TeX engine command line options for pdfTeX, XeTeX and LuaTeX

pdftex --help

Usage: pdftex [OPTION]... [TEXNAME[.tex]] [COMMANDS]
   or: pdftex [OPTION]... \FIRST-LINE
   or: pdftex [OPTION]... &FMT ARGS
  Run pdfTeX on TEXNAME, usually creating TEXNAME.pdf.
  Any remaining COMMANDS are processed as pdfTeX input, after TEXNAME is read.
  If the first line of TEXNAME is %&FMT, and FMT is an existing .fmt file,
  use it.  Else use `NAME.fmt', where NAME is the program invocation name,
  most commonly `pdftex'.

  Alternatively, if the first non-option argument begins with a backslash,
  interpret all non-option arguments as a line of pdfTeX input.

  Alternatively, if the first non-option argument begins with a &, the
  next word is taken as the FMT to read, overriding all else.  Any
  remaining arguments are processed as above.

  If no arguments or options are specified, prompt for input.

-draftmode              switch on draft mode (generates no output PDF)
-enc                    enable encTeX extensions such as \mubyte
-etex                   enable e-TeX extensions
[-no]-file-line-error   disable/enable file:line:error style messages
-fmt=FMTNAME            use FMTNAME instead of program name or a %& line
-halt-on-error          stop processing at the first error
-ini                    be pdfinitex, for dumping formats; this is implicitly
                          true if the program name is `pdfinitex'
-interaction=STRING     set interaction mode (STRING=batchmode/nonstopmode/
                          scrollmode/errorstopmode)
-ipc                    send DVI output to a socket as well as the usual
                          output file
-ipc-start              as -ipc, and also start the server at the other end
-jobname=STRING         set the job name to STRING
-kpathsea-debug=NUMBER  set path searching debugging flags according to
                          the bits of NUMBER
[-no]-mktex=FMT         disable/enable mktexFMT generation (FMT=tex/tfm/pk)
-mltex                  enable MLTeX extensions such as \charsubdef
-output-comment=STRING  use STRING for DVI file comment instead of date
                          (no effect for PDF)
-output-directory=DIR   use existing DIR as the directory to write files in
-output-format=FORMAT   use FORMAT for job output; FORMAT is `dvi' or `pdf'
[-no]-parse-first-line  disable/enable parsing of first line of input file
-progname=STRING        set program (and fmt) name to STRING
-recorder               enable filename recorder
[-no]-shell-escape      disable/enable \write18{SHELL COMMAND}
-shell-restricted       enable restricted \write18
-src-specials           insert source specials into the DVI file
-src-specials=WHERE     insert source specials in certain places of
                          the DVI file. WHERE is a comma-separated value
                          list: cr display hbox math par parend vbox
-synctex=NUMBER         generate SyncTeX data for previewers according to
                          bits of NUMBER (`man synctex' for details)
-translate-file=TCXNAME use the TCX file TCXNAME
-8bit                   make all characters printable by default
-help                   display this help and exit
-version                output version information and exit

pdfTeX home page: <http://pdftex.org>

Email bug reports to pdftex@tug.org.

luatex --help

Usage: luatex --lua=FILE [OPTION]... [TEXNAME[.tex]] [COMMANDS]
   or: luatex --lua=FILE [OPTION]... \FIRST-LINE
   or: luatex --lua=FILE [OPTION]... &FMT ARGS
  Run LuaTeX on TEXNAME, usually creating TEXNAME.pdf.
  Any remaining COMMANDS are processed as luatex input, after TEXNAME is read.

  Alternatively, if the first non-option argument begins with a backslash,
  luatex interprets all non-option arguments as an input line.

  Alternatively, if the first non-option argument begins with a &, the
  next word is taken as the FMT to read, overriding all else.  Any
  remaining arguments are processed as above.

  If no arguments or options are specified, prompt for input.

