--print

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.

Also written -p. Every list on this page counts all of these spellings together.

Releases whose published page names --print.

1. v2.1.305 20 Oct 2026
   claude -p keeps waiting for background shells a built-in plugin holds

   A built-in plugin can now make claude -p wait for a background shell before it exits

   named in this entry

2. v2.1.304 19 Oct 2026
   --json-schema help now says it only works with --print

   The help text for --json-schema now notes that it only works together with --print

   found in this entry's text, named in this entry

3. v2.1.302 16 Oct 2026
   claude -p with --continue or --resume now exits on certain errors

   In print mode, some failures while continuing or resuming a conversation now print the error and exit with code 1 instead of starting empty

   named in this entry

4. v2.1.296 9 Oct 2026
   Resumed remote sessions stop instead of running without their saved state

   When a resumed remote session cannot read its saved state, Claude Code now exits with an error instead of starting a turn with nothing

   found in this entry's text, named in this entry

5. v2.1.290 5 Oct 2026
   Resuming with --resume and --print can append an attachment

   When a resumed non-interactive session drops its last turn, Claude Code can now add an attachment entry instead of only trimming

   found in this entry's text, named in this entry

6. v2.1.287 1 Oct 2026
   Claude Code recognises --cloud used with --attach-serve when loading settings

   Starting with --cloud or --remote plus --attach-serve, and without -p, now changes how some settings sources are treated

   found in this entry's text, named in this entry

7. v2.1.286 30 Sep 2026
   Resuming in --print mode always runs its cleanup step

   When a session is resumed in --print mode with an SDK connection, Claude Code now runs its cleanup step at the end even if something fails

   found in this entry's text, named in this entry

8. v2.1.285 29 Sep 2026
   Changed list of startup flags Claude Code singles out

   Claude Code now keeps a set of startup flags, including --print, --background and --version, that it treats as a group

   found in this entry's text

9. v2.1.282 24 Sep 2026
   SDK output format checks now start only after the session goes idle

   Sampled checks of SDK output against its expected format now wait until the first result is written and the session is idle

   found in this entry's text, named in this entry

10. v2.1.281 23 Sep 2026
    New SDK pre-warmed spare process: --await-claim plus claim_session control request

    A hidden --await-claim option lets an SDK host start a spare Claude Code process early and bind it to a session later

    found in this entry's text

11. v2.1.281 23 Sep 2026
    Hidden claude -p --cloud headless cloud-print path added, but compiled off

    Code for a headless claude -p --cloud run is added, but the switch that enables it returns false, so no one can use it in 2.1.281

    found in this entry's text

12. v2.1.281 23 Sep 2026
    --agents can now take a file path instead of inline JSON, but only in print mode

    --agents now accepts a path to a file of subagent definitions, but only with --print (-p); interactive sessions still need inline JSON

    found in this entry's text

13. v2.1.281 23 Sep 2026
    --bg rejects --agents given as a file

    Using --bg with --agents pointing at a file now fails; pass the agents as inline JSON instead

    found in this entry's text

14. v2.1.281 23 Sep 2026
    --no-session-persistence check moved earlier and now applied immediately

    --no-session-persistence is checked earlier and takes effect at once, and --managed-settings and setting sources are passed to child processes

    found in this entry's text, named in this entry

15. v2.1.274 16 Sep 2026
    Startup: fastMode/advisor settings sync extracted into shared helper

    Headless startup's fastMode and advisor settings sync moved into shared helper functions

    found in this entry's text

16. v2.1.274 16 Sep 2026
    Force-login-org / policy validation failures now get logged and reported with a reason

    Failed org/policy validation during headless startup now gets logged with a reason

    found in this entry's text

17. v2.1.274 16 Sep 2026
    CLI startup errors now carry a machine-readable startupFailureReason

    Headless Claude Code errors now include a machine-readable startupFailureReason field like session_held_by_background

    found in this entry's text

18. v2.1.268 10 Sep 2026
    Remote-session org-policy denials now emit telemetry

    Blocked remote-session actions from org policy now emit a tengu_org_policy_denied telemetry event

    found in this entry's text

19. v2.1.268 10 Sep 2026
    New num_turns-adjacent 'seq' field documented for stream-json results

    Stream-json results from claude -p now document a 'seq' delivery-order field

    named in this entry

20. v2.1.268 10 Sep 2026
    Print-mode resume gains cloud-session fork seed adoption and a hydration pass

    Print-mode session resume can now pick up where a forked cloud session left off

    found in this entry's text

21. v2.1.265 8 Sep 2026
    --fallback-model no longer claims to require --print

    The --fallback-model CLI help no longer says it only works with --print

    found in this entry's text

22. v2.1.261 4 Sep 2026
    MCP task-sidecar restore in --print mode is hard-gated off

    MCP task-sidecar restore in print mode is hard-gated off unconditionally.

