# type

The step `type` field selects how Atmos executes or renders a step. Step types expose the building blocks that power the Atmos CLI itself — command execution, interactive prompts, and rich terminal UI — so you can assemble [custom commands](/cli/configuration/commands) and [workflows](/workflows) from the same primitives Atmos uses internally. Step types are values of `steps[].type`; they are not sibling YAML sections.

```yaml
steps:
  - name: prompt
    type: input
    prompt: Enter deployment message
```

## Command Types

| Type | Purpose | Primary fields |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [`atmos`](/workflows/steps/type/atmos) | Run an Atmos CLI command. This is the default for command steps. | `command`, `stack`, `identity` |
| [`shell`](/workflows/steps/type/shell) | Run a shell command or script. | `command`, `working_directory`, `env`, `tty`, `interactive` |
| [`exec`](/workflows/steps/type/exec) | Replace the Atmos process with another executable. Must be the final step. | `command` |
| [`container`](/workflows/steps/type/container) | Build, push, run, or inspect containers. | `action`, `build`, `push`, `run`, `inspect` |
| [`http`](/workflows/steps/type/http) | Call an HTTP endpoint (alias: `webhook`). | `url`, `method`, `body`/`form`, `expect`, `retry` |

## Interactive Types

| Type | Purpose | Primary fields |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [`input`](/workflows/steps/type/input) | Prompt for single-line text. | `prompt`, `placeholder`, `default`, `password` |
| [`confirm`](/workflows/steps/type/confirm) | Prompt for yes/no confirmation. | `prompt`, `default` |
| [`choose`](/workflows/steps/type/choose) | Select one option. | `prompt`, `options`, `default` |
| [`filter`](/workflows/steps/type/filter) | Filter and select options, optionally multiple. | `prompt`, `options`, `multiple`, `limit` |
| [`file`](/workflows/steps/type/file) | Select a file. | `prompt`, `path`, `extensions` |
| [`write`](/workflows/steps/type/write) | Capture multi-line text. | `prompt`, `placeholder`, `height` |

## UI and Output Types

| Type | Purpose | Primary fields |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [`toast`](/workflows/steps/type/toast) | Display a themed status message. | `content`, `level` |
| [`markdown`](/workflows/steps/type/markdown) | Render Markdown content. | `content` |
| [`spin`](/workflows/steps/type/spin) | Display a spinner while running a command. | `title`, `command`, `timeout` |
| [`table`](/workflows/steps/type/table) | Display tabular data. | `title`, `columns`, `data` |
| [`pager`](/workflows/steps/type/pager) | Display content in a pager. | `title`, `content`, `path`, `markdown` |
| [`format`](/workflows/steps/type/format) | Render a Go template string. | `content` |
| [`join`](/workflows/steps/type/join) | Join strings. | `options`, `separator`, `content` |
| [`style`](/workflows/steps/type/style) | Apply terminal styling. | `content`, `foreground`, `background`, `border`, `padding` |
| [`log`](/workflows/steps/type/log) | Emit a structured log message. | `level`, `content`, `fields` |

## Terminal and Control Types

| Type | Purpose | Primary fields |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [`alert`](/workflows/steps/type/alert) | Ring the terminal bell and optionally print a message. | `content` |
| [`say`](/workflows/steps/type/say) | Speak a message aloud via text-to-speech, with graceful fallback to printing. | `content`, `voice`, `rate`, `print` |
| [`title`](/workflows/steps/type/title) | Set or restore the terminal title. | `content` |
| [`clear`](/workflows/steps/type/clear) | Clear the current terminal line. | none |
| [`linebreak`](/workflows/steps/type/linebreak) | Print blank lines. | `count` |
| [`stage`](/workflows/steps/type/stage) | Print the current workflow stage position. | `title` |
| [`sleep`](/workflows/steps/type/sleep) | Pause workflow execution. | `timeout` |
| [`env`](/workflows/steps/type/env) | Set variables for subsequent workflow steps. | `vars` |
| [`exit`](/workflows/steps/type/exit) | Exit the workflow immediately. | `code`, `content` |

Use type-specific fields on the same step object:

```yaml
steps:
  - name: environments
    type: table
    title: Available Environments
    columns:
      - name
      - region
    data:
      - name: dev
        region: us-east-1
```