diff --git a/packages/cli/src/setup-models.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/setup-models.test.ts
index ba9260be..444c3b4d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/setup-models.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/setup-models.test.ts
@@ -58,33 +58,35 @@ function makePromptAdapter(options: {
   const textValues = [...(options.textValues ?? [])];
   const passwordValues = [...(options.passwordValues ?? [])];
   let providerPromptCount = 0;
+  const choose = async ({ message }: { message: string }) => {
+    if (message.includes('LLM provider')) {
+      providerPromptCount += 1;
+      const nextProviderChoice = selectValues[0];
+      if (
+        nextProviderChoice === 'anthropic' ||
+        nextProviderChoice === 'vertex' ||
+        nextProviderChoice === 'claude-code' ||
+        nextProviderChoice === 'back'
+      ) {
+        return selectValues.shift() ?? nextProviderChoice;
+      }
+      if (options.credentialChoice === 'back' && providerPromptCount > 1) {
+        return 'back';
+      }
+      return options.providerChoice ?? 'anthropic';
+    }
+    const nextValue = selectValues.shift();
+    if (nextValue) {
+      return nextValue;
+    }
+    if (message.includes('Anthropic API key')) {
+      return options.credentialChoice ?? 'env';
+    }
+    return options.modelChoice ?? 'claude-sonnet-4-6';
+  };
   return {
-    select: vi.fn(async ({ message }) => {
-      if (message.includes('LLM provider')) {
-        providerPromptCount += 1;
-        const nextProviderChoice = selectValues[0];
-        if (
-          nextProviderChoice === 'anthropic' ||
-          nextProviderChoice === 'vertex' ||
-          nextProviderChoice === 'claude-code' ||
-          nextProviderChoice === 'back'
-        ) {
-          return selectValues.shift() ?? nextProviderChoice;
-        }
-        if (options.credentialChoice === 'back' && providerPromptCount > 1) {
-          return 'back';
-        }
-        return options.providerChoice ?? 'anthropic';
-      }
-      const nextValue = selectValues.shift();
-      if (nextValue) {
-        return nextValue;
-      }
-      if (message.includes('Anthropic API key')) {
-        return options.credentialChoice ?? 'env';
-      }
-      return options.modelChoice ?? 'claude-sonnet-4-6';
-    }),
+    select: vi.fn(choose),
+    autocomplete: vi.fn(choose),
     text: vi.fn(async () => textValues.shift() ?? ''),
     password: vi.fn(
       async () =>
@@ -152,7 +154,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
       },
     );
 
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Which Anthropic model should KTX use?'),
         options: [
@@ -417,7 +419,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
     expect(readGcloudProject).toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(listGcloudProjects).toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(prompts.text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Which Google Cloud project should KTX use for Vertex AI?'),
         options: [
@@ -428,7 +430,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
         ],
       }),
     );
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Which Anthropic model should KTX use?'),
         options: [
@@ -480,7 +482,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
         message: expect.stringContaining('How should KTX authenticate with Google Vertex AI?'),
       }),
     );
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Which Google Cloud project should KTX use for Vertex AI?'),
       }),
@@ -548,7 +550,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
     );
 
     expect(result.status).toBe('ready');
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Which Google Cloud project should KTX use for Vertex AI?'),
         options: [
@@ -595,25 +597,25 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
 
     expect(result.status).toBe('ready');
     expect(listGcloudProjects).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Could not list Google Cloud projects with gcloud'),
         options: expect.arrayContaining([{ value: 'retry', label: 'Retry loading Google Cloud projects' }]),
       }),
     );
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining(
           `${String.fromCharCode(0x1b)}[33mCould not list Google Cloud projects with gcloud`,
         ),
       }),
     );
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('gcloud auth login --update-adc'),
       }),
     );
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining(
           `${String.fromCharCode(0x1b)}[33mRun \`gcloud auth login --update-adc\``,
@@ -643,7 +645,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
 
     expect(result.status).toBe('back');
     expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
-      3,
+      2,
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Which LLM provider should KTX use?'),
       }),
@@ -887,7 +889,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
     );
 
     expect(result.status).toBe('back');
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Which Anthropic model should KTX use?'),
         options: expect.not.arrayContaining([expect.objectContaining({ value: 'skip' })]),
@@ -919,7 +921,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
     );
 
     expect(result.status).toBe('ready');
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expectedPromptMessage,
       }),
@@ -965,7 +967,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
 
     expect(result.status).toBe('missing-input');
     expect(BUNDLED_ANTHROPIC_MODELS.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('Which Anthropic model should KTX use?'),
         options: expect.arrayContaining([
@@ -1058,7 +1060,8 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
 
     expect(result.status).toBe('ready');
     expect(healthCheck).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
-    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(5);
+    expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
+    expect(prompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
     expect(io.stderr()).toContain('Anthropic model health check failed: model not found');
     expect(io.stderr()).toContain('Choose a different credential source or model, or Back.');
     const config = parseKtxProjectConfig(await readFile(join(tempDir, 'ktx.yaml'), 'utf-8'));
@@ -1110,7 +1113,7 @@ describe('setup Anthropic model step', () => {
 
     expect(result.status).toBe('back');
     expect(prompts.select).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
-      4,
+      3,
       expect.objectContaining({
         message: expect.stringContaining('How should KTX find your Anthropic API key?'),
       }),
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/setup-models.ts b/packages/cli/src/setup-models.ts
index 7f7385b1..041eef5c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/setup-models.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/setup-models.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ export type KtxSetupLlmBackend = 'anthropic' | 'vertex' | 'claude-code';
 /** @internal */
 export interface KtxSetupModelPromptAdapter {
   select(options: { message: string; options: KtxSetupPromptOption[] }): Promise<string>;
+  autocomplete(options: {
+    message: string;
+    placeholder?: string;
+    options: KtxSetupPromptOption[];
+  }): Promise<string>;
   text(options: { message: string; placeholder?: string }): Promise<string | undefined>;
   password(options: { message: string }): Promise<string | undefined>;
   cancel(message: string): void;
@@ -617,13 +622,14 @@ async function chooseInteractiveVertexProject(
       io.stdout.write('│  gcloud did not return any visible Google Cloud projects. Enter a project ID manually or choose Back.\n');
     }
 
-    const choice = await prompts.select({
+    const choice = await prompts.autocomplete({
       message: `Which Google Cloud project should KTX use for Vertex AI?\n\n${[
         VERTEX_PROJECT_PROMPT_CONTEXT,
         listFailureMessage,
       ]
         .filter((value): value is string => Boolean(value))
         .join('\n\n')}`,
+      placeholder: 'Type to search projects',
       options: [
         ...orderedProjects.map((project) => ({
           value: project.projectId,
@@ -778,8 +784,9 @@ async function chooseModel(
     { value: 'manual', label: 'Enter a model ID manually' },
     { value: 'back', label: 'Back' },
   ];
-  const choice = await prompts.select({
+  const choice = await prompts.autocomplete({
     message: `Which Anthropic model should KTX use?\n\n${ANTHROPIC_MODEL_PROMPT_CONTEXT}`,
+    placeholder: 'Type to search models',
     options: modelOptions,
   });
   if (choice === 'back') {
@@ -810,8 +817,9 @@ async function chooseVertexModel(args: KtxSetupModelArgs, io: KtxCliIo, deps: Kt
 
   const selectableModels = VERTEX_ANTHROPIC_MODELS.filter(isSelectableAnthropicModel);
   const prompts = deps.prompts ?? createPromptAdapter();
-  const choice = await prompts.select({
+  const choice = await prompts.autocomplete({
     message: `Which Anthropic model should KTX use?\n\n${ANTHROPIC_MODEL_PROMPT_CONTEXT}`,
+    placeholder: 'Type to search models',
     options: [
       ...selectableModels.map((model) => ({
         value: model.id,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/setup-prompts.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/setup-prompts.test.ts
index 23ffd669..95f4b68b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/setup-prompts.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/setup-prompts.test.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => {
     isCancel: vi.fn((value: unknown): value is symbol => value === cancelSymbol),
     log: { info: vi.fn() },
     multiselect: vi.fn(),
+    autocomplete: vi.fn(),
+    autocompleteMultiselect: vi.fn(),
     note: vi.fn(),
     password: vi.fn(),
     select: vi.fn(),
@@ -29,6 +31,8 @@ vi.mock('@clack/prompts', () => ({
   isCancel: mocks.isCancel,
   log: mocks.log,
   multiselect: mocks.multiselect,
+  autocomplete: mocks.autocomplete,
+  autocompleteMultiselect: mocks.autocompleteMultiselect,
   note: mocks.note,
   password: mocks.password,
   select: mocks.select,
@@ -47,6 +51,8 @@ describe('setup prompt adapter', () => {
     mocks.isCancel.mockClear();
     mocks.log.info.mockReset();
     mocks.multiselect.mockReset();
+    mocks.autocomplete.mockReset();
+    mocks.autocompleteMultiselect.mockReset();
     mocks.note.mockReset();
     mocks.password.mockReset();
     mocks.select.mockReset();
@@ -160,6 +166,52 @@ describe('setup prompt adapter', () => {
     expect(mocks.cancel).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Setup cancelled.');
   });
 
