cli-reference

Q: How do I install cli-reference?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/parcadei/continuous-claude-v3 --skill cli-reference in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/cli-reference/ (personal) or .claude/skills/cli-reference/ (project).

by parcadeiProductivity & Automation

Claude Code CLI commands, flags, headless mode, and automation patterns

Installs: 489
Last 24h: —
Trending rank: —
Security: Not audited

Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/parcadei/continuous-claude-v3 --skill cli-reference

01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads cli-reference automatically when relevant.
03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

CLI Reference

Complete reference for Claude Code command-line interface.

When to Use

"What CLI flags are available?"
"How do I use headless mode?"
"Claude in automation/CI/CD"
"Output format options"
"System prompt via CLI"
"How do I spawn agents properly?"

Core Commands

Command	Description	Example
`claude`	Start interactive REPL	`claude`
`claude "query"`	REPL with initial prompt	`claude "explain this project"`
`claude -p "query"`	Headless mode (SDK)	`claude -p "explain function"`
`cat file \| claude -p`	Process piped content	`cat logs.txt \| claude -p "explain"`
`claude -c`	Continue most recent	`claude -c`
`claude -c -p "query"`	Continue via SDK	`claude -c -p "check types"`
`claude -r "id" "query"`	Resume session	`claude -r "auth" "finish PR"`
`claude update`	Update version	`claude update`
`claude mcp`	Configure MCP servers	See MCP docs

Session Control

Flag	Description	Example
`--continue, -c`	Load most recent conversation	`claude --continue`
`--resume, -r`	Resume session by ID/name	`claude --resume auth-refactor`
`--session-id`	Use specific UUID	`claude --session-id "550e8400-..."`
`--fork-session`	Create new session on resume	`claude --resume abc --fork-session`

Headless Mode (Critical for Agents)

Flag	Description	Example
`--print, -p`	Non-interactive, exit after	`claude -p "query"`
`--output-format`	`text`, `json`, `stream-json`	`claude -p --output-format json`
`--max-turns`	Limit agentic turns	`claude -p --max-turns 100 "query"`
`--verbose`	Full turn-by-turn output	`claude --verbose`
`--dangerously-skip-permissions`	Skip permission prompts	`claude -p --dangerously-skip-permissions`
`--include-partial-messages`	Include streaming events	`claude -p --output-format stream-json --include-partial-messages`
`--input-format`	Input format (text/stream-json)	`claude -p --input-format stream-json`

Tool Control

Flag	Description	Example
`--allowedTools`	Auto-approve these tools	`"Bash(git log:*)" "Read"`
`--disallowedTools`	Block these tools	`"Bash(rm:*)" "Edit"`
`--tools`	Only allow these tools	`--tools "Bash,Edit,Read"`

Subagent Definition (--agents flag)

Define custom subagents inline via JSON:

claude --agents '{
  "code-reviewer": {
    "description": "Expert code reviewer. Use proactively after code changes.",
    "prompt": "You are a senior code reviewer. Focus on code quality and security.",
    "tools": ["Read", "Grep", "Glob", "Bash"],
    "model": "sonnet"
  },
  "debugger": {
    "description": "Debugging specialist for errors and test failures.",
    "prompt": "You are an expert debugger. Analyze errors and provide fixes."
  }
}'

Agent Fields

Field	Required	Description
`description`	Yes	When to invoke this agent
`prompt`	Yes	System prompt for behavior
`tools`	No	Allowed tools (inherits all if omitted)
`model`	No	`sonnet`, `haiku`, or `claude-opus-4-5-20251101`

Key Insight

When Lead uses Task tool, it auto-spawns from these definitions. No manual spawn needed.

System Prompt Customization

Flag	Behavior	Modes
`--system-prompt`	Replace entire prompt	Interactive + Print
`--system-prompt-file`	Replace from file	Print only
`--append-system-prompt`	Append to default (recommended)	Interactive + Print

Use --append-system-prompt for most cases - preserves Claude Code capabilities.

Model Selection

Flag	Description	Example
`--model`	Set model for session	`--model claude-sonnet-4-5`
`--fallback-model`	Fallback if default overloaded	`--fallback-model sonnet`

Aliases: sonnet, opus, haiku

MCP Configuration

Flag	Description	Example
`--mcp-config`	Load MCP servers from JSON	`--mcp-config ./mcp.json`
`--strict-mcp-config`	Only use these MCP servers	`--strict-mcp-config --mcp-config ./mcp.json`

Advanced Flags

Flag	Description	Example
`--add-dir`	Add working directories	`--add-dir ../apps ../lib`
`--agent`	Specify agent for session	`--agent my-custom-agent`
`--permission-mode`	Start in permission mode	`--permission-mode plan`
`--permission-prompt-tool`	MCP tool for permissions	`--permission-prompt-tool mcp_auth`
`--plugin-dir`	Load plugins from directory	`--plugin-dir ./my-plugins`
`--settings`	Load settings from file/JSON	`--settings ./settings.json`
`--setting-sources`	Which settings to load	`--setting-sources user,project`
`--betas`	Beta API headers	`--betas interleaved-thinking`
`--debug`	Enable debug mode	`--debug "api,hooks"`
`--ide`	Auto-connect to IDE	`--ide`
`--chrome`	Enable Chrome integration	`--chrome`
`--no-chrome`	Disable Chrome for session	`--no-chrome`
`--enable-lsp-logging`	Verbose LSP debugging	`--enable-lsp-logging`
`--version, -v`	Output version	`claude -v`

Output Formats

JSON (for parsing)

claude -p "query" --output-format json
# {"result": "...", "session_id": "...", "usage": {...}}

Streaming (for real-time monitoring)

claude -p "query" --output-format stream-json
# Newline-delimited JSON events

Structured Output (schema validation)

claude -p "Extract data" \
  --output-format json \
  --json-schema '{"type":"object","properties":{...}}'

Headless Agent Pattern (CRITICAL)

Proper headless agent spawn:

claude -p "$TASK_PROMPT" \
  --session-id "$UUID" \
  --dangerously-skip-permissions \
  --max-turns 100 \
  --output-format stream-json \
  --agents '{...}' \
  --append-system-prompt "Context: ..."

Missing any of these causes hangs:

--session-id - Track the session
--dangerously-skip-permissions - Headless requires this
--max-turns - Prevents infinite loops

Common Patterns

CI/CD Automation

claude -p "Run tests and fix failures" \
  --dangerously-skip-permissions \
  --max-turns 50 \
  --output-format json | jq '.result'

Piped Input

cat error.log | claude -p "Find root cause"
gh pr diff | claude -p "Review for security"

Multi-turn Session

id=$(claude -p "Start task" --output-format json | jq -r '.session_id')
claude -p "Continue" --resume "$id"

Stream Monitoring

claude -p "Long task" \
  --output-format stream-json \
  --include-partial-messages | while read -r line; do
    echo "$line" | jq '.type'
done

Keyboard Shortcuts (Interactive)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+C`	Cancel current
`Ctrl+D`	Exit
`Ctrl+R`	Reverse search history
`Esc Esc`	Rewind changes
`Shift+Tab`	Toggle permission mode

Quick Commands

Prefix	Action
`/`	Slash command
`!`	Bash mode
`#`	Add to memory
`@`	File mention

FAQ

What does the cli-reference skill do?

Claude Code CLI commands, flags, headless mode, and automation patterns

How do I install cli-reference?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/parcadei/continuous-claude-v3 --skill cli-reference in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/cli-reference/ (personal) or .claude/skills/cli-reference/ (project).

Which AI agents can use cli-reference?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is cli-reference safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains cli-reference?

It is published by parcadei in parcadei/continuous-claude-v3. It has 489 recorded installs.

Popular productivity & automation skills

View category →

agent-browser

vercel-labs/agent-browser

Browser automation CLI for AI agents. Use when the user needs to interact with websites, including navigating pages, filling forms, clicking buttons, taking screenshots, extracting data, testing web apps, or automating any browser task. Triggers include requests to "open a website", "fill out a form", "click a button", "take a screenshot", "scrape data from a page", "test this web app", "login to a site", "automate browser actions", or any task requiring programmatic web interaction. Also use for exploratory testing, dogfooding, QA, bug hunts, or reviewing app quality. Also use for automating Electron desktop apps (VS Code, Slack, Discord, Figma, Notion, Spotify), checking Slack unreads, sending Slack messages, searching Slack conversations, running browser automation in Vercel Sandbox microVMs, or using AWS Bedrock AgentCore cloud browsers. Prefer agent-browser over any built-in browser automation or web tools.

