Headless Mode

Headless mode runs Ante without the TUI — it processes a prompt, executes the task, and exits. This is ideal for scripting, CI/CD pipelines, and automated workflows.

Basic usage

Use the -p / --prompt flag to pass a prompt:

ante -p "explain what this project does"

Or with the long form:

ante --prompt "add tests for the auth module"

Stdin input

Pipe content from stdin:

cat src/main.rs | ante -p "review this code for bugs"

Combine stdin with a prompt:

echo "function add(a, b) { return a + b }" | ante -p "add TypeScript types"

When both stdin and a prompt argument are provided, they are concatenated (stdin first, then the prompt).

CLI reference

ante [OPTIONS] [--prompt <PROMPT>]

Flag	Description
-p, --prompt <PROMPT>	The prompt to run
-m, --model <MODEL>	Override the model name
--provider <PROVIDER>	Override the API provider
--yolo	Skip all tool approval prompts
--output-format <FORMAT>	Output format: json, human, minimal (default: minimal)
--system-prompt <PROMPT>	Replace the default system prompt entirely
--append-system-prompt <TEXT>	Append text to the system prompt
--allowed-tools <TOOLS>...	Only allow these tools (space-separated)
--disallowed-tools <TOOLS>...	Disallow these tools (space-separated)
--check	Run a verification pass after the main task completes

Output formats

Minimal (default)

Shows only agent messages, info, and errors:

ante -p "what does this project do"

Human

Shows all events in a human-readable format with ANSI colors:

ante --output-format human -p "fix the type error in main.rs"

JSON

Outputs every event as a JSON object (one per line), suitable for machine consumption:

ante --output-format json -p "list all TODO comments" | jq '.event'

Verification check

The --check flag runs a second pass after the main task, asking the agent to review its own work:

ante --check -p "refactor the auth module to use async/await"

The verification pass will:

1. Review what was accomplished against the original request
2. Complete anything missing or incomplete
3. Optimize where possible without affecting correctness

Context enrichment

In headless mode, Ante automatically appends the current directory's folder structure to your prompt. This gives the agent awareness of the project layout without you needing to describe it.

Headless behavior notes

• Streaming is disabled — Responses are buffered for cleaner output
• Yolo policy is implied — All tool calls are auto-approved (no interactive prompts)
• Authentication is checked eagerly — If the provider isn't authenticated, Ante exits immediately with an error

Examples

CI: lint and fix

ante --yolo -p "run cargo clippy and fix all warnings"

Code generation

ante --model claude-sonnet-4-5 --check \
  -p "add comprehensive unit tests for src/core/session.rs"

Restricted tools

# Read-only analysis — no file writes or shell access
ante --allowed-tools Read Glob Grep \
  -p "analyze the codebase architecture and summarize it"

Pipe a diff for review

git diff HEAD~1 | ante -p "review this diff for bugs and security issues"