noninteractive

Noninteractive is a term used to describe systems, programs, or processes that operate without requiring or soliciting input from a user. In practice, noninteractive operation is automated, batch-oriented, or passive, and control flow is determined in advance rather than through real-time user commands.

In computing, noninteractive modes are common for batch processing, background services, scripts, and installation routines. Examples include cron jobs on Unix-like systems, Windows Task Scheduler tasks, daemons in Unix-like environments, and startup scripts that perform maintenance tasks at boot. Such programs typically obtain necessary data from files, environment variables, or command-line arguments and direct output to logs or files rather than a terminal. An interactive program, by contrast, may prompt for input, present menus, or wait for user actions.

Noninteractive shells and environments are used when no user is present, such as when a script runs as part of a continuous integration pipeline or during automated deployments. In these contexts, programs must handle errors gracefully without prompting the user, and timeouts may be used to prevent hangs. Noninteractive operation is also common in testing and data processing to enable repeatable, unattended execution.

Related concepts include batch processing, daemon or service processes, and headless operation, which denotes running software without a graphical user interface. While suitable for automation, noninteractive workflows can be less flexible in response to unexpected input and require robust error handling and logging to diagnose issues.

See also: interactive, batch processing, daemon, headless.