Enhancing CLI Interactivity in Laravel with Laravel Prompts

Are you tired of building boring command-line interfaces (CLIs) in your Laravel applications? Do you wish to add some spice and interactivity to your console commands? Look no further! In this article, we're going to explore how to enhance your CLI experience using Laravel Prompts, a package that brings interactive prompts to your Laravel applications effortlessly.

What are Laravel Prompts?

Laravel Prompts is a package that simplifies the process of adding interactive prompts to your Laravel Artisan commands. Whether you want to gather user input, display options for selection, or provide a more engaging experience for your CLI users, Laravel Prompts has got you covered.

Installation

Laravel Prompts is already included with the latest release of Laravel.

Laravel Prompts may also be installed in your other PHP projects by using the Composer package manager:

composer require laravel/prompts        

Part 1: Command Setup

<?php

namespace App\Console\Commands;

use Illuminate\Console\Command;
use function Laravel\Prompts\{text,select};

class Calculator extends Command
{
    protected $signature = 'app:calculator';
    protected $description = 'Perform basic arithmetic operations';
        

In this part, we define a new Artisan command called app:calculator. It extends the Command class provided by Laravel. We also import two functions from Laravel Prompts: text() and select().

Part 2: Command Handling

public function handle()
{
    // Code for handling user input and performing arithmetic operations goes here
}        

The handle() method is where the main logic of our command resides. This method is automatically executed when the app:calculator command is run. Inside this method, we'll gather user input and perform arithmetic operations.

Part 3: Gathering User Input

$a = text(
    label: "Enter number 1",
    required: true,
    validate: ['value' => 'required|numeric']
);

$b = text(
    label: "Enter number 2",
    required: true,
    validate: ['value' => 'required|numeric']
);        

Here, in the handle method, we use the text() function provided by Laravel Prompts to prompt the user to enter two numbers. We specify a label for each input field, making it clear what the user is expected to input. We also mark both inputs as required and validated.

Part 4: Selecting Arithmetic Operation

$type = select(
    label: 'What action do you want to perform?',
    options: ['Addition', 'Subtraction', 'Multiplication', 'Division'],
    required: true
);        

Using the select() function, we present the user with a list of arithmetic operations to choose from. The user can select one of the options provided: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, or Division. This input is also marked as required.

Part 5: Performing Arithmetic Operations

// Perform the selected arithmetic operation
$result = match ($type) {
    'Addition' => $a + $b,
    'Subtraction' => $a - $b,
    'Multiplication' => $a * $b,
    'Division' => $b != 0 ? $a / $b : null, // Check for division by zero
    default => null
};        

Based on the user's choice of arithmetic operation ($type), we perform the corresponding operation on the two numbers ($a and $b). We use a match expression to determine which operation to perform and calculate the result accordingly.

Part 6: Displaying the Result

// Display the result
$this->info("Result is " . $result);        

Finally, we display the result of the arithmetic operation to the user. We use the info() method provided by Laravel to output the result in a user-friendly manner.

Let's put it all together now

<?php

namespace App\Console\Commands;

use Illuminate\Console\Command;
use function Laravel\Prompts\{text,select};

class Calculator extends Command
{
    protected $signature = 'app:calculator';
    protected $description = 'Perform basic arithmetic operations';

    public function handle()
    {
        // Prompt the user to enter the first number
        $a = text(
            label: "Enter number 1",
            required: true,
            validate: ['value' => 'required|numeric']
        );

        // Prompt the user to enter the second number
        $b = text(
            label: "Enter number 2",
            required: true,
            validate: ['value' => 'required|numeric']
        );

        // Ask the user to select an arithmetic operation
        $type = select(
            label: 'What action do you want to perform?',
            options: ['Addition', 'Subtraction', 'Multiplication', 'Division'],
            required: true
        );

        // Perform the selected arithmetic operation
        $result = match ($type) {
            'Addition' => $a + $b,
            'Subtraction' => $a - $b,
            'Multiplication' => $a * $b,
            'Division' => $b != 0 ? $a / $b : null, // Check for division by zero
            default => null
        };

        // Display the result
        $this->info("Result is " . $result);
    }
}        

Running the Command

To run our app:calculator command, simply execute the following Artisan command in your terminal:

php artisan app:calculator        

or if you are using sail then Run:

./vendor/bin/sail artisan app:calculator        

You'll be prompted to enter two numbers and choose an arithmetic operation. Once you provide the input, the command will display the result of the operation as below.

Conclusion

With Laravel Prompts, adding interactive prompts to your CLI commands becomes a breeze. Whether you're building a simple calculator like we did in this article or creating more complex interactive commands, Laravel Prompts empowers you to provide a richer experience for your users.