# FAQ

> Short answers about caique — why it refused, --yes, --interactive, CI, closed stdin, passwords, raw mode, the drop-ins and CommonJS — each with where to read more.

Source: https://caique.interlace.tools/docs/faq

## Why did it refuse instead of asking?

Because nobody was there to ask: stdin is not a terminal, `CI` is set, an agent is driving the
process, or the run passed
`--json`. The error names the flag to pass and quotes the question it would have asked
([Never hangs](/docs/guides/never-hangs)).

## How do I make it ask anyway?

Run it on a terminal. `--interactive` asks for optional values it would otherwise skip, but it
cannot conjure a person: with no terminal it still refuses, and says that `--interactive` needs
one.

## What does `--yes` answer?

Every `confirm`, with `true`, terminal or not. Nothing else: a `text` or a `select` has no
"yes" ([Confirmations in CI](/docs/recipes/confirm-in-ci)).

## My CI job has a terminal attached. Does it prompt?

No. `CI` set means nobody is there to type, whatever stdin is.

## An agent runs my CLI in a terminal. Does it prompt?

No. Under `CLAUDECODE`, `CURSOR_AGENT`, `CODEX_THREAD_ID`, `GEMINI_CLI` or `AI_AGENT` the
prompt is refused, naming the flag, even with a terminal on stdin: the agent has the terminal
but not a person. `FORCE_TTY=1` overrides it, for a caller that pipes answers on purpose.

## What happens when stdin closes mid-question?

The question is cancelled — `{ ok: false, reason: 'cancelled' }`, or a `CANCELLED` failure from
`resolvePrompts()` — and never read as an empty answer.

## Is a password ever echoed?

No. `createIo()` suppresses the echo for the one question by intercepting readline's output,
not by turning the terminal's echo off, so a process that dies mid-prompt does not leave the
terminal silent ([The terminal](/docs/guides/terminal)).

## I put the terminal in raw mode myself. Will a prompt take it away?

Not caique's own: `askList()` turns raw mode off only if it turned it on. clack and inquirer
turn it off when a prompt closes whatever it was before ([Why caique](/docs/why-caique)).

## Can I keep my clack or inquirer code?

Yes: `caique/clack` and `caique/inquirer` carry their APIs, graded by their own suites
([Compatibility](/docs/drop-ins)). Moving a prompt to a flag is what makes it answerable
without a person.

## Can I use it from CommonJS?

Yes, on Node 20.19+ and 22.13+: every entry is ESM with a `default` condition, so
`require('caique')` loads it through `require(esm)`.