Tutorial 4: Asking Questions

Collect user input to customize the generated project. Questions make templates interactive and reusable.

The IInquirer Interface

The i parameter provides methods to ask different question types:

StartTemplateWithLambda(async (i, d) => {
  // i is the IInquirer interface
  const name = await i.text('Project name?', 'project.name', 'Enter name');
  // ...
});

def template(i: Inquirer, d: DirectoryTree) -> dict:
    # i is the Inquirer interface
    name = i.text('Project name?', 'project.name', 'Enter name')
    # ...

StartTemplate.WithLambda(async (i, d) => {
    // i is the IInquirer interface
    var name = await i.Text("Project name?", "project.name", "Enter name");
    // ...
});

Adding Questions

Combine multiple question types for a rich setup experience:

import { StartTemplateWithLambda, GlobType } from '@atomicloud/cyan-sdk';

StartTemplateWithLambda(async (i, d) => {
  // Text input
  const name = await i.text('Project name?', 'my-template.name', 'Enter project name');

  // Boolean confirmation
  const docker = await i.confirm('Add Docker?', 'my-template.docker', 'Include Dockerfile');

  // Multi-select
  const features = await i.checkbox(
    'Features?',
    ['TypeScript', 'ESLint', 'Prettier', 'Testing'],
    'my-template.features',
    'Select features'
  );

  return {
    processors: [{
      name: 'cyan/default',
      files: [{ root: 'templates', glob: '**/*', exclude: [], type: GlobType.Template }],
      config: {
        vars: {
          name,
          docker: docker ? 'yes' : 'no',
          features: features.join(', ')
        }
      }
    }]
  };
});

from cyan import Inquirer, DirectoryTree
from cyan import GlobType

def template(i: Inquirer, d: DirectoryTree) -> dict:
    # Text input
    name = i.text('Project name?', 'my-template.name', 'Enter project name')

    # Boolean confirmation
    docker = i.confirm('Add Docker?', 'my-template.docker', 'Include Dockerfile')

    # Multi-select
    features = i.checkbox(
        'Features?',
        ['TypeScript', 'ESLint', 'Prettier', 'Testing'],
        'my-template.features',
        'Select features'
    )

    return {
        'processors': [{
            'name': 'cyan/default',
            'files': [{'root': 'templates', 'glob': '**/*', 'exclude': [], 'type': GlobType.Template}],
            'config': {
                'vars': {
                    'name': name,
                    'docker': 'yes' if docker else 'no',
                    'features': ', '.join(features)
                }
            }
        }]
    }

using Atomiq.Cloud.Cyan;

StartTemplate.WithLambda(async (i, d) => {
    // Text input
    var name = await i.Text("Project name?", "my-template.name", "Enter project name");

    // Boolean confirmation
    var docker = await i.Confirm("Add Docker?", "my-template.docker", "Include Dockerfile");

    // Multi-select
    var features = await i.Checkbox(
        "Features?",
        new[] { "TypeScript", "ESLint", "Prettier", "Testing" },
        "my-template.features",
        "Select features"
    );

    return new {
        processors = new[] {
            new {
                name = "cyan/default",
                files = new[] {
                    new { root = "templates", glob = "**/*", exclude = Array.Empty<string>(), type = GlobType.Template }
                },
                config = new {
                    vars = new {
                        name,
                        docker = docker ? "yes" : "no",
                        features = string.Join(", ", features)
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    };
});

Question Types

Method	Returns	Example Use
`text()`	`string`	Project name, author
`select()`	`string`	License, framework choice
`confirm()`	`boolean`	Yes/no decisions
`checkbox()`	`string[]`	Feature selection
`password()`	`string`	Secrets, API keys
`dateSelect()`	`string`	Dates, deadlines

Method	Returns	Example Use
`text()`	`str`	Project name, author
`select()`	`str`	License, framework choice
`confirm()`	`bool`	Yes/no decisions
`checkbox()`	`list[str]`	Feature selection
`password()`	`str`	Secrets, API keys
`date_select()`	`str`	Dates, deadlines

Method	Returns	Example Use
`Text()`	`string`	Project name, author
`Select()`	`string`	License, framework choice
`Confirm()`	`bool`	Yes/no decisions
`Checkbox()`	`string[]`	Feature selection
`Password()`	`string`	Secrets, API keys
`DateSelect()`	`string`	Dates, deadlines

For detailed usage of each question type, see the How-to guides:

Ask Text Questions

Ask Select Questions

Ask Confirm Questions

Ask Checkbox Questions

Ask Password Questions

Ask Date Questions

Question IDs (Keys)

The second argument is the question ID (also called a key). Keys enable answer reuse:

// Both questions get the same answer!
const name1 = await i.text('Project name?', 'name', '...');
const name2 = await i.text('Confirm name?', 'name', '...');
// name1 === name2 (same key = same answer)

# Both questions get the same answer!
name1 = i.text('Project name?', 'name', '...')
name2 = i.text('Confirm name?', 'name', '...')
# name1 == name2 (same key = same answer)

// Both questions get the same answer!
var name1 = await i.Text("Project name?", "name", "...");
var name2 = await i.Text("Confirm name?", "name", "...");
// name1 == name2 (same key = same answer)

Namespacing Your Keys

Always namespace your keys to prevent collisions when templates are composed.

// Good: namespaced keys
const name = await i.text('Project name?', 'my-template.project.name', '...');

// Bad: generic keys that might collide
const name = await i.text('Project name?', 'name', '...');

# Good: namespaced keys
name = i.text('Project name?', 'my-template.project.name', '...')

# Bad: generic keys that might collide
name = i.text('Project name?', 'name', '...')

// Good: namespaced keys
var name = await i.Text("Project name?", "my-template.project.name", "...");

// Bad: generic keys that might collide
var name = await i.Text("Project name?", "name", "...");

For a detailed explanation of how question namespacing works and why it matters, see the Question Namespacing concept guide.

Using Answers in Templates

Pass collected answers to processor config:

config: {
  vars: {
    name,                          // Project name
    docker: docker ? 'yes' : 'no', // Conditional value
    features: features.join(', ')  // Array to string
  }
}

'config': {
    'vars': {
        'name': name,
        'docker': 'yes' if docker else 'no',
        'features': ', '.join(features)
    }
}

config = new {
    vars = new {
        name,
        docker = docker ? "yes" : "no",
        features = string.Join(", ", features)
    }
}

Use in template files:

# var__name__

## Docker Support

This project includes Docker: **var__docker__**

## Features

This project includes: var__features__

What You Learned

How to use basic question types: text, confirm, checkbox
What question IDs are and how they enable answer reuse
Why namespacing keys is important
How to use answers in template files

Next Steps

Now you understand the basics of template development. Explore specific patterns in the How-to Guides:

How-to Guides

Specific task guides

Full Example

Complete template with all features

IInquirer Reference

Complete API documentation

Tutorial 4 - Asking Questions