Support user input at runtime

[ebr]

It would be great to pause and wait for user input, for subsequent use in the script:

test:
  cmds:
    - read name
    - echo "hi ${name}"

$ task test 
read name
task: Failed to run task "test": exit status 127

I also tried moving the read command to Taskvars, but still no luck. I suspect this is because execution of go-task does not allocate a TTY? Is there any way to do this currently?

[andreynering]

I never thought about this possibility, and I don't know why it doesn't work. I'll think about it.

[andreynering]

This currently possible as follows:

read:
  cmds:
    - |
      echo "Type value of FOO:"
      read FOO;
      echo "You said: ${FOO}";
  silent: true

And for allowing read in variables, I don't know if that makes sense. One can pass parameters to tasks using environment variables or the special syntax:

task foo BAR=baz

[tommyknows]

Hi,
Stumbled upon this issue while trying to work out the exact same thing.
I want to ask the user for input for a few variables that are going to be used throughout the Taskfile.

Obviously, as you noted, something like this panics:

vars:
  MY_VAR:
    sh: read

At the same time, I can't use this:

env:
  MY_VAR: "{{.MY_VAR}}"
tasks:
  get-vars:
    cmds:
      - {{if not .MY_VAR}}read MY_VAR; export MY_VAR{{end}}
  show-vars:
    cmds:
      - echo {{.MY_VAR}}

Is there any way to export variables from the cmds to the taskfile?

[andreynering]

@tommyknows Isn't passing variables via CLI enough for you? (See my comment here)

[tommyknows]

Well, as I've got quite a few variables to ask for, no (or only partially).
I wanna allow the user to supply some variables via CLI (if he wishes to automate the call), and ask for every variable that is missing.

[andreynering]

I think doing that via read results in a bad UX experience, because the user won't know what variable they are typing.

If we implement something to allow that, that should have be handled by Task, that would print something like this:

task: Please type the value for VAR (default: foobar): <cursor>

I still think using the CLI a better on most use cases, though.

[andreynering]

Some discussion about adding this is happening at #236.