--add-dir | Add additional working directories for Claude to read and edit files. Grants file access; most .claude/ configuration is not discovered from these directories. Validates each path exists as a directory. To persist these directories across sessions, set permissions.additionalDirectories in settings | claude --add-dir ../apps ../lib |
--agent | Specify an agent for the current session (overrides the agent setting) | claude --agent my-custom-agent |
--agents | Define custom subagents dynamically via JSON. Uses the same field names as subagent frontmatter, plus a prompt field for the agent’s instructions | claude --agents '{"reviewer":{"description":"Reviews code","prompt":"You are a code reviewer"}}' |
--allow-dangerously-skip-permissions | Add bypassPermissions to the Shift+Tab mode cycle without starting in it. Lets you begin in a different mode like plan and switch to bypassPermissions later. See permission modes | claude --permission-mode plan --allow-dangerously-skip-permissions |
--allowedTools | Tools that execute without prompting for permission. See permission rule syntax for pattern matching. To restrict which tools are available, use --tools instead | "Bash(git log *)" "Bash(git diff *)" "Read" |
--append-system-prompt | Append custom text to the end of the default system prompt | claude --append-system-prompt "Always use TypeScript" |
--append-system-prompt-file | Load additional system prompt text from a file and append to the default prompt | claude --append-system-prompt-file ./extra-rules.txt |
--bare | Minimal mode: skip auto-discovery of hooks, skills, plugins, MCP servers, auto memory, and CLAUDE.md so scripted calls start faster. Claude has access to Bash, file read, and file edit tools. Sets CLAUDE_CODE_SIMPLE. See bare mode | claude --bare -p "query" |
--betas | Beta headers to include in API requests (API key users only) | claude --betas interleaved-thinking |
--bg | Start the session as a background agent and return immediately. Prints the session ID and management commands. Combine with --agent to run a specific subagent | claude --bg "investigate the flaky test" |
--channels | (Research preview) MCP servers whose channel notifications Claude should listen for in this session. Space-separated list of plugin:<name>@<marketplace> entries. Requires Claude.ai authentication | claude --channels plugin:my-notifier@my-marketplace |
--chrome | Enable Chrome browser integration for web automation and testing | claude --chrome |
--continue, -c | Load the most recent conversation in the current directory. Includes sessions that added this directory with /add-dir | claude --continue |
--dangerously-load-development-channels | Enable channels that are not on the approved allowlist, for local development. Accepts plugin:<name>@<marketplace> and server:<name> entries. Prompts for confirmation | claude --dangerously-load-development-channels server:webhook |
--dangerously-skip-permissions | Skip permission prompts. Equivalent to --permission-mode bypassPermissions. See permission modes for what this does and does not skip | claude --dangerously-skip-permissions |
--debug | Enable debug mode with optional category filtering (for example, "api,hooks" or "!statsig,!file") | claude --debug "api,mcp" |
--debug-file <path> | Write debug logs to a specific file path. Implicitly enables debug mode. Takes precedence over CLAUDE_CODE_DEBUG_LOGS_DIR | claude --debug-file /tmp/claude-debug.log |
--disable-slash-commands | Disable all skills and commands for this session | claude --disable-slash-commands |
--disallowedTools | Tools that are removed from the model’s context and cannot be used | "Bash(git log *)" "Bash(git diff *)" "Edit" |
--effort | Set the effort level for the current session. Options: low, medium, high, xhigh, max; available levels depend on the model. Overrides the effortLevel setting for this session and does not persist | claude --effort high |
--enable-auto-mode | Removed in v2.1.111. Auto mode is now in the Shift+Tab cycle by default; use --permission-mode auto to start in it | claude --permission-mode auto |
--exclude-dynamic-system-prompt-sections | Move per-machine sections from the system prompt (working directory, environment info, memory paths, git-repo flag) into the first user message. Improves prompt-cache reuse across different users and machines running the same task. Only applies with the default system prompt; ignored when --system-prompt or --system-prompt-file is set. Use with -p for scripted, multi-user workloads | claude -p --exclude-dynamic-system-prompt-sections "query" |
--fallback-model | Enable automatic fallback to specified model when default model is overloaded (print mode only) | claude -p --fallback-model sonnet "query" |
--fork-session | When resuming, create a new session ID instead of reusing the original (use with --resume or --continue) | claude --resume abc123 --fork-session |
--from-pr | Resume sessions linked to a specific pull request. Accepts a PR number, a GitHub or GitHub Enterprise PR URL, a GitLab merge request URL, or a Bitbucket pull request URL. Sessions are linked automatically when Claude creates the pull request | claude --from-pr 123 |
--ide | Automatically connect to IDE on startup if exactly one valid IDE is available | claude --ide |
--init | Run Setup hooks with the init matcher before the session (print mode only) | claude -p --init "query" |
--init-only | Run Setup and SessionStart hooks, then exit without starting a conversation | claude --init-only |
--include-hook-events | Include all hook lifecycle events in the output stream. Requires --output-format stream-json | claude -p --output-format stream-json --include-hook-events "query" |
--include-partial-messages | Include partial streaming events in output. Requires --print and --output-format stream-json | claude -p --output-format stream-json --include-partial-messages "query" |
--input-format | Specify input format for print mode (options: text, stream-json) | claude -p --output-format json --input-format stream-json |
--json-schema | Get validated JSON output matching a JSON Schema after agent completes its workflow (print mode only, see structured outputs) | claude -p --json-schema '{"type":"object","properties":{...}}' "query" |
--maintenance | Run Setup hooks with the maintenance matcher before the session (print mode only) | claude -p --maintenance "query" |
--max-budget-usd | Maximum dollar amount to spend on API calls before stopping (print mode only) | claude -p --max-budget-usd 5.00 "query" |
--max-turns | Limit the number of agentic turns (print mode only). Exits with an error when the limit is reached. No limit by default | claude -p --max-turns 3 "query" |
--mcp-config | Load MCP servers from JSON files or strings (space-separated) | claude --mcp-config ./mcp.json |
--model | Sets the model for the current session with an alias for the latest model (sonnet or opus) or a model’s full name. Overrides the model setting and ANTHROPIC_MODEL | claude --model claude-sonnet-4-6 |
--name, -n | Set a display name for the session, shown in /resume and the terminal title. You can resume a named session with claude --resume <name>.