+  it('returns autocomplete selections and maps cancel to back', async () => {
+    mocks.autocomplete.mockResolvedValueOnce('analytics');
+    const adapter = createKtxSetupPromptAdapter({ selectCancelValue: 'back' });
+
+    await expect(
+      adapter.autocomplete({
+        message: 'Dataset',
+        placeholder: 'Type to search',
+        options: [{ value: 'analytics', label: 'analytics' }],
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toBe('analytics');
+
+    mocks.autocomplete.mockResolvedValueOnce(mocks.cancelSymbol);
+    await expect(
+      adapter.autocomplete({
+        message: 'Dataset',
+        options: [{ value: 'analytics', label: 'analytics' }],
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toBe('back');
+  });
+
+  it('returns autocomplete multiselect selections and maps cancel to back', async () => {
+    mocks.autocompleteMultiselect.mockResolvedValueOnce(['analytics', 'mart']);
+    const adapter = createKtxSetupPromptAdapter({ selectCancelValue: 'back', multiselectCancelValue: 'back' });
+
+    await expect(
+      adapter.autocompleteMultiselect({
+        message: 'Datasets',
+        placeholder: 'Type to filter',
+        options: [
+          { value: 'analytics', label: 'analytics', hint: 'suggested' },
+          { value: 'mart', label: 'mart' },
+        ],
+        initialValues: ['analytics'],
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual(['analytics', 'mart']);
+
+    mocks.autocompleteMultiselect.mockResolvedValueOnce(mocks.cancelSymbol);
+    await expect(
+      adapter.autocompleteMultiselect({
+        message: 'Datasets',
+        options: [{ value: 'analytics', label: 'analytics' }],
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual(['back']);
+  });
+
   it('keeps setup intro and note plain for non-stream output', async () => {
     const { createKtxSetupUiAdapter } = await import('./setup-prompts.js');
     const chunks: string[] = [];
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/setup-prompts.ts b/packages/cli/src/setup-prompts.ts
index f5faacd8..1609bd76 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/setup-prompts.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/setup-prompts.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import type { Writable } from 'node:stream';
 import {
+  autocomplete,
+  autocompleteMultiselect,
   cancel,
   confirm,
   intro,
@@ -38,6 +40,22 @@ interface KtxSetupMultiselectOptions<Value extends string = string> {
   cursorAt?: Value;
 }
 
