Forms and dialogs

This page shows how to ask for several answers in one screen: a form or a wizard that returns typed values, a date question, and the toggles, buttons and dialogs an interactive app is built from. Every form also runs without anyone at the keyboard, from its defaults.

 Service inventory                                                              
╭─ Service inventory ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1/2 ─╮
│                                                                              │
│  ● Service inventory ── ○ Review                                             │
│                                                                              │
│  Service inventory                                                           │
│                                                                              │
│  ▌ Service name*    WinRM                                                    │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                    Review    │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
 ↑↓ move  enter next  pgdn next  esc cancel  ? keys

 Service inventory                                                              
╭─ Service inventory ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1/2 ─╮
│                                                                              │
│  ● Service inventory ── ○ Review                                             │
│                                                                              │
│  Service inventory                                                           │
│                                                                              │
│  ▌ Service name*    WinRM                                                    │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                    Review    │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
 ↑↓ move  enter next  pgdn next  esc cancel  ? keys

$form = New-ConsoleForm -Title 'Service inventory' -Content {
    New-ConsoleField -Key Name -Label 'Service name' -Kind Text -Default 'WinRM' -Required
}
$answers = $form | Read-ConsoleForm
# Collect answers only. The caller decides whether to execute a command.

Import-Module ConsoleMonster

$form = New-ConsoleForm -Title 'Service inventory' -Content {
    New-ConsoleField -Key Name -Label 'Service name' -Kind Text -Default 'WinRM' -Required
}
$answers = $form | Read-ConsoleForm
# Collect answers only. The caller decides whether to execute a command.

Form form = new Form("Service inventory");
TextField name = form.Text("Name", "Service name");
name.Default = "WinRM";
name.Required = true;
FormResult result = form.Show();// Collect answers only. The caller decides whether to execute a command.

using ConsoleMonster.Interactive;

Form form = new Form("Service inventory");
TextField name = form.Text("Name", "Service name");
name.Default = "WinRM";
name.Required = true;
FormResult result = form.Show();// Collect answers only. The caller decides whether to execute a command.

Form form = Ui.Form().Title("Service inventory");
TextField name = form.Text("Name", "Service name").Default("WinRM").Required();
FormResult result = form.Show();// Collect answers only. The caller decides whether to execute a command.

using ConsoleMonster.Interactive;
using ConsoleMonster;

Form form = Ui.Form().Title("Service inventory");
TextField name = form.Text("Name", "Service name").Default("WinRM").Required();
FormResult result = form.Show();// Collect answers only. The caller decides whether to execute a command.

A form

New-ConsoleForm takes fields from New-ConsoleField and Read-ConsoleForm shows it and returns one object with a property per field. In C#, a Form adds its fields with Text, Number, Toggle, Select, MultiSelect, Path and Secret, and Show returns a FormResult.

Import-Module ConsoleMonster

$form = New-ConsoleForm -Title 'Share plan' -Content {
    New-ConsoleField -Key Name -Label 'Share name' -Required -Default 'reports'
    New-ConsoleField -Key Size -Label 'Quota (GB)' -Kind Number -Integer -Minimum 1 -Maximum 500 -Default 50
    New-ConsoleField -Key Site -Label 'Site' -Kind Select -Choices 'Warsaw', 'Dublin' -Default 'Warsaw'
    New-ConsoleField -Key ReadOnly -Label 'Read only' -Kind Toggle
}
$answers = Read-ConsoleForm $form
if ($answers) { "Creating $($answers.Name) in $($answers.Site)" }

Form form = new Form("Share plan");
TextField name = form.Text("Name", "Share name");
name.Required = true;
name.Default = "reports";
NumberField size = form.Number("Size", "Quota (GB)");
size.Integer = true;
size.Minimum = 1;
size.Maximum = 500;
size.Default = 50m;
form.Select("Site", "Site", new[] { new Choice("Warsaw"), new Choice("Dublin") });
form.Toggle("ReadOnly", "Read only");

FormResult result = form.Show();
if (result.Submitted) {
    Console.WriteLine("Creating " + result.Values.Get<string>("Name") + " in " + result.Values["Site"]);
}

Arrows and Tab move between fields, Enter edits one, choice fields open a list that filters as you type, and Escape cancels; a cancelled form returns nothing in PowerShell and Submitted = false in C#. -Kind is Text (the default; -Multiline or -AsSecret for those), Number, Toggle, Select (-Multiple for several) or Path (-PathKind File or Folder, -MustExist).

Wizards and the review page

Fields with -Page are grouped into pages in the order the names first appear, which turns the form into a wizard with a progress strip. Unless -NoReview is given, a review page follows with every answer and the equivalent command line, built from -Command and each field's -ParameterName, so the person who filled it in learns how to automate it.

