TypeScript: Infer `prompt()` return type object shape from question objects

Author: karlhorkyCreated Jun 24, 2024Updated Aug 7, 2025

Hi, first of all, thanks for enquirer Nice library!

Currently, enquirer has a return type of Promise<object>:

typescript

import { prompt } from 'enquirer';

const questions = [
  {
    type: 'input',
    name: 'name',
    message: 'What is your name?',
  },
  {
    type: 'input',
    name: 'username',
    message: 'What is your username?',
  },
];
const result = await prompt(questions);
   // ^? const result: object

Playground

It would be great if prompt() would infer the types from the questions object:

typescript

import { prompt } from 'enquirer';

const questions = [
  {
    type: 'input',
    name: 'name',
    message: 'What is your name?',
  },
  {
    type: 'input',
    name: 'username',
    message: 'What is your username?',
  },
];
const result = await prompt(questions);
   // ^? const result: { name: string; username: string; }

Alternatives considered

Pass in generics, this works today, but requires careful synchronization of the type and the questions - easy to make mistakes:

typescript

import { prompt } from 'enquirer';

type Result = {
  name: string;
  username: string;
};

const questions = [
  {
    type: 'input',
    name: 'name',
    message: 'What is your name?',
  },
  {
    type: 'input',
    name: 'username',
    message: 'What is your username?',
  },
];
const result = await prompt<Result>(questions);
   // ^? const result: { name: string; username: string; }

Source: enquirer/enquirer

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