Enabling and using command prompts in the AWS CLI - AWS Command Line Interface
How it worksAuto-prompt featuresAuto-prompt modesConfigure auto-prompt

Enabling and using command prompts in the AWS CLI

You can have the AWS CLI version 2 prompt you commands, parameters, and resources when you run an aws command.

How it works

If enabled, the auto-prompt enables you to use the ENTER key to complete a partially entered command. After pressing the ENTER key, commands, parameters, and resources are suggested based on what you continue to type. The suggestions list the name of the command, parameter, or resource on the left and a description of it on the right. To select and use a suggestion, use the arrows keys to highlight a row, and then press the SPACE key. When you've finished entering in your command, press ENTER to use the command. The following example demonstrates what a suggested list from auto-prompt looks like.

$ aws
> aws a
       accessanalyzer                Access Analyzer
       acm                           AWS Certificate Manager
       acm-pca                       AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority
       alexaforbusiness              Alexa For Business
       amplify                       AWS Amplify

Auto-prompt features

The auto-prompt contains the following useful features:

Documentation panel

Provides the help documentation for the current command. To open the documentation, press the F3 key.

Command completion

Suggests aws commands to use. To see a list, partially enter the command. The following example is searching for a service starting with the letter a.

$ aws
> aws a
       accessanalyzer                Access Analyzer
       acm                           AWS Certificate Manager
       acm-pca                       AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority
       alexaforbusiness              Alexa For Business
       amplify                       AWS Amplify
Parameter completion

After a command is typed, auto-prompt starts to suggest parameters. The descriptions for the parameters include the value type, and a description of what the parameter is. Required parameters are listed first, and are labeled as required. The following example shows the auto-prompt list of parameters for aws dynamodb describe-table.

$ aws dynamodb describe-table
> aws dynamodb describe-table 
                              --table-name (required)  [string] The name of the table to describe.
                               --cli-input-json         [string] Reads arguments from the JSON string provided. The JSON string follows the format provide...
                               --cli-input-yaml         [string] Reads arguments from the YAML string provided. The YAML string follows the format provide...
                               --generate-cli-skeleton  [string] Prints a JSON skeleton to standard output without sending an API request. If provided wit...
Resource completion

The auto-prompt makes AWS API calls using available AWS resource properties to suggest resource values. This allows for auto-prompt to suggest possible resources you own when entering in parameters. In the following example auto-prompt lists your table names when filling in the --table-name parameter for the aws dynamodb describe-table command.

$ aws dynamodb describe-table
> aws dynamodb describe-table --table-name 
                                            Table1
                                            Table2
                                            Table3
Shorthand completion

For parameters that use shorthand syntax, auto-prompt suggests values to use. In the following example, auto-prompt lists shorthand syntax values for the --placement parameter in the aws ec2 run-instances command.

$ aws ec2 run-instances
> aws ec2 run-instances --placement 
 AvailabilityZone=      [string] The Availability Zone of the instance. If not specified, an Availability Zone wil...
 Affinity=              [string] The affinity setting for the instance on the Dedicated Host. This parameter is no...
 GroupName=             [string] The name of the placement group the instance is in.
 PartitionNumber=       [integer] The number of the partition the instance is in. Valid only if the placement grou...
File completion

When filling out parameters in aws commands, auto-complete suggests local filenames after using the prefix file:// or fileb://. In the following example, auto-prompt suggests local files after entering in --item file:// for the aws ec2 run-instances command.

$ aws ec2 run-instances
> aws ec2 run-instances --item file:// 
                         item1.txt
                         file1.json
                         file2.json
Region completion

When using the global parameter --region, auto-prompt lists possible Regions to select from. In the following example, auto-prompt suggests Regions in alphabetical order after entering in --region for the aws dynamodb list-tables command.

$ aws dynamodb list-tables
> aws dynamodb list-tables --region 
                                     af-south-1
                                     ap-east-1
                                     ap-northeast-1
                                     ap-northeast-2
Profile completion

When using the global parameter --profile, auto-prompt lists your profiles. In the following example, auto-prompt suggests your profiles after entering in --profile for the aws dynamodb list-tables command.

$ aws dynamodb list-tables
> aws dynamodb list-tables --profile 
                                     profile1
                                     profile2
                                     profile3
Fuzzy searching

Complete commands and values that contain a specific set of characters. In the following example, auto-prompt suggests Regions that contain eu after entering in --region eu for the aws dynamodb list-tables command.

$ aws dynamodb list-tables
> aws dynamodb list-tables --region west
                                         eu-west-1
                                         eu-west-2
                                         eu-west-3
                                         us-west-1
History

To view and run previously used commands in auto-prompt mode, press CTRL + R. History lists previous commands that you can select by using the arrow keys. In the following example, the auto-prompt mode history is displayed.

$ aws
> aws 
        dynamodb list-tables
        s3 ls

Auto-prompt modes

Auto-prompt for the AWS CLI version 2 has 2 modes that can be configured:

  • Full mode: Uses auto-prompt each time you attempt to run an aws command, whether you manually call it using the --cli-auto-prompt parameter or permanently enabled it. This includes pressing ENTER after both a complete command or incomplete command.

  • Partial mode: Uses auto-prompt if a command is incomplete or cannot be run due to client-side validation errors. This mode is particular useful if you have pre-existing scripts, runbooks, or you only want to be auto-prompted for commands you are unfamiliar with rather than prompted on every command.

Configure auto-prompt

To configure auto-prompt you can use the following methods in order of precedence: