Skill

claude-code-headless

Runs Claude Code headlessly via CLI for scripting, CI/CD pipelines, and automation. Supports JSON outputs, session resuming, tool permissions, and permission modes.

Bash

CI/CD

cli-tools

automation

Install

npx claudepluginhub 0xdarkmatter/claude-mods

Tool Access

This skill is limited to using the following tools:

Bash Read

Preview

Run Claude Code from scripts without interactive UI.

Supporting Assets

references/cli-options.mdreferences/integration-patterns.mdreferences/output-formats.md

SKILL.md

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Stats

Stars17

Forks1

Last CommitApr 10, 2026

Actions

View Source View Plugin View on GitHub View README

Claude Code Headless Mode

Run Claude Code from scripts without interactive UI.

Quick Start

# Basic headless execution
claude -p "Explain this code" --allowedTools "Read,Grep"

# JSON output for parsing
claude -p "List files" --output-format json

# Continue conversation
claude -p "Start analysis" --output-format json > result.json
session=$(jq -r '.session_id' result.json)
claude --resume "$session" "Now fix the issues"

Essential CLI Options

Flag	Description
`-p`, `--print`	Non-interactive (headless) mode
`--output-format`	text, json, stream-json
`-r`, `--resume`	Resume by session ID
`-c`, `--continue`	Continue most recent session
`--allowedTools`	Comma-separated allowed tools
`--disallowedTools`	Comma-separated denied tools
`--mcp-config`	Path to MCP server config JSON
`--verbose`	Enable verbose logging
`--append-system-prompt`	Add to system prompt

Permission Modes

Mode	Flag	Effect
Default	(none)	Prompt for permissions
Accept edits	`--permission-mode acceptEdits`	Auto-accept file changes
Bypass	`--permission-mode bypassPermissions`	Skip all prompts

Output Formats

Text (default)

claude -p "Hello"
# Outputs: Human-readable response

JSON

claude -p "Hello" --output-format json

{
  "type": "result",
  "subtype": "success",
  "result": "Hello! How can I help?",
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "total_cost_usd": 0.001,
  "duration_ms": 1234,
  "num_turns": 1
}

Stream-JSON

claude -p "Hello" --output-format stream-json
# Real-time JSONL output for each message

Common Patterns

Script with tool restrictions

claude -p "Analyze the codebase" \
  --allowedTools "Read,Grep,Glob" \
  --disallowedTools "Write,Edit,Bash"

CI/CD integration

claude -p "Review this PR diff" \
  --permission-mode acceptEdits \
  --output-format json \
  --append-system-prompt "Focus on security issues"

Multi-turn automation

session=$(claude -p "Start task" --output-format json | jq -r '.session_id')
claude --resume "$session" "Continue with step 2"
claude --resume "$session" "Finalize and report"

Error Handling

result=$(claude -p "Task" --output-format json)
if [[ $(echo "$result" | jq -r '.is_error') == "true" ]]; then
    echo "Error: $(echo "$result" | jq -r '.result')" >&2
    exit 1
fi

Official Documentation

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/headless - Headless mode reference
https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings - Settings and permissions

Additional Resources

./references/cli-options.md - Complete CLI flag reference
./references/output-formats.md - Output format schemas
./references/integration-patterns.md - CI/CD and scripting examples

See Also: claude-code-hooks for automation events, claude-code-debug for troubleshooting