Controlling Prompts

When QuickAdd runs a choice, every format token that needs input becomes a prompt: {{VALUE:title}} in a file name, {{VDATE:due,YYYY-MM-DD}} in a template, the target file of a Capture, and so on. This page is the overview of everything you control about those prompts: the order they appear in, per-prompt labels and widgets, optional prompts, the keys that submit or skip them, and the one-page form that collects every input at once.

For the full syntax of each token and flag, see Format Syntax. For the one-page form in depth, see One-page Inputs.

Where prompts come from

QuickAdd prompts whenever it meets a token it cannot resolve on its own:

• {{VALUE}} / {{VALUE:name}} ask for text, or show a pick list when you give them options.
• {{VDATE:name,format}} asks for a date, with natural language support.
• {{FIELD:name}} suggests values that already exist in your vault's properties.
• {{FILE:folder}} asks you to pick a note from a folder.
• Template choices may also ask for a file name or folder; Capture choices may ask which file to capture to.

A variable prompts once per run. If {{VALUE:title}} appears in both the file name and the template body, you are asked once and the answer is reused. This also means prefilled variables (from a macro step, the API, or the CLI) skip their prompts entirely - an empty string counts as an answer.

Prompt order

Prompts follow the structure of the choice, not the position of tokens in your text:

1. Template choices resolve the template path first, then the folder, then the file name, and finally the template's content. A token in the file name always prompts before anything in the template body.
2. Capture choices resolve the capture target first, then the capture format.
3. Within one piece of text (a file name, a template, a capture format), prompts are grouped by token kind, and only within a kind do they follow the order they appear in. A plain {{VALUE}}/{{NAME}} is asked first of all, then dates ({{VDATE}}), then named values ({{VALUE:name}}), then fields ({{FIELD}}) and file pickers ({{FILE}}), with the math prompt ({{MVALUE}}) last.

For example, in this template:

Attendees: {{VALUE:attendees}}
Due: {{VDATE:due,YYYY-MM-DD}}

the due prompt appears first, even though attendees comes first in the text.

There is no flag that reorders individual prompts. If the sequence bothers you, use the one-page input form: it lists all inputs in a single form (in the same resolution order), and you fill them in any order you like.

note

A suggester defined with |name: and its reuses can appear in any order within one piece of text - when a reuse comes before the definition, QuickAdd resolves the definition early so you are asked once.

Shape an individual prompt

Each control is a flag on the token. The reference for every flag lives in Format Syntax; the ones you will reach for most:

You want	Flag	Example
Helper text on the prompt	|label:	{{VALUE:attendees|label:Comma-separated names}}
A pre-filled default	|default:	{{VALUE:status|default:open}}
A large, multi-line text box	|type:multiline	{{VALUE:notes|type:multiline}}
A number, slider, or checkbox	|type:number and friends	{{VALUE:rating|type:slider|min:0|max:10}}
A pick list	comma-separated options	{{VALUE:low,medium,high}}
A pick list that accepts custom text	|custom	{{VALUE:home,work|custom}}
Multiple selections	|multi	{{VALUE:a,b,c|multi}}

Good to know:

• Among the input tokens, |label: works on {{VALUE}} tokens and {{FILE:...}} pickers (not on {{VDATE}} or {{FIELD}}). On a plain text prompt the label renders as helper text below the title; on a pick list it becomes the placeholder.
• |type:multiline upgrades a single token to the large prompt and overrides the global Use Multi-line Input Prompt setting. The reverse does not exist: with the global setting on, every plain text prompt is multi-line.
• |type: flags only work on single-value tokens - a pick list ignores them.

Optional prompts

Add |optional to let a prompt be skipped, resolving to nothing:

- [ ] {{VALUE:task}} {{VDATE:due,[📅 ]YYYY-MM-DD|optional}}

Optional prompts gain a Skip button and accept an empty submission as the answer; you are not re-asked later in the run. Skipping is an answer - pressing Esc still cancels the whole choice. |optional works on {{VALUE}} tokens, option lists, {{VDATE}}, and {{FILE}}.

If a variable appears in several places, put |optional on every occurrence. The sequential prompts and the one-page form combine repeated flags differently, and flagging every occurrence is the only spelling that behaves the same everywhere.

Submit keys

Prompt	Submit	Also useful
Single-line input (also number, slider, and date prompts)	Enter
Multi-line input	Ctrl/Cmd+Enter (Enter inserts a newline)	Tab indents; Shift+Tab moves focus out
Pick list / suggester	Enter picks the highlighted option
Math prompt ({{MVALUE}})	Ctrl/Cmd+Enter	Tab jumps to the cursor marker
One-page input form	Ctrl/Cmd+Enter	Tab moves between fields
Any optional prompt		Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Enter skips

Esc cancels the prompt and with it the whole run - nothing is created or captured by the cancelled choice (in a macro, steps that already ran are not undone). If you want a notice when that happens, enable Show Input Cancellation Notifications in settings.

Autocomplete inside prompts

While typing in a prompt, # searches your vault's tags and [[ searches your files (headings, blocks, and relative paths work too). See Suggester System for all triggers and keys. These triggers work in the single-line and multi-line prompts; the one-page form's text fields do not offer them, though its field and pick-list inputs have their own inline suggestions.

One form instead of many prompts

Instead of answering prompts one at a time, QuickAdd can collect everything in a single form before the choice runs: every unanswered variable, rendered as the right widget (text, textarea, date with a calendar, dropdown, slider), with optional fields badged and, for Template choices with a file name format, a live file name preview.

• Enable it globally with One-page input for choices under Settings → Input.
• Template and Capture choices each have a One-page input override dropdown in their builder (Follow global setting, Always, Never), so you can turn the form on or off per choice.
• A few inputs still run as follow-up steps after the form, such as {{FIELD:...|multi}} pickers and Capture's insert-after heading picker.
• Cancelling the form cancels the whole run, exactly like cancelling a sequential prompt.

The full behavior - what is collected, date parsing, defaults, and script-declared inputs - is documented in One-page Inputs.

For script authors

User scripts can declare their inputs so they appear in the one-page form (quickadd.inputs), and can open a one-page form of their own at runtime with quickAddApi.requestInputs. Both are covered in One-page Inputs.