Headless Mode

Run Maki non-interactively with --print / -p. Useful for scripts, CI, and automation.

maki "explain this codebase" --print

Pipe via stdin:

echo "list all TODO comments" | maki -p

Output Formats

Format	Description
`text`	Raw response only (default)
`json`	Single JSON object with metadata
`stream-json`	JSONL stream, one event per line

maki "fix the tests" --print --output-format json

JSON output includes type, subtype, is_error, duration_ms, num_turns, result, stop_reason, session_id, total_cost_usd, and usage.

Add --verbose to include full turn-by-turn messages in the output.

Claude Code Compatibility

Maki's --print is a drop-in replacement for Claude Code:

# Before
claude "fix the bug" --print --output-format json

# After
maki "fix the bug" --print --output-format json

Same JSON fields, same --output-format options, same --verbose behavior. Scripts that parse Claude Code output work unchanged.

SDK / Stream Mode

For tools like Conductor, Windsurf, or custom orchestrators that speak the Claude Code SDK wire protocol, use --input-format stream-json:

maki --print --input-format stream-json

This enters a bidirectional NDJSON loop over stdio instead of the one-shot print path. Inbound messages (user, control_request, control_response) drive the agent; outbound messages (system, assistant, result, stream_event, control_request) match the Claude Code SDK shape.

Under the hood it reuses the same spawn_interactive driver as the TUI and ACP server, so sessions, tools, and permissions all work the same way.

Flags

Flag	Description
`--system-prompt`	Override the system prompt entirely
`--append-system-prompt`	Append text to the built-in system prompt
`--max-turns`	Cap the number of agent turns
`--session-id <id>`	Set a specific session ID
`--resume <id>` / `-s <id>`	Resume an existing session
`--fork-session`	Load a session's history under a new ID
`--continue`	Resume the most recent session in the current directory
`--permission-mode <mode>`	`default`, `acceptEdits`, `plan`, or `bypassPermissions`
`--include-partial-messages`	Stream Anthropic-shaped deltas (`message_start`, `content_block_delta`, ...)
`--allowed-tools` / `--disallowed-tools`	Comma-separated tool allow/deny lists (PascalCase or snake_case)

Quick example

echo '{"type":"user","message":{"content":"explain this repo"}}' \
  | maki --print --input-format stream-json --max-turns 3

Examples

Pipe compiler errors back for a fix:

cargo build 2>&1 | maki "Fix these compiler errors." --print --yolo

Generate a changelog from recent commits:

git log --oneline v1.2.0..HEAD | maki "Write a user-facing \
  changelog grouped by: Added, Changed, Fixed. Skip chores." --print

Automated PR summaries in CI:

SUMMARY=$(git diff main..HEAD | maki "Write a 2-3 sentence \
  summary of this change for a PR description." --print)
gh pr edit --body "$SUMMARY"

Migrate an API across many files:

grep -rl 'old_api_call' src/ | while read file; do
  maki "In $file, migrate old_api_call() to new_api_call(). \
    Keep behavior identical." -p --yolo --allowed-tools Read,Edit
done

Cost tracking:

maki "refactor the database layer" -p --output-format json | jq '.total_cost_usd'