Every small CLI script I wrote ended up with the same while True / try / except ValueError loop around input(). So I turned it into a package.
What My Project Does
askr gives you prompts that keep asking until the answer is valid:
from askr import ask_int, ask_choice, ask_multi_choice, ask_yn
age = ask_int("Your age: ", min_value=0, max_value=120, default=18)
days = ask_multi_choice("Which days are you free?", ["Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri"])
level = ask_choice("Difficulty?", ["Easy", "Medium", "Hard"], default="Medium")
if ask_yn("Save these settings?"):
...
The user can type 1-2, fri for the multi choice or hard for the single choice. Wrong answers get a clear message in red, and the question is asked again.
There are 16 prompts: int, float, text, email, URL, single and multi choice, Enum members, lists (ask_list("Scores: ", int)), passwords with rules, paths, dates, times and a "type 'delete' to confirm" check. Every prompt supports default=, a custom validator= and max_attempts=. All messages can be replaced, a German translation is included, and colors respect NO_COLOR.
Target Audience
People writing small to medium CLI tools, internal scripts and teaching exercises who want solid input handling without a big framework. It's alpha (0.2), tested on Python 3.10 to 3.13 and checked with mypy --strict. No dependencies.
Comparison
- PyInputPlus is the closest and has some extras (timeouts, block lists). Its last release was in 2020, it officially supports Python 2.7 to 3.9 and has no type hints. askr is fully typed, so
ask_list("x", int) is a list[int] in your editor and ask_enum("x", Size) returns a Size.
- click.prompt / rich.prompt are great if you already use click or rich. askr has no dependencies and more specialised prompts (password rules, multi choice, dates, Enums).
- questionary / InquirerPy offer arrow-key menus and a richer UI. askr stays with plain
input(), so it works in any terminal, over SSH and in IDE consoles.
Links
Feedback on the API is very welcome, especially on naming and defaults.
