From af311229fe681e465085dc691b0d936eff701eaa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Andrey Nering <andreynering@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2026 20:25:14 -0300
Subject: [PATCH] docs: new blog post about `if:` and required variables prompt

---
 website/.vitepress/config.ts               |  10 ++
 website/src/blog/if-and-variable-prompt.md | 126 +++++++++++++++++++++
 website/src/blog/index.md                  |   9 ++
 3 files changed, 145 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 website/src/blog/if-and-variable-prompt.md

diff --git a/website/.vitepress/config.ts b/website/.vitepress/config.ts
index c61dd38e..8ef5367a 100644
--- a/website/.vitepress/config.ts
+++ b/website/.vitepress/config.ts
@@ -200,6 +200,16 @@ export default defineConfig({
 
     sidebar: {
       '/blog/': [
+        {
+          text: '2026',
+          collapsed: false,
+          items: [
+            {
+              text: 'New `if:` Control and Variable Prompt',
+              link: '/blog/if-and-variable-prompt'
+            }
+          ]
+        },
         {
           text: '2025',
           collapsed: false,
diff --git a/website/src/blog/if-and-variable-prompt.md b/website/src/blog/if-and-variable-prompt.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ea45d057
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/src/blog/if-and-variable-prompt.md
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+---
+title: New `if:` Control and Variable Prompt
+description: Introduction of the `if:` control and required variable prompts.
+author: vmaerten
+date: 2026-01-24
+outline: deep
+---
+
+# New `if:` control and interactivity support
+
+<AuthorCard :author="$frontmatter.author" />
+
+The [v3.47.0][release] release is here, and it brings two exciting new features
+to Task. Let's take a closer look at them!
+
+## The New `if:` Control
+
+This first feature is simply the second most upvoted issue of all time (!) with
+58 :thumbsup:s (!!) at the time of writing.
+
+It introduces the `if:` control, which allow you to conditionally skip the
+execution of certain tasks and proceeding. `if:` can be set on a task-level or
+command-level, and can be either a Bash command or a Go template expression.
+
+Let me show a couple of examples.
+
+Task-level with Bash expression:
+
+```yaml
+version: '3'
+
+tasks:
+  deploy:
+    if: '[ "$CI" = "true" ]'
+    cmds:
+      - echo "Deploying..."
+      - ./deploy.sh
+```
+
+Command-level with Go template expression:
+
+```yaml
+version: '3'
+
+tasks:
+  conditional:
+    vars:
+      ENABLE_FEATURE: "true"
+    cmds:
+      - cmd: echo "Feature is enabled"
+        if: '{{eq .ENABLE_FEATURE "true"}}'
+      - cmd: echo "Feature is disabled"
+        if: '{{ne .ENABLE_FEATURE "true"}}'
+```
+
+For more details, please check out the [documentation][if-docs].
+The [examples][if-examples] from the test suite may be useful too.
+
+::: info
+
+We had similar functionality before, but nothing that perfectly fits this use
+case. There were [`sources:`][sources] and [`status:`][status], but those were
+meant to check if a task was up-to-date, and [`preconditions:`][preconditions],
+but this would halt the execution of the task instead of skipping it.
+
+:::
+
+## Prompt for Required Variables
+
+For backward-compatibility reasons, this feature is disabled by default.
+To enable it, either pass `--interactive` flag or add `interactive: true` to
+your `.taskrc.yml`.
+
+Once you do that, Task will basically starting prompting you in runtime for any
+required variables. In the example below, `NAME` will be prompted at runtime:
+
+```yaml
+version: '3'
+
+tasks:
+  # Simple text input prompt
+  greet:
+    desc: Greet someone by name
+    requires:
+      vars:
+        - NAME
+    cmds:
+      - echo "Hello, {{.NAME}}!"
+```
+
+If a given variable has an enum, Task will actually show a selection menu so you
+can choose the right option instead of typing:
+
+```yaml
+version: '3'
+
+tasks:
+  # Enum selection (dropdown menu)
+  deploy:
+    desc: Deploy to an environment
+    requires:
+      vars:
+        - name: ENVIRONMENT
+          enum: [dev, staging, prod]
+    cmds:
+      - echo "Deploying to {{.ENVIRONMENT}}..."
+```
+
+Once again, check out the [documentation][prompt-docs] for more details, and the
+[prompt examples][prompt-examples] from the test suite.
+
+## Feedback
+
+Let's us know if you have any feedback! You can find us on our
+[Discord server][discord].
+
+[release]: https://github.com/go-task/task/releases/tag/v3.47.0
+[vmaerten]: https://github.com/vmaerten
+[sources]: https://taskfile.dev/docs/guide#by-fingerprinting-locally-generated-files-and-their-sources
+[status]: https://taskfile.dev/docs/guide#using-programmatic-checks-to-indicate-a-task-is-up-to-date
+[preconditions]: https://taskfile.dev/docs/guide#using-programmatic-checks-to-cancel-the-execution-of-a-task-and-its-dependencies
+[if-docs]: https://taskfile.dev/docs/guide#conditional-execution-with-if
+[if-examples]: https://github.com/go-task/task/blob/main/testdata/if/Taskfile.yml
+[prompt-docs]: https://taskfile.dev/docs/guide#prompting-for-missing-variables-interactively
+[prompt-examples]: https://github.com/go-task/task/blob/main/testdata/interactive_vars/Taskfile.yml
+[discord]: https://discord.com/invite/6TY36E39UK
diff --git a/website/src/blog/index.md b/website/src/blog/index.md
index 207233a2..b0683fb9 100644
--- a/website/src/blog/index.md
+++ b/website/src/blog/index.md
@@ -3,6 +3,15 @@ title: Blog
 description: Latest news and updates from the Task team
 ---
 
+<BlogPost
+title="New `if:` Control and Variable Prompt"
+url="/blog/if-and-variable-prompt"
+date="2026-01-24"
+author="vmaerten"
+description="The v3.47.0 release is here, and it brings two exciting new features to Task. Let's take a closer look at them!"
+:tags="['new-features', 'variables']"
+/>
+
 <BlogPost
 title="Announcing Built-in Core Utilities for Windows"
 url="/blog/windows-core-utils"