PromptPlus

# PromptPlus ## **Secret** [](https://www.nuget.org/packages/PromptPlus) [](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT) [](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/)

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Single-line, masked text entry. The user types, each character is hidden behind a mask symbol, and they confirm with Enter.

The Secret control is the masked sibling of Input. Use it whenever the value must not appear on screen — a password, an API key, a PIN, a connection string, a token. It shares the same live filtering, case coercion, length cap, and confirmation-time validation as Input, but replaces every typed character with a mask symbol and can optionally let the user peek at the plain text with F2.

⚠️ Secret deliberately omits the persistence features of Input (no history, no autocomplete, no seeded default). A secret should never be written to disk or offered as a suggestion — see the security note in Operations.

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On this page

Sub-page	What you will find
Index (this page)	What it is, when to use it, a first working example, the method map
Methods	Every fluent method — signature, parameters, defaults, and a snippet
Operations	Keyboard, the mask character, F2 reveal, validation flow, and the security note
Styles	The InputStyles regions and how to recolor them

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When to use it

Use Secret when…	Consider instead…
The value is a password, key, PIN, or token	—
The value is ordinary free-form text	Input
The value must match a fixed pattern (date, phone, currency)	MaskEdit
The user should pick from a known list	Select

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Minimal example

using PromptPlusLibrary;

var result = PromptPlus.Controls
    .Secret("Password")
    .Run();

if (!result.IsAborted)
    PromptPlus.Console.WriteLine("Password captured.");

• Secret("Password") creates the control. The first argument is the prompt; an optional second argument is a description line shown under it.
• .Run() renders the masked field and blocks until the user presses Enter (confirm) or Esc (abort).
• The call returns a ResultPrompt<string>: read .Content for the entered text and .IsAborted to detect Esc.

⚠️ Always check IsAborted before using .Content. On abort, .Content is NOT guaranteed to be empty — it holds whatever partial text was typed before Esc was pressed. Treat it as sensitive and discard it; don’t assume it’s safe to leave lying around just because the user aborted. Never echo .Content to the console — the example above prints a confirmation, not the value.

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A more complete example

using PromptPlusLibrary;
using ConsolePlusLibrary;   // Color, InputStyles-agnostic types

var pin = PromptPlus.Controls
    .Secret("PIN", "Only 4 digits are accepted")
    .MaskSecret('*', enabledView: false)   // hide with '*', no F2 reveal
    .AcceptInput(char.IsDigit)             // reject any non-digit keystroke
    .MaxLength(4)                          // stop accepting after 4 characters
    .PredicateValid(v => v.Length == 4
        ? (true, null)
        : (false, "PIN must be exactly 4 digits"))   // validate on Enter
    .Run();

if (!pin.IsAborted)
    PromptPlus.Console.WriteLine("PIN accepted.");

This combines the four most common building blocks: a custom mask with reveal disabled (MaskSecret), per-keystroke filtering (AcceptInput), a hard length cap (MaxLength), and confirmation-time validation with a message (PredicateValid). See Operations for how they interact.

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Method map

Grouped by purpose. Full signatures and examples are on the Methods page.

Purpose	Methods
Masking & reveal	MaskSecret
Restrict typing	AcceptInput, MaxLength, InputToCase
Validate on confirm	PredicateValid, PredicateValidAsync
Dynamic description	ChangeDescription, ChangeDescriptionAsync
Appearance & behavior	Styles, Options
Run	Run

Unlike Input, Secret has no Default, DefaultIfEmpty, EnableHistory, or suggestion methods — by design.

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Return value

Secret returns ResultPrompt<string>.

Member	Meaning
.Content	The confirmed text — or whatever partial text was typed before an abort, not necessarily empty
.IsAborted	true when the user pressed Esc / the abort key

var (secret, aborted) = PromptPlus.Controls.Secret("Token").Run();
if (!aborted) UseToken(secret);   // consume it — do not print it

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See also

• Methods — the full fluent API
• Operations — keyboard, the mask character, F2 reveal, validation, security note
• Styles — recolor the prompt, answer, and error regions
• Input — the un-masked sibling with history and autocomplete
• MaskEdit — structured input with a fixed pattern

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