npm / inquirer

inquirer

What changed in inquirer 12 to 14, from its official release notes, upgrade guides and advisories. Sources checked 2026-10-17.

9 breaking11 new APIs and options2 behavior and defaults2 tooling31 fixes and other

See which of these apply to your code, ranked, in your agent:

npx @unstale/cli init

inquirer 1419 changes

Inquirer now throws when it encounters a non-registered prompt instead of defaulting to an input prompt, making broken code easier to detect.
14.0.0release notes

Adds the toggleMask option to reveal password input with ctrl+t.
14.2.0release notes
The search prompt adds the initialValue option.
14.1.0release notes
The useState setter accepts a reducer function that receives the current value and returns the next value; this affects consumers building custom prompts with @inquirer/core.
14.1.0release notes
Set this environment variable to enable vim or emacs keybindings; doing so disables the search feature in the select prompt.
14.0.0release notes

Prompt and theme types are prettified for better IDE display.
14.2.0release notes

Fixed confirm prompts so they always accept y/n.
14.2.3release notes
Fixed whitespace handling in expand prompts.
14.2.3release notes
Fixed whitespace handling in rawlist prompts.
14.2.3release notes
Fixed stale-choice submission in search prompts.
14.2.3release notes
confirm trims surrounding whitespace from answers before matching yes/no keywords.
14.2.2release notes
Keystrokes batched with the key that settles a prompt no longer reach keypress handlers after the prompt is done, cancelled, or aborted.
14.2.2release notes
Published manifests pin @inquirer/type to an exact version, preventing semver-range changes to leaked type definitions from breaking downstream TypeScript builds.
14.2.1release notes
Confirm prompts parse localized yes/no responses.
14.2.0release notes
The confirm prompt handles an explicitly undefined default.
14.1.0release notes
The editor prompt handles an explicitly undefined default.
14.1.0release notes
The number prompt handles an explicitly undefined default.
14.1.0release notes
Floating-point step handling is fixed for the number prompt.
14.1.0release notes
Fixes cursor mispositioning relative to the input when lines wrap.
14.0.0release notes

Checked and disabled elements are always included in the returned array.
13.3.0release notes
TypeScript disallows type: 'list' unless a plugin is installed under that name; use select instead.
13.2.2release notes
The cancel() method on prompt return custom Promises is removed; use an AbortSignal instead.
13.0.0release notes
All packages are ESM-only; CommonJS imports are no longer supported.
13.0.0release notes
The helpMode theme property is removed; use theme.style.keysHelpTip instead.
13.0.0release notes
The instructions config property is removed; use theme.style.keysHelpTip instead.
13.0.0release notes
The list prompt alias is removed from the inquirer package; use select instead.
13.0.0release notes
Node.js 20 or later is required; versions below 20 are no longer supported.
13.0.0release notes

A new package is available for internationalization.
13.3.0release notes
New theme options make all prompts content localizable.
13.3.0release notes
Choices can have descriptions, displayed under the list when a choice is highlighted.
13.2.0release notes
The search prompt supports default, allowing developers to specify a default value.
13.2.0release notes
rawlist now supports the default option.
13.1.0release notes

A loading message is shown while editor prompt input is being validated.
13.4.0release notes
Type inference is improved for checkbox, search and expand prompts.
13.4.0release notes

Adds end-to-end testing support for CLI applications.
13.2.4release notes release notes

Preserves exact literal types in the choices array for TypeScript.
13.4.3release notes
Allows an input default value to be undefined in TypeScript.
13.4.3release notes
Fixes a rendering bug on Windows.
13.4.3release notes
Fixes some Windows terminals freezing and not reacting to keypresses.
13.4.2release notes
Improves type inference for expand prompts.
13.4.1release notes
The editor prompt now properly handles editor paths on Windows.
13.4.0release notes
The cursor can hover disabled list options, but they still cannot be interacted with, preventing confusing cursor jumps.
13.3.0release notes
Keypresses that happen before a prompt is rendered are ignored.
13.3.0release notes
Handles SWC-style module namespace objects.
13.2.5release notes
Numeric default values are now handled correctly by the input prompt.
13.2.4release notes release notes
Auto-mocking now handles barrel re-exports from the prompts package.
13.2.4release notes release notes
Declares @inquirer/* packages as optional peer dependencies.
13.2.4release notes release notes
Prevents artificial line wrapping in test output.
13.2.4release notes release notes
Previous answers are again provided to validate functions as the second argument.
13.2.1release notes
select now infers the return type properly when choices is an array of string literals.
13.1.0release notes
Fixes TypeScript failing to discover types when moduleResolution is set to commonjs.
13.0.2release notes

Allows passing a Partial type for pre-filled answers.
12.11.1release notes
The @inquirer/input package supports simple RegExp validation with pattern and patternError.
12.11.0release notes

Downgraded mute-stream to maintain compatibility with Node 18.
12.11.1release notes
Corrects the typo waitForUseInput to waitForUserInput in @inquirer/editor.
12.11.0release notes