  The following regular options are understood:

   --credits                     display credits and exit
   --debug-format                enable format debugging
   --draftmode                   switch on draft mode (generates no output PDF)
   --[no-]file-line-error        disable/enable file:line:error style messages
   --[no-]file-line-error-style  aliases of --[no-]file-line-error
   --fmt=FORMAT                  load the format file FORMAT
   --halt-on-error               stop processing at the first error
   --help                        display help and exit
   --ini                         be iniluatex, for dumping formats
   --interaction=STRING          set interaction mode (STRING=batchmode/nonstopmode/scrollmode/errorstopmode)
   --jobname=STRING              set the job name to STRING
   --kpathsea-debug=NUMBER       set path searching debugging flags according to the bits of NUMBER
   --lua=FILE                    load and execute a lua initialization script
   --[no-]mktex=FMT              disable/enable mktexFMT generation (FMT=tex/tfm)
   --nosocket                    disable the lua socket library
   --output-comment=STRING       use STRING for DVI file comment instead of date (no effect for PDF)
   --output-directory=DIR        use existing DIR as the directory to write files in
   --output-format=FORMAT        use FORMAT for job output; FORMAT is 'dvi' or 'pdf'
   --progname=STRING             set the program name to STRING
   --recorder                    enable filename recorder
   --safer                       disable easily exploitable lua commands
   --[no-]shell-escape           disable/enable system commands
   --shell-restricted            restrict system commands to a list of commands given in texmf.cnf
   --synctex=NUMBER              enable synctex (see man synctex)
   --utc                         init time to UTC
   --version                     display version and exit

Alternate behaviour models can be obtained by special switches

  --luaonly                      run a lua file, then exit
  --luaconly                     byte-compile a lua file, then exit
  --luahashchars                 the bits used by current Lua interpreter for strings hashing

See the reference manual for more information about the startup process.

Email bug reports to dev-luatex@ntg.nl.

xetex --help

Usage: xetex [OPTION]... [TEXNAME[.tex]] [COMMANDS]
   or: xetex [OPTION]... \FIRST-LINE
   or: xetex [OPTION]... &FMT ARGS
  Run XeTeX on TEXNAME, usually creating TEXNAME.pdf.
  Any remaining COMMANDS are processed as XeTeX input, after TEXNAME is read.
  If the first line of TEXNAME is %&FMT, and FMT is an existing .fmt file,
  use it.  Else use `NAME.fmt', where NAME is the program invocation name,
  most commonly `xetex'.

  Alternatively, if the first non-option argument begins with a backslash,
  interpret all non-option arguments as a line of XeTeX input.

  Alternatively, if the first non-option argument begins with a &, the
  next word is taken as the FMT to read, overriding all else.  Any
  remaining arguments are processed as above.

  If no arguments or options are specified, prompt for input.

-etex                   enable e-TeX extensions
[-no]-file-line-error   disable/enable file:line:error style messages
-fmt=FMTNAME            use FMTNAME instead of program name or a %& line
-halt-on-error          stop processing at the first error
-ini                    be xeinitex, for dumping formats; this is implicitly
                          true if the program name is `xeinitex'
-interaction=STRING     set interaction mode (STRING=batchmode/nonstopmode/
                          scrollmode/errorstopmode)
-jobname=STRING         set the job name to STRING
-kpathsea-debug=NUMBER  set path searching debugging flags according to
                          the bits of NUMBER
[-no]-mktex=FMT         disable/enable mktexFMT generation (FMT=tex/tfm)
-mltex                  enable MLTeX extensions such as \charsubdef
-output-comment=STRING  use STRING for XDV file comment instead of date
-output-directory=DIR   use existing DIR as the directory to write files in
-output-driver=CMD      use CMD as the XDV-to-PDF driver instead of xdvipdfmx
-no-pdf                 generate XDV (extended DVI) output rather than PDF
[-no]-parse-first-line  disable/enable parsing of first line of input file
-papersize=STRING       set PDF media size to STRING
-progname=STRING        set program (and fmt) name to STRING
-recorder               enable filename recorder
[-no]-shell-escape      disable/enable \write18{SHELL COMMAND}
-shell-restricted       enable restricted \write18
-src-specials           insert source specials into the XDV file
-src-specials=WHERE     insert source specials in certain places of
                          the XDV file. WHERE is a comma-separated value
                          list: cr display hbox math par parend vbox
-synctex=NUMBER         generate SyncTeX data for previewers according to
                          bits of NUMBER (`man synctex' for details)
-translate-file=TCXNAME (ignored)
-8bit                   make all characters printable, don't use ^^X sequences
-help                   display this help and exit
-version                output version information and exit

Email bug reports to xetex@tug.org.