`--add-dir`

A Claude Code CLI flag, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.138, including the newest one read.

What it is

Add additional working directories for Claude to read and edit files. Grants file access; most .claude/ configuration is [not discovered](/docs/en/permissions#additional-directories-grant-file-access-not-configuration) from these directories. Validates each path exists as a directory. To persist these directories across sessions, set [permissions.additionalDirectories](/docs/en/settings-reference#permissions-additionaldirectories) in settings

Anthropic's own wording. Read off CLI reference, captured 2026-08-28.

Presence across releases

Releases	Reading	Declared type	Default
2.1.245 – 2.1.250 5 releases	never mined	—	—
2.1.138 – 2.1.243 95 releases	in the build	—	—

A row reading never mined is a release with no archived bundle behind it. Nothing was read out of it, so nothing here says whether the name was in it. A declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.

Changelog entries naming it

v2.1.234Early flag scan no longer mistakes tool lists and directories for flags
Tool lists and directories passed to flags are no longer misread as flags themselves at startup.

named in this entry
v2.1.219register_repo_root accepts launch-time roots and rejects duplicates
Registering a repo root now accepts launch-time --add-dir roots and clearly rejects duplicates or bad paths.

named in this entry
v2.1.219register_repo_root accepts launch-time directories and rejects duplicates
You can register repo roots under any directory passed with --add-dir, and duplicates now say so clearly.

named in this entry

Documentation pages

CLI reference reference table Claude Code CLI
Use Claude Code features in the SDK mentions it Claude Code CLI
Agent SDK reference - Python mentions it Claude Code CLI
Extend agents with skills mentions it Claude Code CLI
Subagents in the SDK mentions it Claude Code CLI
Agent SDK reference - TypeScript mentions it Claude Code CLI
Manage multiple agents with agent view mentions it Claude Code CLI
Claude Code changelog mentions it Claude Code CLI
Desktop application mentions it Claude Code CLI
Environment variables mentions it Claude Code CLI
Glossary mentions it Claude Code CLI
Run Claude Code programmatically mentions it Claude Code CLI
Hooks reference mentions it Claude Code CLI

A reference table page is one whose own table defines this name, and it is where the description above came from. A page that mentions it carries the name somewhere in its text and may say nothing about it at all. Every page carrying it.

Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the CLI flag does. All CLI flags.