to edit something and the available commands are

edit 12: Love is in the air
edit 36: Like a virgin

The titles of the songs are actually hints, and are not necessary for the command which is supposed to be only edit 12. So, you want that when the user presses TAB only edit 12 is rendered. To obtain this, you can pass the following command list:

[
  { filter: str => str.split(':')[0] },
  'edit 12: Love is in the air',
  'edit 36: Like a virgin'
]

For dynamic managements, the completion array can be returned by a function, for example:

  return inquirer.prompt([
      {
        type: 'command',
        name: 'cmd',
        message: '>',
        validate: val => true,
        // optional
        autoCompletion: line => {
          if (/(\.|\/|~)/.test(line)) return someFileAutoCompletion(line)
          else return ['ls', 'echo', 'find', 'cat', 'help']
        },
        context: 0,
        short: false
      }
    ]).then(answers => {
      return Promise.resolve(answers.cmd)
    }).catch(err => {
      console.error(err.stack)
    })

short

The short option is optional and by default it is set to false. If set to true it cuts the suggestion leaving only the part that has not been already typed. For example, if there are the following command available

['foo ba', 'foo bb']

and you have already typed foo it shows just ba and bb in the suggestions, instead of foo ba and foo bb

short separates by space. If you need to perform more complex operations, you can customize the short function. For example, if you are building a file completion, you may want to show only the basename, instead than the full path. In this case you could set:

  short: (line, matches) {
    return str.replace(/^.*\/([^/]+)$/, '$1')
  },

There is an example in examples/filecompletion.js.

context

The context is important for the history. If you program is handling a specific process you want to have an history of the commands available in that specific context. The contexts have to be increasing integers starting from 0.

Run the example in examples/autocompletion.js to see how the options work.

ellipsis

When the result of the autocomplete is returned, it is formatted in column. It is possible to add more options to customize the result:

ellipsized tells the prompt to ellipsize the suggestions if they are too long

ellipsis is a special character we like to use instead than the typical ellipsis.

maxSize is the max size of the column. It is applied only if ellipsized is true. However, if there is space enough, the formatting is optimized to use that space even if it is larger than maxSize.

onClose

It is a function that will be executed if the user presses Ctrl-c.

onBeforeKeyPress

Sometimes, you need to do something when a key is pressed. Whatever you put in this function will be executed before the standard onKeyPress function.

onBeforeRewrite

Sometimes, after an autocomplete, you must perform some change on the line to be rewritten. This function allow you to do that.

saved history

To save the history and start back from there, you can config a file for history.

You can also limit the number of commands you like to have in history (to avoid huge, unlimited histories).

const inquirer = require('inquirer')
const inquirerCommandPrompt = require('inquirer-command-prompt')
const path = require('path')

const historyFolder = path.join(homedir(), '.myApp')

inquirerCommandPrompt.setConfig({
  history: {
    save: true,
    folder: historyFolder,
    limit: 10,
    blacklist: ['exit']
  }
})

inquirer.registerPrompt('command', inquirerCommandPrompt)

If you want to save an encrypted history, you can do it setting like in the following example:

const inquirer = require('inquirer')
const inquirerCommandPrompt = require('inquirer-command-prompt')
const path = require('path')

const historyFolder = path.join(homedir(), '.myApp')

inquirerCommandPrompt.setConfig({
  history: {
    save: false,
    limit: 10,
    blacklist: ['exit']
  }
})

inquirer.registerPrompt('command', inquirerCommandPrompt)

and in your code do the initial setting loading the encrypted histories and passing them to the prompt with a command like:

let encryptedHistory = await fs.readFile(historyPath, 'utf8')
previousHistories = JSON.parse(decryptHistory(encryptedHistory))
inquirerCommandPrompt.setHistoryFromPreviousSavedHistories(previousHistories)

Instead, to save the encryptedHistories, you can do something like:

let histories = JSON.stringify(inquirerCommandPrompt.getHistories(true))
let encryptedHistory = encryptHistory(histories)
await fs.writeFile(historyPath, encryptedHistory)

Parameters:

save explicitly asks to save the history

folder is the folder where the history file will be saved

limit is the limit of the saved history. This is not applied to the history in memory.

blacklist is a list of commands that we don't want to put in the saved history. For example an exit.

onCtrlEnd is a function that is executed on the current line if pressing Ctrl-End. On Mac, you can obtain End pressing Fn-arrowRight. So, the entire combination becomes Ctrl-Fn-arrowRight.

noColorOnAnswered

I hate the change of color when a question is answered :-)
If you set this option, the color remains the default one.

colorOnAnswered

If you like to change of color when a question is answered, here you can choose the chalk color.

autocompletePrompt

By default, the message to show the available commands is >> Available commands:. You can change it with this option.

look at the history

To navigate the history, as usual, just type arrowUp and arrowDown.

From version 0.0.15, to see the entire history for the current context, you can type Shift-arrowRight.

From version 0.0.26, to get an line in the history, type the relative index and press Ctrl-Shift-arrowRight

History

0.1.0

• updating to InquirerJS 7

Credits

Francesco Sullo

License

MIT