--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.
Begin in a specified permission mode. 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. For -p, that's default when nothing is configured
Anthropic's own wording. Read off CLI reference, captured 2026-09-26.
In the changelogs
18Releases whose published page names --permission-mode.
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v2.1.300
Notice for self-hosted runners when your default permission mode is ignored
Claude Code has a notice for self-hosted runners saying your settings' default permission mode does not apply
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.290
New --proactivity flag sets how much Claude does on its own at startup
A
--proactivityflag picks the proactivity level when Claude Code starts, andCLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_PROACTIVITYturns the selector offfound in this entry's text
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v2.1.290
A proactivity level can set the permission mode a session starts in
When a proactivity level other than default is set, Claude Code can choose the starting permission mode from it
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.290
Proactivity level changes now reach remote sessions
Changing the permission mode or proactivity level now notifies remote clients, and a
--proactivityvalue is recorded with--permission-modefound in this entry's text
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v2.1.290
Teammates now inherit the lead session's proactivity level
Teammates started by a lead session now receive
--proactivitywith the lead's level when one is setfound in this entry's text
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v2.1.288
Cloud sessions now say
--permission-modesets their permission modeThe cloud session message now says the permission mode is not inherited and is set by
--permission-mode, not taken from the repository's settingsfound in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.281
Hidden
claude -p --cloudheadless cloud-print path added, but compiled offCode for a headless
claude -p --cloudrun is added, but the switch that enables it returns false, so no one can use it in 2.1.281found in this entry's text
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v2.1.281
--permission-mode not sent in serve-only mode
In serve-only mode, Claude Code no longer sends the startup request built from --permission-mode
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.259
Additional CLI permission modes surfaced when replaying session state
Replayed sessions now round-trip the default, plan, dontAsk and bubble permission modes, not just the three previously handled.
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.248
claude remote-controlrefuses flags typed before the verbFlags typed before remote-control now error out instead of being silently dropped.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.246
Session 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, found in this entry's text
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v2.1.242
Cloud-hosted sessions now refuse local CLI options instead of quietly dropping them
Running with --cloud now tells you which local CLI options were ignored or refused, and why.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.228
Relaunching Claude Code keeps your selected model
Restarting after an update keeps the model you picked instead of reverting to the default.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.224
self-hosted-runner setupanddoctorwalk you through it in a scoped Claude sessionsetup and doctor relaunch Claude with a restricted toolset to walk you through runner install and diagnostics.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.122
Background Job Safety Guards
found in this entry's text
- v2.1.119
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v2.1.71
Auto Mode (
--permission-mode auto)found in this entry's text
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v2.1.63
--permission-mode CLI Flag
found in this entry's text
First cited
4The earliest release whose published evidence quoted --permission-mode was v2.1.63, 28 Feb 2026. That is the oldest release this project wrote about it, so it is a floor on the name's age and not the release that introduced it. It is not a presence reading: which builds carried the name is the table below.
Presence across releases
1Build by build
145One row per release since the first build this name was read out of. Absent means the build was read and the name was not in it, never mined means no bundle for that release was ever archived, and a declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
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.