CLI Reference

⌨️ CLI Reference

Modes

Flag	Behavior
(none)	Collector + UI + tray icon (default)
--ui	UI window only (used internally to spawn the UI subprocess)
-b, --background, --bg	Collector + tray icon, no UI window
--headless	Sensors only, no UI, no tray icon

--headless can't be combined with --ui or --background.

Data storage

Flag	Behavior
--no-db	Disables the local SQLite database

WattSeal needs at least one place to put data: local storage (default, on) or MQTT. Passing --no-db without --mqtt-addr refuses to start.

MQTT

Flag	Behavior
--mqtt-addr <ADDRESS>	Broker address, e.g. 192.168.1.10:1883. Enables MQTT
--mqtt-id <ID>	Topic prefix. Defaults to wattseal_collector. Requires --mqtt-addr
--mqtt-unit <uj|wh>	Unit for published energy values. Defaults to uj (microjoules)
--mqtt-processes <off|capped:N>	Per-process publishing. Defaults to capped:10, or off when --home-assistant is set
--mqtt-user <USER>	Broker username
--mqtt-pass <PASS>	Broker password
--mqtt-tls	Use TLS for the broker connection
--home-assistant	Simple HA mode: forces wh, disables process metrics, auto-publishes HA MQTT discovery

Topic structure, payload format, and what --home-assistant actually does: MQTT Integration, Home Assistant Integration.

Windows only

Flag	Behavior
--install-cpu-driver	Installs PawnIO (Administrator required)
--uninstall-cpu-driver	Removes PawnIO (Administrator required)

Examples

Headless, publishing watt-hours to a local broker, database still on:

WattSeal --headless --mqtt-addr 127.0.0.1:1883 --mqtt-unit wh

Background mode, no local database, custom topic prefix, capped to top 5 processes:

WattSeal --background --no-db --mqtt-addr 192.168.1.10:1883 --mqtt-id living-room-pc --mqtt-processes capped:5

Home Assistant, zero manual config needed on the HA side:

WattSeal --headless --mqtt-addr <ha-broker-ip>:1883 --home-assistant