`--permission-mode`

A Claude Code CLI flag, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.142, including the newest one read.

What it is

Begin in a specified [permission mode](/docs/en/permission-modes). Accepts default, acceptEdits, plan, auto, dontAsk, bypassPermissions, or manual as an alias for default. The manual alias selects the permission mode the UI labels Manual and requires Claude Code v2.1.200 or later; claude --help lists it in place of default, and both values work. Overrides defaultMode from settings files. Without this flag or --dangerously-skip-permissions, a new session starts in the permission mode described in [which permission mode a session starts in](/docs/en/permission-modes#which-mode-a-session-starts-in). For -p, that's default when nothing is configured

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

Presence across releases

Releases	Reading	Declared type	Default
2.1.245 – 2.1.251 6 releases	never mined	—	—
2.1.142 – 2.1.243 91 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

v2.1.246Session start records whether a permission mode was given on the command line
Sessions now record whether you passed a permission mode on the command line or inherited one.

named in this entry

Documentation pages

CLI reference reference table Claude Code CLI
Manage multiple agents with agent view mentions it Claude Code CLI
Best practices for Claude Code mentions it Claude Code CLI
Claude Code changelog mentions it Claude Code CLI
Use Claude Code on the web mentions it Claude Code CLI
Explore the .claude directory mentions it Claude Code CLI
Common workflows mentions it Claude Code CLI
Desktop application mentions it Claude Code CLI
Claude Code GitLab CI/CD mentions it Claude Code CLI
Run Claude Code programmatically mentions it Claude Code CLI
Hooks reference mentions it Claude Code CLI
Automate actions with hooks mentions it Claude Code CLI
Choose a permission mode 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.

Names beside it

Every CLI flag in the inventory starting --permission, up to twelve of them.

--permission-prompt-toolSpecify an MCP tool to handle permission prompts in non-interactive mode. Claude Code waits for that tool's MCP server to connect before running the first turn, up to the [MCP_TIMEOUT](/docs/en/env-vars) startup timeout, 30 seconds by default. <br /><br />The prompt tool can't approve an MCP tool marked as [requiring user interaction](/docs/en/mcp#require-approval-for-a-specific-tool): Claude Code converts an allow result for one to a deny. This restriction requires Claude Code v2.1.199 or later never mined

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.