diff --git a/aider/args.py b/aider/args.py
index 7a69e04aa..a2c28a099 100644
--- a/aider/args.py
+++ b/aider/args.py
@@ -462,6 +462,12 @@ def get_parser(default_config_files, git_root):
         help="Print the system prompts and exit (debug)",
         default=False,
     )
+    group.add_argument(
+        "--exit",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Do all startup activities then exit before accepting user input (debug)",
+        default=False,
+    )
     group.add_argument(
         "--message",
         "--msg",
diff --git a/aider/main.py b/aider/main.py
index 25e417e74..88ea47f98 100644
--- a/aider/main.py
+++ b/aider/main.py
@@ -537,6 +537,9 @@ def main(argv=None, input=None, output=None, force_git_root=None, return_coder=F
             return 1
         return
 
+    if args.exit:
+        return
+
     threading.Thread(target=load_slow_imports).start()
 
     while True: