Headless Scripting

On this page

Headless scripting is a Pro feature, and only available with KeyShot 9.3 or newer.

This page describes the various functions, classes, and constants exposed when running KeyShot in headless mode.
Note that only a subset of the scripting functionality in KeyShot can currently be used through headless scripting.

Headless Usage

For headless usage on macOS use the following executable:

keyshot -headless [options] [scene path] -script <script path> [script arguments]

This executable is also still in use on Windows for backwards compatibility.

For stdin (standard input) and stdout (standard output) on Windows use new KeyShot headless executable:

keyshot_headless [options] [scene path] -script <script path> [script arguments]

You can for example use the stdout to output the script to a file by using the redirect operator “>” or “>>”.

The executable would then look like this:
keyshot_headless -script <script path> [script arguments] > logfile.txt

Options

You can open the options by entering keyshot -help -headless

This will show you the following in your terminal:

-xlic <external license folder>

-floating_license_server <FlexLM server>

Note

The server must be preceeded with “@” when default port is used and “port@” if not.

-floating_feature <FlexLM feature> (<NR cores>)
Accepted FlexLM features:

keyshot2 (Pro)
keyshot_enterprise
keyshot_network_rendering (NR, checks out all cores if <NR cores> is not specified)

-subscription <email> <password> <product code>
Use subscription. Email, password and product code can be left out individually by using ‘-‘. Unspecified information will be asked for on CLI unless already known in settings file from prior sign in. The product code can be used for choosing a specific product without choosing from the list of available products.

-deactivate-on-exit
Deactivate subscription seat when exiting program. Otherwise, the seat is kept for future invocations.

-generateconfig [no cloud] [no auto-update] [FlexLM server] [FlexLM feature]
Generates a config file in the KeyShot resource folder. Unrelated to headless: KeyShot Cloud is disabled if [no cloud] is ‘1’, and auto-update checking is disabled if [no auto-update] is ‘1’.

[FlexLM server] and [FlexLM feature] can be skipped by using ‘-‘.

-progress
Writes rendering progress on stdout, e.g. ‘Rendering: xxx.x%’.

Locally configured node-locked, floating licenses or subscription in the settings file will automatically be used if no arguments are given to override them.