cli-cursor

What is cli-cursor?

The cli-cursor npm package allows developers to show or hide the cursor in command-line interfaces. This can be useful when creating CLI tools or applications that require a clean, distraction-free interface, or when the cursor needs to be temporarily hidden during spinner animations or other CLI graphics.

What are cli-cursor's main functionalities?

Hide Cursor

This feature hides the cursor in the terminal. It is useful when you want to prevent the cursor from interfering with CLI graphics or output.

const cliCursor = require('cli-cursor');
cliCursor.hide(process.stdout);

Show Cursor

This feature shows the cursor in the terminal after it has been hidden. It is useful for restoring the cursor once a CLI operation that required hiding it is complete.

const cliCursor = require('cli-cursor');
cliCursor.show(process.stdout);

Toggle Cursor

This feature toggles the visibility of the cursor based on a boolean value. It provides a convenient way to switch between showing and hiding the cursor.

const cliCursor = require('cli-cursor');
const isVisible = true; // This should be a dynamic value based on the current cursor state
cliCursor.toggle(process.stdout, isVisible);

Other packages similar to cli-cursor

ansi-escapes

The ansi-escapes package provides a collection of ANSI escape codes, including codes to hide and show the cursor. It offers more general functionality for manipulating the terminal, whereas cli-cursor is specifically focused on cursor visibility.

terminal-kit

Terminal-kit is a full-featured terminal handling library that includes methods for cursor visibility, among many other terminal manipulation features. It is a more comprehensive solution compared to the focused functionality of cli-cursor.

inquirer

Inquirer is a library for creating interactive command-line user interfaces. While it does not directly provide methods to hide or show the cursor, it manages cursor visibility internally as part of its UI rendering process, which can be considered a similar functionality in a broader context.

README

cli-cursor

Toggle the CLI cursor

The cursor is gracefully restored if the process exits.

Install

npm install cli-cursor

Usage

import cliCursor from 'cli-cursor';

cliCursor.hide();

const unicornsAreAwesome = true;
cliCursor.toggle(unicornsAreAwesome);

API

.show(stream?)

.hide(stream?)

.toggle(force?, stream?)

force

Useful for showing or hiding the cursor based on a boolean.

stream

Type: stream.Writable
Default: process.stderr