CLI Reference

Official complete reference for Claude Code command-line interface, including commands, flags, and configuration options. Source: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference.md Added: 2026-01-29

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CLI Commands

Command	Description
claude	Start interactive REPL
claude "query"	Start REPL with initial prompt
claude -p "query"	Query via SDK, then exit
cat file | claude -p "query"	Process piped content
claude -c	Continue most recent conversation
claude -c -p "query"	Continue via SDK
claude -r "<session>" "query"	Resume by ID or name
claude update	Update to latest version
claude mcp	Configure MCP servers

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Key CLI Flags

Session Management

Flag	Description
--continue, -c	Load most recent conversation
--resume, -r	Resume specific session by ID or name
--fork-session	Create new session ID when resuming
--session-id	Use specific UUID for conversation
--no-session-persistence	Don't save session to disk (print mode)

Model & Prompt

Flag	Description
--model	Set model (sonnet, opus, or full name)
--fallback-model	Fallback when default overloaded (print mode)
--system-prompt	Replace entire system prompt
--system-prompt-file	Replace from file (print mode)
--append-system-prompt	Append to default prompt
--append-system-prompt-file	Append from file (print mode)

Permissions & Safety

Flag	Description
--allowedTools	Tools that execute without permission
--disallowedTools	Tools removed from context entirely
--tools	Restrict available built-in tools
--permission-mode	Start in permission mode (plan, acceptEdits, etc.)
--dangerously-skip-permissions	Skip all permission checks
--allow-dangerously-skip-permissions	Enable as option without activating

Output & Format

Flag	Description
--print, -p	Print mode (non-interactive)
--output-format	text, json, stream-json
--input-format	text, stream-json
--json-schema	Get validated JSON matching schema
--include-partial-messages	Include streaming events
--verbose	Full turn-by-turn output

Extensions

Flag	Description
--agents	Define subagents via JSON
--agent	Specify agent for session
--mcp-config	Load MCP servers from JSON
--strict-mcp-config	Only use MCP from --mcp-config
--plugin-dir	Load plugins from directory
--chrome / --no-chrome	Toggle Chrome integration

Other

Flag	Description
--add-dir	Add working directories
--betas	Beta headers for API
--debug	Debug mode with category filtering
--disable-slash-commands	Disable skills/commands
--ide	Auto-connect to IDE
--init / --init-only	Run Setup hooks
--maintenance	Run Setup hooks with maintenance trigger
--max-budget-usd	Max API spend (print mode)
--max-turns	Limit agentic turns (print mode)
--remote	Create web session on claude.ai
--teleport	Resume web session locally
--setting-sources	Comma-separated setting sources
--settings	Load settings from file or JSON
--version, -v	Show version

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--agents JSON Format

claude --agents '{
  "code-reviewer": {
    "description": "Expert code reviewer.",
    "prompt": "You are a senior code reviewer.",
    "tools": ["Read", "Grep", "Glob", "Bash"],
    "model": "sonnet"
  }
}'

Field	Required	Description
description	Yes	When to invoke the subagent
prompt	Yes	System prompt
tools	No	Tool array. Inherits all if omitted
model	No	sonnet, opus, haiku, or inherit

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System Prompt Flags

Flag	Behavior	Modes
--system-prompt	Replaces entire default	Interactive + Print
--system-prompt-file	Replaces with file contents	Print only
--append-system-prompt	Appends to default	Interactive + Print
--append-system-prompt-file	Appends file to default	Print only

• --system-prompt and --system-prompt-file are mutually exclusive
• Append flags can combine with either replacement flag
• --append-system-prompt is recommended for most cases (preserves built-in capabilities)