/rename changes the name mid-session and also shows it on the prompt bar | claude -n "my-feature-work" |
--no-chrome | Disable Chrome browser integration for this session | claude --no-chrome |
--no-session-persistence | Disable session persistence so sessions are not saved to disk and cannot be resumed. Print mode only. The CLAUDE_CODE_SKIP_PROMPT_HISTORY environment variable does the same in any mode | claude -p --no-session-persistence "query" |
--output-format | Specify output format for print mode (options: text, json, stream-json) | claude -p "query" --output-format json |
--permission-mode | Begin in a specified permission mode. Accepts default, acceptEdits, plan, auto, dontAsk, or bypassPermissions. Overrides defaultMode from settings files | claude --permission-mode plan |
--permission-prompt-tool | Specify an MCP tool to handle permission prompts in non-interactive mode | claude -p --permission-prompt-tool mcp_auth_tool "query" |
--plugin-dir | Load a plugin from a directory or .zip archive for this session only. Each flag takes one path. Repeat the flag for multiple plugins: --plugin-dir A --plugin-dir B.zip | claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin |
--plugin-url | Fetch a plugin .zip archive from a URL for this session only. Repeat the flag for multiple plugins, or pass space-separated URLs in a single quoted value | claude --plugin-url https://example.com/plugin.zip |
--print, -p | Print response without interactive mode (see Agent SDK documentation for programmatic usage details) | claude -p "query" |
--remote | Create a new web session on claude.ai with the provided task description | claude --remote "Fix the login bug" |
--remote-control, --rc | Start an interactive session with Remote Control enabled so you can also control it from claude.ai or the Claude app. Optionally pass a name for the session | claude --remote-control "My Project" |
--remote-control-session-name-prefix <prefix> | Prefix for auto-generated Remote Control session names when no explicit name is set. Defaults to your machine’s hostname, producing names like myhost-graceful-unicorn. Set CLAUDE_REMOTE_CONTROL_SESSION_NAME_PREFIX for the same effect | claude remote-control --remote-control-session-name-prefix dev-box |
--replay-user-messages | Re-emit user messages from stdin back on stdout for acknowledgment. Requires --input-format stream-json and --output-format stream-json | claude -p --input-format stream-json --output-format stream-json --replay-user-messages |
--resume, -r | Resume a specific session by ID or name, or show an interactive picker to choose a session. Includes sessions that added this directory with /add-dir | claude --resume auth-refactor |
--session-id | Use a specific session ID for the conversation (must be a valid UUID) | claude --session-id "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" |
--setting-sources | Comma-separated list of setting sources to load (user, project, local) | claude --setting-sources user,project |
--settings | Path to a settings JSON file or an inline JSON string. Values you set here override the same keys in your settings.json files for this session. Keys you omit keep their file-based values. See settings precedence | claude --settings ./settings.json |
--strict-mcp-config | Only use MCP servers from --mcp-config, ignoring all other MCP configurations | claude --strict-mcp-config --mcp-config ./mcp.json |
--system-prompt | Replace the entire system prompt with custom text | claude --system-prompt "You are a Python expert" |
--system-prompt-file | Load system prompt from a file, replacing the default prompt | claude --system-prompt-file ./custom-prompt.txt |
--teleport | Resume a web session in your local terminal | claude --teleport |
--teammate-mode | Set how agent team teammates display: auto (default), in-process, or tmux. Overrides the teammateMode setting for this session. See Choose a display mode | claude --teammate-mode in-process |
--tmux | Create a tmux session for the worktree. Requires --worktree. Uses iTerm2 native panes when available; pass --tmux=classic for traditional tmux | claude -w feature-auth --tmux |
--tools | Restrict which built-in tools Claude can use. Use "" to disable all, "default" for all, or tool names like "Bash,Edit,Read" | claude --tools "Bash,Edit,Read" |
--verbose | Enable verbose logging, shows full turn-by-turn output. Overrides the viewMode setting for this session | claude --verbose |
--version, -v | Output the version number | claude -v |
--worktree, -w | Start Claude in an isolated git worktree at <repo>/.claude/worktrees/<name>. If no name is given, one is auto-generated. Pass #<number> or a GitHub pull request URL to fetch that PR from origin and branch the worktree from it | claude -w feature-auth |
