Ask User Tool

The ask_user tool lets Gemini CLI ask you one or more questions to gather preferences, clarify requirements, or make decisions. It supports multiple question types including multiple-choice, free-form text, and Yes/No confirmation.

ask_user (Ask User)

• Tool name: ask_user

• Display name: Ask User

• File: ask-user.ts

• Parameters:

  • questions (array of objects, required): A list of 1 to 4 questions to ask. Each question object has the following properties:
    • question (string, required): The complete question text.
    • header (string, required): A short label (max 16 chars) displayed as a chip/tag (e.g., “Auth”, “Database”).
    • type (string, optional): The type of question. Defaults to 'choice'.
      • 'choice': Multiple-choice with options (supports multi-select).
      • 'text': Free-form text input.
      • 'yesno': Yes/No confirmation.
    • options (array of objects, optional): Required for 'choice' type. 2-4 selectable options.
      • label (string, required): Display text (1-5 words).
      • description (string, required): Brief explanation.
    • multiSelect (boolean, optional): For 'choice' type, allows selecting multiple options.
    • placeholder (string, optional): Hint text for input fields.

• Behavior:

  • Presents an interactive dialog to the user with the specified questions.
  • Pauses execution until the user provides answers or dismisses the dialog.
  • Returns the user’s answers to the model.

• Output (llmContent): A JSON string containing the user’s answers, indexed by question position (e.g., {"answers":{"0": "Option A", "1": "Some text"}}).

• Confirmation: Yes. The tool inherently involves user interaction.

Usage Examples

Multiple Choice Question

{
  "questions": [
    {
      "header": "Database",
      "question": "Which database would you like to use?",
      "type": "choice",
      "options": [
        {
          "label": "PostgreSQL",
          "description": "Powerful, open source object-relational database system."
        },
        {
          "label": "SQLite",
          "description": "C-library that implements a SQL database engine."
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Text Input Question

{
  "questions": [
    {
      "header": "Project Name",
      "question": "What is the name of your new project?",
      "type": "text",
      "placeholder": "e.g., my-awesome-app"
    }
  ]
}

Yes/No Question

{
  "questions": [
    {
      "header": "Deploy",
      "question": "Do you want to deploy the application now?",
      "type": "yesno"
    }
  ]
}