--- title: Unity CLI output formats and automation product: Unity command-line interface (CLI) canonical: https://docs.unity.com/en-us/unity-cli/reference/output-formats last_updated: 2026-11-02 generated_at: 2026-11-04T17:07:13.497Z locale: en-us --- # Unity CLI output formats and automation > Configure Unity CLI output formats, handle errors and exit codes, and use environment variables to control CLI behavior in scripts, Continuous Integration (CI) pipelines, and agent workflows. When you run the Unity CLI from a script, a CI pipeline, or an AI agent, use the output formats, error envelope, exit codes, and environment variables on this page to get predictable, machine-readable results and to handle failures without parsing text. The CLI chooses a default output format based on the context and supports explicit formats for automation. ## Format selection | Format | Selected when | Notes | | :------- | :-------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `human` | Output goes to an interactive terminal. | Colorized, animated progress, aligned columns. | | `tsv` | Output goes to a pipe or file. | Tab-separated, one record per line. Machine-parseable. | | `json` | You set `--format json` (or `--json`). | Structured output for use with `jq` and other tools. Uses a standard envelope with `success`, `command`, `data`, `errors`, and `warnings`. | | `ndjson` | You set `--format ndjson`. | One JSON object per line. Long-running commands, such as `install`, stream typed progress frames and end with a result frame. | | `github` | You set `--format github`. | Failures print as GitHub Actions annotations (`::error::...`, `::warning::...`) instead of plain text, so a red workflow step indicates what went wrong in its summary. Inert outside GitHub Actions. | Select a format explicitly with the global flag: ```shell unity editors -i --format json unity editors -i --format tsv unity install lts --format ndjson ``` > **Note:** > > `--json` is accepted on every command as a global shorthand for `--format json`. When you supply both, `--format` takes precedence. > **Tip:** > > When you pipe CLI output, the default format changes to tab-separated values (TSV). If a script expects human-readable text, set `--format human` explicitly, or parse TSV, JSON, or NDJSON instead. Use `json` for a single buffered result and `ndjson` when you also want streamed progress frames from long-running commands. ## Color output Use the global `--color ` flag to control colored output directly instead of relying only on the `NO_COLOR` and `FORCE_COLOR` environment variables. `--no-color` is shorthand for `--color never`. Color affects only `human` output. The `json`, `tsv`, and `ndjson` formats never emit color. ## Error output The CLI writes errors and diagnostic messages to `stderr`, leaving `stdout` available for data output. In `json` and `ndjson` modes, a failed command still writes a complete result to `stdout`. In `json` mode, the result is an envelope with `success: false` and an `errors` array. In `ndjson` mode, the result contains the terminal `result` frame with `success: false`. Branch on the stable error code, such as `errors[0].code` in `json` mode, instead of parsing `stderr`. Usage errors, such as a mistyped option, report `INVALID_COMMAND_ARGS`. To capture both streams in a shell: ```shell unity install 6000.3.7f1 > install.log 2>&1 ``` ## Exit codes | Code | Meaning | | :---- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `0` | Success. | | `1` | A general error occurred. Inspect `stderr` for details. | | `2` | Usage error: invalid flags, invalid option values, or missing required arguments. | | `3` | Authentication or authorization failure, such as a rejected sign-in or an expired session. | | `4` | Configuration required: the arguments are valid, but a required preference or context isn't set. | | `6` | The command's primary operation failed. For example, an Editor install failed, or the Editor exited with an error. For `unity test`, the run didn't finish, so it produced no test results. Refer to `8` for more information. | | `7` | A Unity service couldn't be reached, even after the CLI retried, or `unity recompile` couldn't reach a running Editor. Either is safe for a script to retry; a `6` is terminal. | | `8` | `unity test` only: The tests ran, and one or more failed. Scripts can't ever retry after exit code `8`. | | `130` | The command was interrupted with Ctrl+C (`SIGINT`). | | `143` | The command was terminated with `SIGTERM`, for example by `kill` or a CI runner timeout. | > **Note:** > > When a CI job retries a failed `unity test` run, retry only exit code `6` or `7`. A `6` means the run didn't finish, for example because of a compile error, an unavailable license, an Editor crash, or `--timeout`, so a retry can still produce results. An `8` means the tests themselves failed, so a retry produces the same result. ## Environment variables Global CLI options have environment variable equivalents, and some behaviors are controlled only through the environment. A command-line flag takes precedence over its environment variable. | Variable | Effect | | :--------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `UNITY_FORMAT` | Default output format (`human`, `json`, `tsv`, `ndjson`, or `github`). `HUB_FORMAT` remains supported as an alias. | | `UNITY_QUIET` | Suppress non-essential output, like `--quiet`. | | `UNITY_NO_BANNER` | Suppress the Unity banner, like `--no-banner`. | | `UNITY_NON_INTERACTIVE` | Disable interactive prompts, like `--non-interactive`. | | `UNITY_PAGER` | Pager for long human-readable output. Falls back to `PAGER`, then `less -RFX`. On Windows there is no built-in fallback: if neither variable is set and `less` is not on `PATH`, output is not paged. | | `UNITY_NO_PAGER` | Never page output, like `--no-pager`. | | `UNITY_PROJECT_PATH` | Default Unity project path for commands that accept `--project-path`. | | `UNITY_CLOUD_ORG` | Default Unity Cloud organization for commands that accept `--cloud-org`. | | `UNITY_CLOUD_PROJECT` | Default Unity Cloud project id for `unity collaboration` commands that accept `--project-id`. An explicit `--project-id` wins. | | `UNITY_PROXY` | Proxy server URL, like `--proxy`. | | `UNITY_LOG_PROXY` | Log one redacted entry per outbound request for proxy troubleshooting, like `--log-proxy`. | | `UNITY_INSTALL_RETRIES` | Number of retries for module downloads that fail intermittently, like `--retries`. `0` disables retries. | | `UNITY_NO_ELEVATE` | Windows only. Skip the elevated (UAC) install helper, like `--no-elevate`. | | `UNITY_BUILD_TIMEOUT` | End `unity build` after this many seconds, similar to `--timeout`. Disabled by default. | | `UNITY_NO_UPDATE_CHECK` | Disable the background check for CLI updates. | | `UNITY_NO_CLOUD` | Create projects without the Unity Cloud step, like `--no-cloud`. | | `UNITY_INSTALL_MISSING_TOOLS` | Allow an unattended run to install missing tools, such as Git LFS, without asking. | | `UNITY_SKIP_HOOKS` | Turn the Git hooks installed by `unity vcs hooks install` into no-ops when Git provides no way to skip them. | | `UNITY_NO_CRASH_REPORT` | Disable anonymous crash and error reporting. | | `UNITY_NO_CONSENT_PROMPT` | Suppress the one-time first-run analytics consent prompt without recording a choice. | | `UNITY_ACCELERATOR` | Unity Accelerator endpoint (`host:port`) for `unity run`, `unity test`, and `unity build`, like `--accelerator`. A bare host defaults to port 10080. A flag wins over this variable, which wins over the value saved with `unity config accelerator`. | | `UNITY_NO_EDITOR_IDENTITY_SERVER` | Disables the background identity-server process that answers an Editor's sign-in requests when no Hub is running. | | `UNITY_NO_AUTH_BROKER` | Disables the resident auth broker that serves your sign-in to CLI commands and read credentials directly from the keyring instead. The broker starts on demand and exits after two minutes of inactivity. | | `UNITY_CLI_HOME` | Installation directory for the install script. When set, the script installs the CLI to `/bin` (`\bin` on Windows) instead of the default location. | | `UNITY_PEER_AUTH_MODE` | Specifies how the CLI's background sign-in helpers verify the code signature of a connecting Editor or client. On macOS and Windows the default is `enforce`. Set `identify-only` to log without refusing, for example for an Editor you built from source. On Linux the default is logging only. Set `enforce` together with `UNITY_PEER_AUTH_LINUX_ALLOWED_HASHES`, a comma-separated list of trusted executable SHA-256 hashes to opt in. | | `UNITY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_ID`, `UNITY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_SECRET` | Authenticate as a [Unity service account](/cloud/accounts/create-service-account.md) for unattended workflows. Set both. | ## Progress output Long-running commands (such as `install`) render animated progress bars on an interactive terminal and a static summary when complete. Progress output is for human readers. Don't parse it in scripts. For a machine-readable result, use `--format json`; to also stream machine-readable progress updates while the command runs, use `--format ndjson`, which emits typed progress frames followed by a final result frame.