# ora > Elegant terminal spinner



## Install ``` $ npm install ora ``` ## Usage ```js const ora = require('ora'); const spinner = ora('Loading unicorns').start(); setTimeout(() => { spinner.color = 'yellow'; spinner.text = 'Loading rainbows'; }, 1000); ``` ## API ### ora(text) ### ora(options) If a string is provided, it is treated as a shortcut for [`options.text`](#text). #### options Type: `object` ##### text Type: `string` Text to display after the spinner. ##### prefixText Type: `string | () => string` Text or a function that returns text to display before the spinner. No prefix text will be displayed if set to an empty string. ##### spinner Type: `string | object`\ Default: `'dots'` Name of one of the [provided spinners](https://github.com/sindresorhus/cli-spinners/blob/main/spinners.json). See `example.js` in this repo if you want to test out different spinners. On Windows, it will always use the `line` spinner as the Windows command-line doesn't have proper Unicode support. Or an object like: ```js { interval: 80, // Optional frames: ['-', '+', '-'] } ``` ##### color Type: `string`\ Default: `'cyan'`\ Values: `'black' | 'red' | 'green' | 'yellow' | 'blue' | 'magenta' | 'cyan' | 'white' | 'gray'` Color of the spinner. ##### hideCursor Type: `boolean`\ Default: `true` Set to `false` to stop Ora from hiding the cursor. ##### indent Type: `number`\ Default: `0` Indent the spinner with the given number of spaces. ##### interval Type: `number`\ Default: Provided by the spinner or `100` Interval between each frame. Spinners provide their own recommended interval, so you don't really need to specify this. ##### stream Type: `stream.Writable`\ Default: `process.stderr` Stream to write the output. You could for example set this to `process.stdout` instead. ##### isEnabled Type: `boolean` Force enable/disable the spinner. If not specified, the spinner will be enabled if the `stream` is being run inside a TTY context (not spawned or piped) and/or not in a CI environment. Note that `{isEnabled: false}` doesn't mean it won't output anything. It just means it won't output the spinner, colors, and other ansi escape codes. It will still log text. ##### isSilent Type: `boolean`\ Default: `false` Disable the spinner and all log text. All output is suppressed and `isEnabled` will be considered `false`. ##### discardStdin Type: `boolean`\ Default: `true` Discard stdin input (except Ctrl+C) while running if it's TTY. This prevents the spinner from twitching on input, outputting broken lines on Enter key presses, and prevents buffering of input while the spinner is running. This has no effect on Windows as there's no good way to implement discarding stdin properly there. ### Instance #### .start(text?) Start the spinner. Returns the instance. Set the current text if `text` is provided. #### .stop() Stop and clear the spinner. Returns the instance. #### .succeed(text?) Stop the spinner, change it to a green `✔` and persist the current text, or `text` if provided. Returns the instance. See the GIF below. #### .fail(text?) Stop the spinner, change it to a red `✖` and persist the current text, or `text` if provided. Returns the instance. See the GIF below. #### .warn(text?) Stop the spinner, change it to a yellow `⚠` and persist the current text, or `text` if provided. Returns the instance. #### .info(text?) Stop the spinner, change it to a blue `ℹ` and persist the current text, or `text` if provided. Returns the instance. #### .isSpinning A boolean of whether the instance is currently spinning. #### .stopAndPersist(options?) Stop the spinner and change the symbol or text. Returns the instance. See the GIF below. ##### options Type: `object` ###### symbol Type: `string`\ Default: `' '` Symbol to replace the spinner with. ###### text Type: `string`\ Default: Current `'text'` Text to be persisted after the symbol ###### prefixText Type: `string`\ Default: Current `prefixText` Text to be persisted before the symbol. No prefix text will be displayed if set to an empty string. #### .clear() Clear the spinner. Returns the instance. #### .render() Manually render a new frame. Returns the instance. #### .frame() Get a new frame. #### .text Change the text after the spinner. #### .prefixText Change the text before the spinner. No prefix text will be displayed if set to an empty string. #### .color Change the spinner color. #### .spinner Change the spinner. #### .indent Change the spinner indent. ### ora.promise(action, text) ### ora.promise(action, options) Starts a spinner for a promise. The spinner is stopped with `.succeed()` if the promise fulfills or with `.fail()` if it rejects. Returns the spinner instance. #### action Type: `Promise` ## FAQ ### How do I change the color of the text? Use [Chalk](https://github.com/chalk/chalk): ```js const ora = require('ora'); const chalk = require('chalk'); const spinner = ora(`Loading ${chalk.red('unicorns')}`).start(); ``` ### Why does the spinner freeze? JavaScript is single-threaded, so synchronous operations blocks the thread, including the spinner animation. Prefer asynchronous operations whenever possible. ## Related - [cli-spinners](https://github.com/sindresorhus/cli-spinners) - Spinners for use in the terminal - [listr](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/listr) - Terminal task list - [CLISpinner](https://github.com/kiliankoe/CLISpinner) - Terminal spinner library for Swift - [halo](https://github.com/ManrajGrover/halo) - Python port - [spinners](https://github.com/FGRibreau/spinners) - Terminal spinners for Rust - [marquee-ora](https://github.com/joeycozza/marquee-ora) - Scrolling marquee spinner for Ora - [briandowns/spinner](https://github.com/briandowns/spinner) - Terminal spinner/progress indicator for Go - [tj/go-spin](https://github.com/tj/go-spin) - Terminal spinner package for Go - [observablehq.com/@victordidenko/ora](https://observablehq.com/@victordidenko/ora) - Ora port to Observable notebooks - [spinnies](https://github.com/jcarpanelli/spinnies) - Terminal multi-spinner library for Node.js - [kia](https://github.com/HarryPeach/kia) - Simple terminal spinners for Deno 🦕