Print mode & scripting

Print mode runs a single prompt without the interactive UI and writes the result to the terminal. It’s the right choice for scripts, pipelines, and one-off questions.

Basic use

tau -p "summarize the changes in the last commit"

The -p / --prompt flag is what switches Tau into print mode. It still uses the full coding-session environment — the same tools, project context, and session storage as the TUI — so its turns are saved under ~/.tau/sessions/ too.

Output formats

Choose how results are written with -o / --output:

tau -p "list the public functions in src/app.py" -o text        # default, human-readable
tau -p "list the public functions in src/app.py" -o json        # JSON, for parsing
tau -p "list the public functions in src/app.py" -o transcript  # structured transcript

text — plain text with ANSI styling, for reading.
json — machine-readable, for piping into other tools.
transcript — a structured record of the turn.

Choosing provider, model, and directory

The same selection flags work in print mode:

tau -p "explain this module" -m gpt-5.5
tau --provider local -p "explain this module"
tau -p "audit for secrets" --cwd ./services/api

Exit status

Print mode exits non-zero if the run fails, so you can use it in scripts:

if tau -p "do the tests pass? answer yes or no" -o text | grep -qi yes; then
  echo "looks good"
fi