Launch flags

Running dn with no flags opens a fresh session. Every flag below is a shortcut for something you’d otherwise do after launch — pick an agent, send a prompt, cap autonomy, or run headlessly for a script.

# Start with an agent, a model, and an initial prompt
dn --agent web-pentester --model anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 \
   --prompt "audit https://example.com for injection surfaces"

# Headless: run the prompt, print to stdout, exit
dn --print --prompt "summarize this week's sandbox audit findings"

# Autonomous with a 100-step budget, resuming a prior thread
dn --auto --max-steps 100 --resume 7f2a3b

Platform and identity

Flag	Effect
--profile <name>	Use a saved profile
--server <url>	Platform API URL — mutually exclusive with --profile
--api-key <key>	API key; requires --server
--organization <slug>	Organization slug override
--workspace <key>	Workspace override
--project <slug>	Project override

The matching DREADNODE_* environment variables apply when the flags aren’t set. Connect clients covers the resolution order and the mutually exclusive combinations; Environment variables lists everything else the TUI reads.

Note

In --print mode, only --server is forwarded for platform selection, and it must match a saved profile to supply the key. The other platform flags above apply to the interactive TUI and platform subcommands.

Session setup

Flag	Effect
-r, --resume <id>	Resume a previous session by ID (prefix match supported)
--agent <name>	Start with the named agent selected
--model <provider/model>	Start with the named model selected
--system-prompt <text>	Append custom instructions to the generated system prompt
--prompt <text>	Pre-filled first message. Auto-sends in the TUI; runs in --print

When the session belongs to another workspace or project, the TUI switches to that scope automatically before resuming.

Capabilities

Flag	Effect
--capabilities-dir <path> (repeatable)	Additional capabilities directory to scan
--capability <name> (repeatable)	Enable only the listed capabilities (exclusive — everything else is off)
--capability-flag <cap.flag=true|false> (repeatable)	Override a capability’s flag at launch

Autonomy

Flag	Effect
--auto	Launch in autonomous mode. Same semantics as /auto after launch
--max-steps <n>	Step budget for autonomous mode. Defaults to 30

Headless execution — --print

--print skips the TUI entirely: the prompt runs, response text streams to stdout, progress goes to stderr, and the process exits when the turn finishes. Designed for scripts, CI, and pipelines.

dn --print --prompt "list CVEs in requirements.txt" > report.md

Behavioral differences from the TUI:

• Approval prompts auto-approve (the opposite of /auto, which auto-denies). A headless run assumes you meant what you asked for.
• Any non-approval ask_user call raises an error and exits — the agent cannot pause for free-form input.
• Agent and capability names are validated against the runtime before the session starts. A typo exits immediately with a readable error rather than silently picking default.

Caution

Because approvals auto-approve, don’t run --print against a target you wouldn’t let the agent touch. Use --auto in the TUI if you want the safer auto-deny behavior.

Runtime connection

Flag	Effect
--runtime-server <url>	Connect to an existing dreadnode serve runtime instead of starting a local one

Without the flag, dn starts an in-process runtime and tears it down on exit. With it, the runtime is expected to be running already—useful for sharing one runtime across multiple TUI sessions or keeping capabilities loaded across restarts.