CLI reference

The Magic Coder CLI is the coder binary. It’s flag-driven; environment variables are not used for argument values.

Synopsis

coder [OPTIONS]

Flags

Working directory

Flag	Default	Meaning
`--cwd <PATH>`	the current shell directory (`.`)	Primary working directory. Resolves to the nearest Git/worktree root automatically.
`-w, --workdir <PATH>`	none	Additional directory allowed for file operations. Can be repeated, or comma-delimited.

# Open the TUI in the current repo
coder

# Add another root
coder --cwd ~/code/service -w ~/code/protos

# Multiple extra roots
coder --cwd ~/code/service \
      -w ~/code/protos \
      -w ~/code/shared

# Comma-delimited
coder --cwd ~/code/service -w ~/code/protos,~/code/shared

Connection

Flag	Default	Meaning
`--server-url <HOST_OR_URL>`	`bridgeapp.dev` (until the prod default flips)	BridgeApp deployment base host or `https://` URL. WS, OIDC, and API URLs are derived from it. Bare hosts and `https://` URLs both work; `ws://`/`wss://` URLs are rejected.
`--oidc-client-id <ID>`	built-in default	OIDC client ID. Override only if BridgeApp’s admin team told you to.
`--no-open-browser`	off	Print the OIDC login URL instead of opening a browser.

The default deployment host may not match your environment. Pass --server-url once if your team uses a non-default deployment.

coder --server-url bridgeapp.dev
coder --no-open-browser     # for SSH / headless boxes

Trust

Flag	Default	Meaning
`--trust`	off	Trust the current workspace. Persists in `~/.magic/known.toml`. Required for `--automagic` if not already trusted.

coder --trust

Startup target

You can launch with a startup target to skip the empty-input state. At least one of these (--continue and/or --query) is required to use --automagic. They can also be combined: --continue <uuid> --query "..." resumes a thread and immediately sends a follow-up.

Flag	Meaning
`-c, --continue <UUID>`	Resume an existing thread.
`-q, --query <TEXT>`	Send a user message immediately after startup.

# Send a startup prompt
coder --query "fix the failing migration"

# Resume a thread
coder --continue 8a3f2b1e-4d6c-4e9f-9b2a-c12345678abc

# Resume and immediately ask a follow-up
coder --continue 8a3f2b1e-... --query "now also update the docs"

Mode flags

Flag	Default	Meaning
`-p, --plan`	off	Start the session in plan mode.
`-a, --automagic`	off	Auto-approve everything; exit when the agent finishes. Requires a startup target and a trusted workspace.
`--allow-long-context`	off	Allow long-context mode in the current session.

coder --plan
coder --plan --automagic --trust --query "migrate the importer"
coder --allow-long-context

Generation

Flag	Default	Meaning
`--model <MODEL>`	from user config or BridgeApp default	Pick a model for this session.
`--reasoning-effort <EFFORT>`	from user config or provider default	One of `none`, `minimal`, `low`, `medium`, `high`, `xhigh`. (`max` is also accepted.)

coder --model gpt-5.5
coder --reasoning-effort high
coder --model claude-opus-4.7 --reasoning-effort xhigh

Exit codes

0 — Magic Coder exited cleanly. For automagic runs, the agent finished its task.
non-zero — a fatal error occurred, the run was interrupted, or input arguments were invalid.

Common combinations

# Daily driver
coder

# Send a prompt and watch
coder --query "..."

# Plan first, you stay in the loop
coder --plan --query "..."

# Hands-off run
coder --trust --automagic --query "..."

# Resume on a different machine
coder --continue <uuid>

# Push a follow-up to a known thread, hands-off
coder --continue <uuid> --trust --automagic --query "..."

Hidden flags

These exist but are not for everyday use:

Flag	What it’s for
`--oauth-credentials-file <PATH>`	Load a JSON-serialized OAuth credential file from disk instead of using the saved credential store. Useful for CI and other headless setups.

What’s not a CLI flag

These are not configurable through CLI arguments — change them via slash commands or ~/.magic/config.toml:

Theme (/theme or [ui] theme in config.toml)
Sleep mode ([generation] sleep_mode in config.toml)
Long-context as a default ([generation] allow_long_context in config.toml)
Command permissions — managed through the approval prompt (see Command permissions)

Magic Coder also does not read CODER_* environment variables for argument values. The flag interface is the only argument interface.