Subcommands

Subcommands are standalone workflows that don’t launch the interactive REPL (except where noted). Run claude <subcommand> --help for details specific to each subcommand.

claude auth login

• Purpose: Sign in to your Anthropic account.
• Usage: claude auth login [--email <email>] [--sso] [--console]
• Flags:
  • --email <email> — Pre-populate email address on the login page.
  • --sso — Force SSO authentication.
  • --console — Use Anthropic Console (API usage billing) instead of Claude subscription.
  • --claudeai — Use Claude subscription (default).
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference
• Example: claude auth login --console

claude auth logout

• Purpose: Log out from your Anthropic account.
• Usage: claude auth logout
• Flags: None.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference
• Example: claude auth logout

claude auth status

• Purpose: Show authentication status as JSON.
• Usage: claude auth status [--json] [--text]
• Flags:
  • --json — Output as JSON (default).
  • --text — Output as human-readable text.
• Exit code: 0 if logged in, 1 if not.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference
• Example: claude auth status --text

claude agents

• Purpose: List all configured subagents, grouped by source.
• Usage: claude agents
• Flags: None.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference
• Example: claude agents

claude auto-mode defaults

• Purpose: Print the built-in auto mode classifier rules as JSON.
• Usage: claude auto-mode defaults
• Alternative: claude auto-mode config — see your effective config with settings applied.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference
• Example: claude auto-mode defaults > rules.json

claude doctor

• Purpose: Check the health of your Claude Code auto-updater.
• Usage: claude doctor
• Flags: None.
• Note: The workspace trust dialog is skipped; stdio servers from .mcp.json are spawned for health checks. Only use in directories you trust.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference
• Example: claude doctor

claude mcp serve

• Purpose: Start the Claude Code MCP server.
• Usage: claude mcp serve [--debug] [--verbose]
• Flags:
  • --debug, -d — Enable debug mode.
  • --verbose — Override verbose mode setting from config.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp
• Example: claude mcp serve --debug

claude mcp list

• Purpose: List configured MCP servers.
• Usage: claude mcp list
• Flags: None.
• Note: Workspace trust dialog is skipped; stdio servers are spawned for health checks. Only use in directories you trust.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp
• Example: claude mcp list

claude mcp add-json

• Purpose: Add an MCP server (stdio or SSE) with a JSON string.
• Usage: claude mcp add-json <name> <json> [--scope <scope>] [--client-secret]
• Flags:
  • --scope <scope> — Configuration scope: local, user, or project (default: local).
  • --client-secret — Prompt for OAuth client secret (or set MCP_CLIENT_SECRET env var).
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp
• Example: claude mcp add-json my-server '{"command":"python","args":["-m","mcp_server"]}'

claude mcp remove

• Purpose: Remove an MCP server.
• Usage: claude mcp remove <name> [--scope <scope>]
• Flags:
  • --scope <scope> — Configuration scope (local, user, or project). If not specified, removes from whichever scope it exists in.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp
• Example: claude mcp remove my-server --scope user

claude mcp get

• Purpose: Get details about a configured MCP server.
• Usage: claude mcp get <name>
• Flags: None.
• Source: main.tsx:3930
• Example: claude mcp get my-server
• Notes: The workspace-trust dialog is skipped and stdio servers from .mcp.json are spawned for health checks. Only run this in directories you trust.

claude mcp add-from-claude-desktop

• Purpose: Import MCP servers from your Claude Desktop configuration (Mac and WSL only).
• Usage: claude mcp add-from-claude-desktop [-s <scope>]
• Flags:
  • -s, --scope <scope> — Configuration scope: local, user, or project (default: local).
• Source: main.tsx:3945
• Example: claude mcp add-from-claude-desktop --scope user

claude mcp reset-project-choices

• Purpose: Reset all approved/rejected project-scoped (.mcp.json) servers for the current project.
• Usage: claude mcp reset-project-choices
• Flags: None.
• Source: main.tsx:3953
• Example: claude mcp reset-project-choices
• Notes: Clears the approval/rejection state for project-level MCP servers. Next time Claude encounters one, it will prompt again.

