io.input.textarea

Longer text, over as many lines as it takes.

io.input.textarea asks a person for text that can span several lines. Use it for a reason, a note or a message. The handler gets a string with the line breaks the person typed. The server checks every answer before your code goes on.

Read the docs All components

The simplest one

The whole action file, and roughly what your team sees when it runs.

src/actions/payments/refundPaymentAction.ts

import { app } from '../../app';

export const refundPaymentAction = app.defineAction({

name: 'Refund payment',

handler: async ({ io }) => {

const reason = await io.input.textarea(

'Why refund this payment?',

{ helpText: 'Goes to the customer with the refund' },

);

return `Refund noted: ${reason}`;

});

The code. One call in an action, the whole file.

tools.example.com/actions/payments/refund_payment

Refund payment

Why refund this payment?The parcel never arrived.The carrier lost it on the way to Lisbon.Goes to the customer with the refund

Continue

In the browser. Roughly what your team sees. Your theme decides the details.

What you can set

The settings you will reach for most, each with the line of code that turns it on.

lines: 8

As tall as you need. lines sets the visible height, four unless you say otherwise. The person can still drag the field bigger.

const note = await io.input.textarea('Note')

Line breaks kept. The handler gets a string with the line breaks the person typed, as \n.

minLength: 10, maxLength: 500

Length limits. Set the fewest and the most characters. A wrong length comes back with a message under the field.

reason.trim().split(/\s+/).length >= 3

Your own check. .validate() runs on the server after the built-in checks. Return a message and the person writes again.

io.input.textarea('Note').optional()

Or optional. .optional() lets the field stay empty. The handler then gets string | undefined.

note: io.input.textarea('Note'),

Next to other fields. Inside io.group it is one field of a form. One Continue sends them all.

More in the docs

This page shows the idea. The docs have every prop, the checks on the server and more examples.

docs.awaitio.com/io/input-textareaInput TextareaEvery prop, what it returns and the messages of the built-in checks.docs.awaitio.com/core/input-componentsInput componentsOptional fields, your own checks and disabled fields, the same for every input.docs.awaitio.com/io/groupio.groupPut the text area next to other fields in one form with one Continue.

Next components

Three more calls on io. Each one shows a control and hands your code a typed value.

Credits

250▲▼

io.input.numberMore →

A number with min, max and decimals

Send a confirmation email

✓The customer gets a copy

io.input.booleanMore →

Yes or no, with a checkbox

Starts at

Oct 20, 2026 9:00

io.input.datetimeMore →

A date and time, as a luxon DateTime

Write your first tool today.

An async function, a few await calls, and the form is in the browser.

Get started See the demo