CLI Reference
Ante can run as an interactive TUI, a one-shot headless command, a long-lived protocol server, or a channel gateway.
ante [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ante | Start the interactive TUI. If -p / --prompt is provided, run in headless mode instead. |
ante serve | Run a long-lived JSONL or WebSocket protocol server. |
ante gateway | Run the Slack / Discord channel gateway. |
ante update | Check for the latest Ante release and install it if available. |
ante
ante [OPTIONS]
Without --prompt, Ante starts the interactive TUI. With --prompt, Ante runs one headless task and exits.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-m, --model <MODEL> | Override the default model name. |
--provider <PROVIDER> | Override the API provider by catalog provider name. |
--yolo | Skip tool approval prompts for the session. |
--system-prompt <PROMPT> | Replace the default system prompt entirely. |
--append-system-prompt <TEXT> | Append content to the default system prompt. |
--allowed-tools <TOOLS>... | Only allow these tools. Values are space-separated. |
--disallowed-tools <TOOLS>... | Remove these tools from the session. Values are space-separated. |
--output-format <FORMAT> | Headless output format: json, human, or minimal. Defaults to minimal. |
-p, --prompt <PROMPT> | Prompt to run in headless mode. Also supports stdin when piped. |
--check | Run a verification pass after the headless task completes. |
-r, --resume <SESSION_ID> | Resume a previous session by ID. |
--offline-model <PATH> | Path to a local GGUF model file for offline inference. |
--simple-agent | Use the built-in simple agent prompt with PTY and ImageRead tools. |
-h, --help | Print command help. |
-V, --version | Print the Ante version. |
Examples
ante
ante -p "explain what this project does"
git diff | ante -p "review this diff for bugs"
ante --provider openai --model gpt-5.4 -p "refactor the database module"
ante --resume ses_01ARZ3NDEKTSV4RRFFQ69G5FAV -p "now add tests"
ante serve
ante serve [OPTIONS]
Server mode exposes the Ante protocol over stdin/stdout by default, or over WebSocket when --ws is provided.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-m, --model <MODEL> | Override the default model name. |
--stdio | Serve the JSONL protocol over stdin/stdout. This is the default transport. |
--provider <PROVIDER> | Override the API provider by catalog provider name. |
--ws <ADDR> | Serve the protocol over WebSocket on the given socket address. |
--offline-model <PATH> | Load a local GGUF model at startup for offline mode. |
--yolo | Skip tool approval prompts for the session. |
--system-prompt <PROMPT> | Replace the default system prompt entirely. |
--append-system-prompt <TEXT> | Append content to the default system prompt. |
--allowed-tools <TOOLS>... | Only allow these tools. Values are space-separated. |
--disallowed-tools <TOOLS>... | Remove these tools from the session. Values are space-separated. |
-h, --help | Print command help. |
Examples
ante serve
ante serve --ws 127.0.0.1:8080
ante serve --provider anthropic --model claude-sonnet-4-6
ante gateway
ante gateway [OPTIONS]
Gateway mode connects Ante to Slack, Discord, or both using the channels config file.
| Flag | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
--config <PATH> | ~/.ante/channels.json | Path to the channels configuration file. |
--model <MODEL> | local | Model to use for agent sessions. |
--provider <PROVIDER> | local | Provider to use for agent sessions. |
--yolo | - | Skip tool approval prompts for gateway sessions. |
--output-format <FORMAT> | minimal | Gateway stdout format: json, human, or minimal. |
--system-prompt <PROMPT> | - | Replace the default system prompt entirely. |
--append-system-prompt <TEXT> | - | Append content to the default system prompt. |
--offline-model <PATH> | - | Load a local GGUF model for all gateway conversations. |
--allowed-tools <TOOLS>... | - | Only allow these tools. Values are space-separated. |
--disallowed-tools <TOOLS>... | - | Remove these tools from the session. Values are space-separated. |
-h, --help | - | Print command help. |
Examples
ante gateway
ante gateway --provider anthropic --model claude-sonnet-4-6
ante gateway --config ./channels.json --output-format human
ante update
ante update [OPTIONS] [CHANNEL]
The update command checks for a newer Ante release and installs it when one is available. Without arguments, it follows the channel stored in ~/.ante/settings.json (defaults to stable). Passing a channel — either as a positional argument or via --channel — overrides the tracked channel for this run only. See Update & Channels for the full list of channels.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
[CHANNEL] | Release channel to update from (stable or nightly). Conflicts with --channel. |
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--channel <CHANNEL> | Release channel to update from. Equivalent to the positional form. |
-h, --help | Print command help. |
Examples
ante update
ante update nightly
ante update --channel stable
Output Formats
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
minimal | Print agent messages, info, and errors only. |
human | Print all events in a human-readable format. |
json | Print events as JSON lines for machine processing. |