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Bug: Prompts starting with '---' parsed as CLI options — silent launch failure #91
Description
Bug: Prompts starting with --- are parsed as CLI options, crashing the launch
Problem
When launching Claude Code via agentctl launch claude-code -p "<prompt>" where the prompt content begins with --- (e.g., YAML frontmatter from a spec file), Claude Code's argument parser interprets --- as an invalid CLI option flag and exits immediately:
error: unknown option '---
The session never starts. agentctl reports success ("Launched session pending-XXXXX") because the process was spawned, but it exits immediately with an arg parse error.
Reproduction
agentctl launch claude-code --cwd /tmp/test -p "---
title: test
---
Build this."Impact
- Silent failure — agentctl reports success but no work happens
- Discovered after two wasted launches (dashboard-redesign and unified-feed)
- Any prompt containing a spec file with YAML frontmatter will fail
Suggested Fixes
In agentctl (workaround):
- Prefix prompts that start with
-with a newline or space to prevent arg parser confusion - Or write the prompt to a temp file and use
--prompt-fileif Claude Code supports it
In Claude Code (root cause):
- The
--print -pargument should not be parsed for sub-options. Everything after-pshould be treated as literal prompt text.
Environment
- agentctl 1.5.2
- Claude Code 2.1.52
Activity
c-h- commentedon Mar 5, 2026
Workaround available in v1.5.2: Use the new
--fileflag (#95) to avoid passing prompts with YAML frontmatter directly:This avoids the arg parser seeing
---as a CLI option.Root cause still unfixed: The underlying issue (Claude Code's arg parser treating
---in prompt text as an option flag) remains. A proper fix would need to escape or quote the prompt before passing to the adapter, or use a--prompt-fileapproach if the adapter supports it.Leaving open to track the root cause fix.
fix: handle prompts starting with dashes in adapter launch args
fix: handle prompts starting with dashes in adapter launch args
c-h- commentedon Mar 5, 2026
Fixed in PR #99
fix: handle prompts starting with dashes in adapter launch args
fix: insert -- separator before positional prompt args in codex/openc…
fix: insert -- separator before positional prompt args in codex/openc…