dev/docs/exec.md

Non-interactive mode

Use Every Code in non-interactive mode to automate common workflows.

code exec "count the total number of lines of code in this project"

In non-interactive mode, Code does not ask for command or edit approvals. By default it runs in read-only mode, so it cannot edit files or run commands that require network access.

Use code exec --full-auto to allow file edits. Use code exec --sandbox danger-full-access to allow edits and networked commands.

Default output mode

By default, Code streams its activity to stderr and only writes the final message from the agent to stdout. This makes it easier to pipe code exec into another tool without extra filtering.

To write the output of code exec to a file, in addition to using a shell redirect like >, there is also a dedicated flag to specify an output file: -o/--output-last-message.

JSON output mode

code exec supports a --json mode that streams events to stdout as JSON Lines (JSONL) while the agent runs.

Supported event types:

• thread.started - when a thread is started or resumed.
• turn.started - when a turn starts. A turn encompasses all events between the user message and the assistant response.
• turn.completed - when a turn completes; includes token usage.
• turn.failed - when a turn fails; includes error details.
• item.started/item.updated/item.completed - when a thread item is added/updated/completed.

Supported item types:

• assistant_message - assistant message.
• reasoning - a summary of the assistant's thinking.
• command_execution - assistant executing a command.
• file_change - assistant making file changes.
• mcp_tool_call - assistant calling an MCP tool.
• web_search - assistant performing a web search.

Typically, an assistant_message is added at the end of the turn.

Sample output:

{"type":"thread.started","thread_id":"0199a213-81c0-7800-8aa1-bbab2a035a53"}
{"type":"turn.started"}
{"type":"item.completed","item":{"id":"item_0","item_type":"reasoning","text":"**Searching for README files**"}}
{"type":"item.started","item":{"id":"item_1","item_type":"command_execution","command":"bash -lc ls","aggregated_output":"","status":"in_progress"}}
{"type":"item.completed","item":{"id":"item_1","item_type":"command_execution","command":"bash -lc ls","aggregated_output":"AGENTS.md\nCHANGELOG.md\nREADME.md\ncode-rs\ncodex-rs\ncodex-cli\ndocs\nscripts\nsdk\n","exit_code":0,"status":"completed"}}
{"type":"item.completed","item":{"id":"item_2","item_type":"reasoning","text":"**Checking repository root for README**"}}
{"type":"item.completed","item":{"id":"item_3","item_type":"assistant_message","text":"Yep — there’s a `README.md` in the repository root."}}
{"type":"turn.completed","usage":{"input_tokens":24763,"cached_input_tokens":24448,"output_tokens":122}}

Structured output

By default, the agent responds with natural language. Use --output-schema to provide a JSON Schema that defines the expected JSON output.

The JSON Schema must follow the strict schema rules.

Sample schema:

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "project_name": { "type": "string" },
    "programming_languages": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }
  },
  "required": ["project_name", "programming_languages"],
  "additionalProperties": false
}

code exec "Extract details of the project" --output-schema ~/schema.json
...

{"project_name":"Every Code CLI","programming_languages":["Rust","TypeScript","Shell"]}

Combine --output-schema with -o to only print the final JSON output. You can also pass a file path to -o to save the JSON output to a file.

Git repository requirement

Code requires a Git repository to avoid destructive changes. To disable this check, use code exec --skip-git-repo-check.

Resuming non-interactive sessions

Resume a previous non-interactive session with code exec resume <SESSION_ID> or code exec resume --last. This preserves conversation context so you can ask follow-up questions or give new tasks to the agent.

code exec "Review the change, look for use-after-free issues"
code exec resume --last "Fix use-after-free issues"

Only the conversation context is preserved; you must still provide flags to customize Code behavior.

code exec --model gpt-5.1-codex --json "Review the change, look for use-after-free issues"
code exec --model gpt-5.1 --json resume --last "Fix use-after-free issues"

Authentication

By default, code exec uses the same authentication method as the TUI and VSCode extension. You can override the API key by setting the CODEX_API_KEY environment variable.

CODEX_API_KEY=your-api-key-here code exec "Fix merge conflict"

NOTE: CODEX_API_KEY is only supported in code exec.