    found in this entry's text, named in this entry

23. v2.1.260 3 Sep 2026
    --json-schema now warns on unusable schemas instead of failing silently

    An unusable --json-schema now warns you with the specific problem instead of failing silently.

    found in this entry's text

24. v2.1.259 2 Sep 2026
    New --permission-prompts host|none CLI/SDK option to silently auto-deny prompts

    A new --permission-prompts option lets print sessions auto-deny anything that would prompt instead of asking the host.

    found in this entry's text

25. v2.1.257 1 Sep 2026
    print --continue now reports when a background session blocks resume

    claude -p --continue now says a matching session is running in the background instead of silently finding nothing.

    named in this entry

26. v2.1.251 28 Aug 2026
    Cloud sessions report why they failed to start

    A cloud session that failed to start now shows the actual reason instead of a generic error.

    named in this entry, found in this entry's text

27. v2.1.247 26 Aug 2026
    Resume can classify a turn that was interrupted at shutdown

    Resuming now recognises a turn that was cut off when Claude Code shut down mid-tool.

    found in this entry's text

28. v2.1.246 25 Aug 2026
    Non-interactive runs retry a response that was cut off mid-stream

    A cut-off streaming reply in claude -p is now retried automatically, asking the model to resume.

    named in this entry

29. v2.1.242 24 Aug 2026
    --print with --cloud can message an existing cloud session

    You can now use --print with --cloud to message an existing cloud session.

    named in this entry, found in this entry's text

30. v2.1.239 21 Aug 2026
    Command-line flag parsing rewritten around an explicit table of value-taking flags

    Flags that take values no longer swallow or drop their arguments, and -- is handled.

    found in this entry's text

31. v2.1.239 21 Aug 2026
    One shared test for whether a run is headless

    One shared check now decides whether a run is non-interactive, covering print mode and piped output.

    named in this entry, found in this entry's text

32. v2.1.239 21 Aug 2026
    A -p in an argument value no longer forces print mode

    A -p inside an argument value no longer silently switches you into print mode.

    found in this entry's text, named in this entry

33. v2.1.238 20 Aug 2026
    Print mode can reuse one engine across prompts

    Set one variable and print mode keeps the model, tools and caches warm between prompts instead of rebuilding.

    named in this entry

34. v2.1.229 12 Aug 2026
    A whitespace-only prompt gets its own error

    A prompt of only spaces to --print now gets its own clear error.

    named in this entry, found in this entry's text

35. v2.1.223 5 Aug 2026
    permission_denied events fire even without a permission prompt

    Headless and SDK runs now report permission denials even when no prompt was ever shown.

    named in this entry

36. v2.1.223 5 Aug 2026
    New hidden CLI flag --resume-drops-turn

    A hidden flag lets you declare which turn a truncating resume is meant to discard.

    named in this entry

37. v2.1.221 3 Aug 2026
    In non-interactive runs, built-in help and feedback no longer reserve those command names

    You can name a plugin or custom command help or feedback and it will work in claude -p runs.

    named in this entry

38. v2.1.219 24 Jul 2026
    Headless text output recovers the last full assistant message on an incomplete run

    In headless text runs, an incomplete ending no longer swallows the last full answer.

    named in this entry

39. v2.1.211 15 Jul 2026
    --forward-subagent-text CLI Flag

    found in this entry's text

40. v2.1.205 8 Jul 2026
    --append-subagent-system-prompt flag

    found in this entry's text

41. v2.1.198 1 Jul 2026
    --bg and --allow-tools Flags for claude agents

    found in this entry's text

42. v2.1.181 17 Jun 2026
    /config key=value — Set Settings from the Command Line

    found in this entry's text

43. v2.1.174 11 Jun 2026

    found in this entry's text

44. v2.1.118 22 Apr 2026
    --plan-mode-instructions CLI Flag

    found in this entry's text

45. v2.1.101 10 Apr 2026
    Resume Sessions by Title

    found in this entry's text

46. v2.1.79 18 Mar 2026
    SIGINT Handling in Print Mode

    found in this entry's text

47. v2.1.71 6 Mar 2026
    --workload CLI Flag

    found in this entry's text

48. v2.1.69 4 Mar 2026
    --prefill CLI Flag

    found in this entry's text

49. v2.0.24 20 Oct 2025
    Optimized SDK Performance

    found in this entry's text

50. v1.0.63 29 Jul 2025
    Better Error Handling in Print Mode

    found in this entry's text

51. v1.0.62 28 Jul 2025
    Fixed

    found in this entry's text

52. v1.0.37 27 Jun 2025
    Print Mode Support

    found in this entry's text

53. v0.2.117 17 May 2025
    Enhanced Print Mode (--print) 📄

    found in this entry's text

The earliest release whose published evidence quoted --print was v2.1.118, 22 Apr 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.

3 further spans in the ledger name it. The list above is the earliest first and stops at 6.

One 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.