claude plugin install

• Purpose: Install a plugin from available marketplaces.
• Usage: claude plugin install <plugin> [-s <scope>]
• Flags:
  • -s, --scope <scope> — Installation scope: user, project, or local (default: user).
• Syntax: Use plugin@marketplace to specify a marketplace.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins
• Example: claude plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official

claude plugin list

• Purpose: List installed plugins.
• Usage: claude plugin list [--json] [--available]
• Flags:
  • --json — Output as JSON.
  • --available — Include available plugins from marketplaces (requires --json).
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins
• Example: claude plugin list --json

claude plugin uninstall

• Purpose: Uninstall an installed plugin.
• Usage: claude plugin uninstall <plugin> [-s <scope>] [--keep-data]
• Flags:
  • -s, --scope <scope> — Uninstall from scope: user, project, or local (default: user).
  • --keep-data — Preserve the plugin’s persistent data directory.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins
• Example: claude plugin uninstall my-plugin --scope project

claude plugin enable / claude plugin disable

• Purpose: Enable or disable a plugin.
• Usage: claude plugin enable <plugin> / claude plugin disable [plugin] [--all]
• Flags (disable):
  • --all — Disable all enabled plugins.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins
• Example: claude plugin disable --all

claude plugin update

• Purpose: Update a plugin to the latest version (restart required).
• Usage: claude plugin update <plugin> [-s <scope>]
• Flags:
  • -s, --scope <scope> — Installation scope: user, project, or local (default: user).
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins
• Example: claude plugin update my-plugin

claude plugin validate

• Purpose: Validate a plugin or marketplace manifest.
• Usage: claude plugin validate <path>
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins-reference
• Example: claude plugin validate ./my-plugin

claude plugin marketplace add

• Purpose: Add a marketplace from a URL, path, or GitHub repo.
• Usage: claude plugin marketplace add <source> [--sparse <paths...>] [--scope <scope>]
• Flags:
  • --sparse <paths...> — Limit checkout to specific directories via git sparse-checkout (for monorepos).
  • --scope <scope> — Where to declare the marketplace: user (default), project, or local.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins-reference
• Example: claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/user/plugins --sparse .claude-plugin plugins

claude plugin marketplace list

• Purpose: List all configured marketplaces.
• Usage: claude plugin marketplace list [--json]
• Flags:
  • --json — Output as JSON.
• Source: main.tsx:4182
• Example: claude plugin marketplace list --json

claude plugin marketplace remove

• Purpose: Remove a configured marketplace.
• Usage: claude plugin marketplace remove <name>
• Aliases: rm
• Flags: None.
• Source: main.tsx:4191
• Example: claude plugin marketplace remove community-tools

claude plugin marketplace update

• Purpose: Pull the latest marketplace manifest(s) from their sources.
• Usage: claude plugin marketplace update [name]
• Flags: None.
• Source: main.tsx:4199
• Example: claude plugin marketplace update (updates all) or claude plugin marketplace update community-tools

claude remote-control

• Purpose: Start a Remote Control server to control Claude Code from claude.ai or the Claude app.
• Usage: claude remote-control [--name <name>]
• Flags:
  • --name <name> — Optionally name the session.
• Note: Runs in server mode (no local interactive session).
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/remote-control
• Example: claude remote-control --name "My Project"

claude setup-token

• Purpose: Generate a long-lived OAuth token for CI and scripts.
• Usage: claude setup-token
• Flags: None.
• Requirements: Requires a Claude subscription.
• Note: Prints the token to the terminal without saving it.
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/authentication#generate-a-long-lived-token
• Example: claude setup-token

claude ssh

• Purpose: Run Claude Code on a remote Linux host over SSH. Deploys the binary and tunnels API auth back through your local machine — no remote setup needed.
• Usage: claude ssh <user@host | ssh-config-alias> [dir]
• Flags:
  • --permission-mode <mode> — Permission mode for the remote session.
  • --dangerously-skip-permissions — Skip all permission prompts on the remote (dangerous).
  • --local — e2e test mode: spawn the child CLI locally without SSH. Exercises the auth proxy and unix-socket plumbing without needing a remote host.
• Gating: SSH_REMOTE feature flag.
• Source: main.tsx:4046
• Example: claude ssh user@example.com /srv/app

claude open

• Purpose: Connect to a Claude Code server via a cc:// URL (internal).
• Usage: claude open <cc-url> [-p [prompt]] [--output-format <format>]
• Flags:
  • -p, --print [prompt] — Headless mode; optionally provide a prompt.
  • --output-format <format> — text (default), json, or stream-json.
• Gating: DIRECT_CONNECT feature flag.
• Source: main.tsx:4059
• Example: claude open cc://host.example.com:8443?token=...
• Notes: Interactive mode (no -p) is handled by early argv rewriting and delegates to the main command with full TUI support; the subcommand itself only runs the headless path.

claude update

• Purpose: Check for updates and install if available.
• Usage: claude update
• Alias: claude upgrade
• Source URL: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference
• Example: claude update

---

← Back to CLI/README.md