$form = New-ConsoleForm 'Install agent' -Command 'Install-Agent' -Content {
    New-ConsoleField Region 'Region' -Kind Select -Choices 'eu', 'us' -Page Connection -ParameterName Region
    New-ConsoleField Proxy 'Use a proxy' -Kind Toggle -Page Connection -ParameterName UseProxy
    New-ConsoleField ProxyAddress 'Proxy address' -VisibleWhen { $Values.Proxy } -Page Connection -ParameterName Proxy
    New-ConsoleField Path 'Install folder' -Kind Path -PathKind Folder -Page Location -ParameterName Path
}
$answers = Read-ConsoleForm $form -AppName 'Agent setup' -RememberLastChoices

• -VisibleWhen shows a field only while its script block returns true; $Values holds the answers so far.
• -DependsOn Region -LoadChoices { param($Values) ... } reloads a field's choices when another field changes, with a spinner that Escape cancels.
• -AppName stores presets under that name, and -RememberLastChoices offers the last answers next time.
• Read-ConsoleForm -PassThru returns Submitted, Values and CommandLine instead of the answers alone.

Filling a form in advance

Set-ConsoleFormValue sets fields before the form is shown, or while a menu that owns it is running. It takes a hashtable of field names and values, or the result of an earlier run, so a form can start from its last answers:

$form = New-ConsoleForm 'Connection' -Content {
    New-ConsoleField Domain 'Domain' -Default 'lab.example.test'
    New-ConsoleField Parallel 'Parallel workers' -Kind Number -Integer -Minimum 1
}
Set-ConsoleFormValue -Form $form -Values @{ Domain = 'corp.example.test'; Parallel = 2 }
$last = Read-ConsoleForm $form -PassThru
if ($last) {
    Set-ConsoleFormValue -Form $form -Values $last
}

In C#, form.Apply(values) does the same with a dictionary or a FormValues.

Dates

Read-ConsoleDate asks for one date, or an inclusive range with -Range, on a calendar: arrows move the cursor, Page Up and Page Down change the month, and Enter commits. It returns a DateTime at midnight, or a DateRange. Line and accessible modes accept yyyy-MM-dd and dates in the current culture.

$window = Read-ConsoleDate -Title 'Maintenance window' -Range -Default ([datetime] '2026-11-18')

object window = new DatePrompt("Maintenance window") { Range = true, Default = new DateTime(2026, 11, 18) }.Show();

-Selection takes the bounds, the first day of the week and a fixed "today": -Selection @{ Today = [datetime] '2026-11-18'; FirstDayOfWeek = 'Monday' } (DateSelectionOptions in C#).

Toggles, buttons and dates inside an app

An interactive app keeps its controls on screen and stores each value in the app state under the control's key:

$dates = @{ Today = [datetime] '2026-11-18'; FirstDayOfWeek = 'Monday' }
Show-ConsoleApp -Title Maintenance -Content {
    New-ConsoleToggle -Key Enabled -Label 'Run nightly checks' -Value $true
    New-ConsoleDatePicker -Key Window -Range -Selection $dates
    New-ConsoleBinding -Content {
        param($State)
        "[muted]Checks[/] $(if ($State.Enabled) { 'on' } else { 'off' })  [muted]Window[/] $($State.Window)"
    }
}

The interactive page records the same controls in tabs, with a toggle flipped and a range picked.

Dialogs

A dialog is a small form shown over a running app: Tab stays inside it, Escape cancels and puts the focus back where it was, and Ctrl+Enter accepts from a field. New-ConsoleDialog (Ui.Dialog() in C#) builds one from ordinary inputs; nothing is read until the app opens it. In C#, the app's AppDialogs service opens it from an app-thread command and calls back with the answers:

$dialog = New-ConsoleDialog -Title 'Destination' -InitialFocus Path -Content {
    New-ConsoleTextInput -Key Path -Value 'backup'
}

var dialogs = new AppDialogs();
var dialog = Ui.Dialog().Title("Destination")
    .Content(c => c.Add(Ui.TextInput().Key("Path").Value("backup").Build()))
    .InitialFocus("Path").Build();
// From an app-thread command, with ConsoleAppOptions.Dialogs = dialogs:
dialogs.Show(dialog, answer => {
    if (answer.Accepted) { destination = answer.Value!.Get<string>("Path"); }
});

-AcceptText and -CancelText rename the buttons, -DefaultAccept focuses the affirmative one first, and -Validate checks the answers before the dialog closes. Show-ConsoleApp -Dialogs passes the service to an app in PowerShell.

When nobody can answer

A form needs no changes to run in CI, a scheduled task or a pipeline with redirected input. Without an interactive user, Read-ConsoleForm uses each field's default, and fails with an error naming the first field that needs a value when there is none. The same rule holds for Read-ConsoleDate, which needs a valid -Default.

• Detected. CI, redirected input, pwsh -NonInteractive and CONSOLEMONSTER_NONINTERACTIVE=1 all count as no user.
• Forced. Read-ConsoleForm -Mode None uses the defaults even at a keyboard, which is how a script runs the same form unattended on purpose. In C#, pass new FormOptions { Interactive = new InteractiveOptions { Mode = InteractionMode.None } } to Show.
• Other hosts. In remoting and the ISE the fields are asked one by one through the host, and -Mode Accessible (or CONSOLEMONSTER_ACCESSIBLE=1) asks numbered questions that confirm each answer as text.

$answers = Read-ConsoleForm $form -Mode None

Next

• App parts: tabs, splitters, outlines and the other parts of a full-screen app.
• Help and defaults: what users see when they ask for help or skip a value.
• Testing: drive a form or an app with scripted keys and check what it shows.