Prompts and debugging

Beyond the command options, the CLI has a few conventions that make it quicker to work with: keyboard shortcuts in prompts, multi-value options, boolean negation and verbose logging.

Prompts#

When a required value is missing and the CLI runs interactively it asks for it. Single-value prompts take text input. Multi-select prompts, such as the report format, support these keys (see the enquirer multiselect reference for more):

To avoid prompts altogether, run with --interactive false (or -i false). The CLI then uses the suggested default for every question, or fails with a clear error when there is no sensible default. This is the automatic behaviour in CI mode; see CLI modes.

Options with several values#

Options that accept a list, such as --format, are set by repeating the flag:

npx user-flow collect -f md -f json

Negating booleans#

Every boolean option can be switched off by prefixing its name with no-. This is useful to override a default or a value coming from the environment:

npx user-flow collect --no-dryRun
npx user-flow collect --no-openReport
npx user-flow init --no-generateFlow

Verbose logging#

--verbose (-v) prints what the CLI is doing: the resolved configuration, the flows it found, the steps it runs and where it writes reports.

npx user-flow collect --verbose

Combined with init it is a quick way to print an rc file:

npx user-flow init --rcPath .user-flowrc.ci.json --verbose

Logging from a flow#

The package exports logVerbose, a helper that prints its arguments only when the CLI runs with --verbose. Use it inside flows to trace interactions without cluttering normal runs:

import { logVerbose, UserFlowProvider } from '@push-based/user-flow';

export default {
  flowOptions: { name: 'Order coffee' },
  interactions: async ({ flow, page, collectOptions }) => {
    await flow.navigate(collectOptions.url);
    logVerbose('Navigation done, selecting a coffee');
    await page.click('[data-test=Cappucino]');
  },
} satisfies UserFlowProvider;

npx user-flow collect            # prints nothing from logVerbose
npx user-flow collect --verbose  # prints "Navigation done, selecting a coffee"

Faster iterations with dry runs#

The single biggest time saver while writing a flow is --dryRun. Chrome starts and every interaction runs, but Lighthouse measurements are replaced by mock data. Combine it with stdout output for the quickest possible check:

npx user-flow collect --dryRun --format stdout