+interface KtxSetupAutocompleteOptions<Value extends string = string> {
+  message: string;
+  options: Array<KtxSetupPromptOption<Value>>;
+  placeholder?: string;
+  maxItems?: number;
+}
+
+interface KtxSetupAutocompleteMultiselectOptions<Value extends string = string> {
+  message: string;
+  options: Array<KtxSetupPromptOption<Value>>;
+  placeholder?: string;
+  required?: boolean;
+  maxItems?: number;
+  initialValues?: Value[];
+}
+
 interface KtxSetupTextOptions {
   message: string;
   placeholder?: string;
@@ -53,6 +71,8 @@ interface KtxSetupPasswordOptions {
 export interface KtxSetupPromptAdapter {
   select(options: KtxSetupSelectOptions): Promise<string>;
   multiselect(options: KtxSetupMultiselectOptions): Promise<string[]>;
+  autocomplete(options: KtxSetupAutocompleteOptions): Promise<string>;
+  autocompleteMultiselect(options: KtxSetupAutocompleteMultiselectOptions): Promise<string[]>;
   text(options: KtxSetupTextOptions): Promise<string | undefined>;
   password(options: KtxSetupPasswordOptions): Promise<string | undefined>;
   cancel(message: string): void;
@@ -117,6 +137,50 @@ export function createKtxSetupPromptAdapter(options: KtxSetupPromptAdapterOption
         return selected;
       }
     },
+    async autocomplete(promptOptions) {
+      const value = await withSetupInterruptConfirmation(() =>
+        autocomplete(withMenuOptionsSpacing(promptOptions)),
+      );
+      if (isCancel(value)) {
+        if (cancelOnSelectCancel) {
+          cancel(cancelMessage);
+        }
+        return options.selectCancelValue;
+      }
+      return String(value);
+    },
+    async autocompleteMultiselect(promptOptions) {
+      while (true) {
+        const value = await withSetupInterruptConfirmation(() =>
+          autocompleteMultiselect(withMenuOptionsSpacing(promptOptions)),
+        );
+        if (isCancel(value)) {
+          if (cancelOnMultiselectCancel) {
+            cancel(cancelMessage);
+          }
+          return [multiselectCancelValue];
+        }
+        const selected = [...value].map(String);
+        if (
+          selected.length === 0 &&
+          !promptOptions.required &&
+          options.confirmEmptyOptionalMultiselect === true
+        ) {
+          const skipConfirmed = await confirm({
+            message: 'Nothing selected. Skip this step?',
+            initialValue: false,
+          });
+          if (isCancel(skipConfirmed)) {
+            cancel(cancelMessage);
+            return [multiselectCancelValue];
+          }
+          if (!skipConfirmed) {
+            continue;
+          }
+        }
+        return selected;
+      }
+    },
     async text(promptOptions) {
       const value = await withSetupInterruptConfirmation(() =>
         text({ ...promptOptions, message: withTextInputNavigation(promptOptions.message) }),
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/setup-sources.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/setup-sources.test.ts
index a9de4436..d75933c1 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/setup-sources.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/setup-sources.test.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ function prompts(values: {
   return {
     multiselect: vi.fn(async () => multiselectValues.shift() ?? []),
     select: vi.fn(async () => selectValues.shift() ?? 'skip'),
+    autocomplete: vi.fn(async () => selectValues.shift() ?? 'skip'),
     text: vi.fn(async () => (textValues.length > 0 ? textValues.shift() : '')),
     password: vi.fn(async () => (passwordValues.length > 0 ? passwordValues.shift() : undefined)),
     cancel: vi.fn(),
@@ -548,8 +549,9 @@ describe('setup sources step', () => {
         ],
       });
       if (testCase.source === 'metabase') {
-        expect(testPrompts.select).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+        expect(testPrompts.autocomplete).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
           message: 'Metabase database',
+          placeholder: 'Type to search databases',
           options: [
             { value: '1', label: '1: Finance (postgres)' },
             { value: '2', label: '2: Analytics (postgres)' },
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/setup-sources.ts b/packages/cli/src/setup-sources.ts
index ff8eb420..a3f8019d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/setup-sources.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/setup-sources.ts
@@ -71,6 +71,11 @@ export interface KtxSetupSourcesPromptAdapter {
     required?: boolean;
   }): Promise<string[]>;
   select(options: { message: string; options: KtxSetupPromptOption[] }): Promise<string>;
+  autocomplete(options: {
+    message: string;
+    placeholder?: string;
+    options: KtxSetupPromptOption[];
+  }): Promise<string>;
   text(options: { message: string; placeholder?: string; initialValue?: string }): Promise<string | undefined>;
   password(options: { message: string }): Promise<string | undefined>;
   cancel(message: string): void;
@@ -931,8 +936,9 @@ async function chooseMetabaseDatabaseId(input: {
         return discovered[0].id;
       }
       if (discovered.length > 1) {
-        const selected = await input.prompts.select({
+        const selected = await input.prompts.autocomplete({
           message: 'Metabase database',
+          placeholder: 'Type to search databases',
           options: [
             ...discovered
               .slice()