The Runtime accepts the following command-line arguments. Run the runtime with --help for an at-a-runtime listing, or --version for just the build stamp.
Project loading
Short
Long
Effect
-p
--project <file>
Load a specific project file on startup. Accepts a .prj or an encrypted .prjp. Default: default.prj.
-d
--key <key>
Decryption key for an encrypted .prjp project.
Autotest
Short
Long
Effect
-a
--autotest <seconds>
Run an autotest for <seconds> seconds, then exit with the autotest's result code.
-q
--quick-exit
Allow autotests to terminate the process quickly when done, skipping graceful shutdown overhead.
Licensing
Long
Effect
--licenserequired
Refuse to run without a valid licence. Use in production to avoid silent fallback to trial mode.
--license-file <path>
Override the path Composer looks at for license.lic. Useful when running multiple isolated instances on one host with different licences.
Logging
Short
Long
Effect
-l
--logpath <dir>
Override the directory log files are written into.
-w
--customlog <name>
Use a custom base name for the log files (the day-stamped suffix still applies).
--nodisklog
Disable disk logging entirely. Useful for short-lived containers shipping logs only to stdout.
--consoleonlyerrors
Limit console output to error-severity entries only.
-v
--verbose
Verbose console logging — useful during diagnostics.
FFmpeg
Long
Effect
--noffmpegversioncheck
Skip the FFmpeg version check at startup. Use when running with a newer or patched FFmpeg build.
Configuration overrides
Long
Effect
--settings-file <path>
Override the path Composer looks at for settings.xml.
Network ports
Each of these overrides the corresponding port from settings.xml. Useful when running multiple Runtime instances on one host or in CI.
Long
Effect
--http-api-port <port>
Override the HTTP API port (default 44433).
--websocket-port <port>
Override the WebSocket server port.
--prometheus-port <port>
Override the Prometheus metrics-endpoint port.
--runtime-api-port <port>
Port for the runtime-lifecycle API (default 9101, or the COMPOSER_RUNTIME_API_PORT environment variable when set).
Health probes
The Runtime can expose an unauthenticated, license-exempt HTTP listener for container and orchestrator health checks, on its own port — separate from the HTTP API and the Runtime API so a probe reflects process health only, never a licence tier or whether a heavier API happens to be enabled.
Long
Effect
--health-port <port>
Enable the health/probe endpoint on <port> (or set the COMPOSER_HEALTH_PORT environment variable). Disabled if neither is set.
Probe paths (all unauthenticated GET; 200 = pass, 503 = not yet / no longer — the orchestrator backs off):
Path
Probe
200 when
/startup (/startupz)
startup
CUDA + engine init are done and the main loop has been entered
/health (/livez)
liveness
the main loop has ticked within the last 30 s (not wedged)
/ready (/readyz)
readiness
startup is complete and state is Idle or Running (not Loading / Stopping)
Each response body is JSON carrying probe, status, state, startupComplete, and lastTickAgeMs for diagnostics. Readiness treats Idle as ready, so an idle pod stays in rotation to receive a /runtime/load. Use /startup as a Kubernetes startupProbe to gate liveness (/health) and readiness (/ready) during boot.
Networking
Long
Effect
--force-localhost
Force every configured host endpoint (WebAPI, WebSocket, Loki, Prometheus, Runtime API) to bind to localhost only. Useful for CI / single-host testing where you don't want the runtime advertising on the LAN.
Shutdown
Long
Effect
--shutdown-deadline-seconds <seconds>
Maximum time allowed for a graceful shutdown before the process force-exits with code 75. Once shutdown begins (a SIGTERM/SIGINT signal on Linux, Ctrl+C, or a Runtime-API exit), targets and inputs are stopped cleanly within this window; if the deadline is exceeded the runtime exits immediately rather than hanging. Set your container orchestrator's stop grace period longer than this deadline — Docker's own default grace is 10 s against this 25 s default, and a grace period shorter than the deadline means SIGKILL (exit 137) lands part-way through teardown. Default: 25 (or the COMPOSER_SHUTDOWN_DEADLINE_SECONDS environment variable when set; minimum 3).
Diagnostics
Long
Effect
--remotedebug
Wait for a remote debugger to attach before continuing startup.
--no-mutex
Skip the single-instance mutex check, allowing multiple Runtime processes on one host (for parallel testing).
