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No-Run CLI Commands: How to Verify an Agent Will Not Launch

A CLI’s --no-run or --dry-run label is not proof that it will avoid launching an agent. Check the exact version, inspect its code path, and trace the tested invocation—then account separately for remote services.
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A --no-run or --dry-run label does not prove that a command-line interface (CLI) will avoid executing an agent. To assess a particular command, verify the behavior promised for its exact version, inspect the code path taken by its arguments, and observe the invocation with process tracing. Any conclusion applies only to the binary, inputs, configuration, environment, and operating system tested; local process tracing alone cannot rule out an agent started remotely.

Why a flag name is not proof

CLI behavior is specific to each tool and version. OpenClaw documents openclaw agent exec as running an embedded agent turn, with behavior affected by configuration and runtime selection. That is a reminder to follow the actual dispatch path rather than infer behavior from a command or option name. OpenClaw’s documentation describes that command in its own project context.

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Other projects make narrower promises. The delegate-agent documentation says its dry-run builds a request and child argument vector but does not launch a child runtime, create a registry run, branch, or worktree. WeKnora describes its dry-run as offline, with no SDK calls, client initialization, network queries, or file writes. These are project-specific contracts, not a shared definition of “dry-run.” Delegate-agent documentation and WeKnora documentation should be checked against the exact project and version being evaluated.

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Also distinguish agent execution from other work. In agent-compose, the documented run --prompt path sends a prompt to an agent provider, while run --command executes a shell command through a sandbox runtime; its exec command is also an execution path. A command may therefore launch a shell or contact a provider without those actions being equivalent. Decide what “execute an agent” means for the question you are testing, then trace the relevant path. agent-compose documentation describes its command behavior.

How to verify a specific CLI invocation

  1. Fix the test conditions. Record the binary path, version or build hash, complete arguments, relevant configuration, environment, and operating system. When reviewing source, use the revision corresponding to the binary rather than assuming the current main branch matches a released build.
  2. Follow argument parsing into dispatch. Read how the CLI parses the exact arguments and follow the selected branch through child-process calls, provider or API requests, and daemon interactions. Treat help text and documentation as statements of intended behavior to verify, not as runtime observations.
  3. Trace process activity on Linux. Run the exact command under a process trace, for example:
    strace -f -e trace=%process -o trace.log -- /path/to/cli ...

    The strace(1) manual describes the tool as tracing system calls and signals, and its process-related system-call set covers process creation, execution, and termination. Review successful execve and execveat events, as well as child-process creation, to see whether the CLI started another program that could run an agent. The execve(2) manual describes executing a program by its path and replacing the calling process image.

  4. Keep the evidence and test more than the happy path. Preserve the trace alongside the exact invocation and relevant configuration. Test other material configurations and failure paths; one observed run is evidence only for that run.
  5. Check for remote execution separately. If the CLI can contact a daemon or service, inspect network activity and service-side audit records. A local process trace cannot show, by itself, whether a remote service started an agent.

What a trace can—and cannot—establish

A process trace can help support a carefully bounded statement: “For binary version X, with arguments Y and configuration Z on Linux, this observed invocation showed no traced child-agent execution.” It cannot establish that the CLI will never execute an agent for every possible input or environment. The conclusion depends on the trace’s process scope and selected system calls; filtered output may omit calls outside the filter. The strace(1) manual is the reference for what the selected tracing options cover.

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For another operating system, use an appropriate process monitor and understand its coverage before drawing a conclusion. A Linux strace example does not establish behavior on macOS or Windows.

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How to weigh documentation, source, and runtime evidence

  • Documentation tells you what a project says its dry-run contract is. Look for explicit language about child processes, network calls, file writes, and other side effects.
  • Source review shows the intended implementation path for the arguments and revision examined. It does not prove that a different binary was built from that code.
  • Runtime tracing records observable activity in the tested environment. It does not automatically cover untraced calls, untested paths, or work performed by a remote service.

For a review of two commands or implementations, compare whether each documented contract explicitly forbids child launches, whether its dispatch code confirms the tested arguments take that route, whether runtime traces show process creation or execution, which platform and configuration were tested, and whether remote calls need separate audit evidence.

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Check the exact release before relying on a dry-run promise

Project documentation can change, and pages that track a main branch may describe behavior different from a released binary. Verify the contract and source for the exact release under review, then test that binary under stated conditions. The available project examples illustrate why the promise must be checked per tool; they do not determine what an unspecified CLI will do.

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