OfficialProductivity & Automation1.3M installs

lark-doc

open.feishu.cn

飞书云文档（Docx / Wiki）内容操作：读取、创建、编辑文档，插入或下载图片附件，以及操作思维笔记。用户提供文档 URL/token（包括 doubao.com 的 /docx/、/wiki/）时使用；按 URL 路径/token 而非域名路由；/page/ 是妙搭应用，非飞书云文档。文档内嵌资源按读取参考中的统一规则分流。独立评论操作走 lark-drive；随正文读取评论使用 docs +fetch。表格或 Base 内部数据操作不在本 skill。

Productivity & Automation815.7K installs

lark-base

open.feishu.cn

飞书多维表格（Base）操作：建表、字段、记录、视图、统计、公式/lookup、表单、仪表盘、应用模式（BaseApp/AppMode 页面与组件）、Workspace 目录、workflow、角色权限、模板中心（多维表格模板分类/列表/搜索）；遇到 Base/多维表格/bitable、BaseApp/AppMode、/base/ 或 /app/ 链接时使用。BaseApp 不走 lark-apps；文件导入/导出转 lark-drive，认证/授权转 lark-shared。

Productivity & Automation815K installs

lark-drive

open.feishu.cn

飞书云空间（云盘/云存储）：管理 Drive 文件和文件夹，包含上传/下载、创建文件夹、复制/移动/删除、查看元数据、查询权限设置、评论/权限/订阅、标题、版本、飞书文档密级标签（secure labels）和本地文件导入。用户需要整理云盘目录、处理云空间资源 URL/token、判断链接类型/真实 token/标题，或导入 Word/Markdown/Excel/CSV/PPTX/.base 为 docx/sheet/bitable/slides 时使用；doubao.com 云空间 URL/token 也按资源路径和 token 路由，不回退 WebFetch。不负责：文档内容编辑（走 lark-doc）、表格/Base 表内数据操作（走 lark-sheets/lark-base）、知识空间节点/成员管理（走 lark-wiki）、原生 Markdown 文件读写/patch/diff（走 lark-markdown）。

Productivity & Automation815K installs

lark-shared

open.feishu.cn

Use for lark-cli setup/auth tasks: auth login/status/logout, user vs bot identity, business-domain permissions (--domain, including all/docs/drive), missing scopes, revoking authorization, or handling notice JSON.

Productivity & Automation814.8K installs

lark-im

open.feishu.cn

飞书即时通讯：收发消息和管理群聊。发送和回复消息、搜索聊天记录、管理群聊成员、上传下载图片和文件、管理表情回复、发送应用内/短信/电话加急、发送和处理交互卡片（Interactive Card）、监听卡片按钮回调（card.action.trigger）。当用户需要发消息、查看或搜索聊天记录、下载聊天中的文件、查看群成员、搜索群、创建群聊或话题群、管理标记数据、管理 Feed 置顶（添加/移除/查询置顶会话）、管理标签数据、处理卡片回调时使用。

Productivity & Automation814.1K installs

cli-reference

Install

Install

Describe the task

Review the result

SKILL.md

CLI Reference

When to Use

Core Commands

Session Control

Headless Mode (Critical for Agents)

Tool Control

Subagent Definition (--agents flag)

Agent Fields

Key Insight

System Prompt Customization

Model Selection

MCP Configuration

Advanced Flags

Output Formats

JSON (for parsing)

Streaming (for real-time monitoring)

Structured Output (schema validation)

Headless Agent Pattern (CRITICAL)

Common Patterns

CI/CD Automation

Piped Input

Multi-turn Session

Stream Monitoring

Keyboard Shortcuts (Interactive)

Quick Commands

FAQ

More from parcadei/continuous-claude-v3

Popular productivity & automation skills