diff --git a/apps/cli/src/App.tsx b/apps/cli/src/App.tsx
index e071272..9e79209 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/App.tsx
+++ b/apps/cli/src/App.tsx
@@ -183,11 +183,12 @@ const App = (props: {
   pkg: string;
   version: string;
   port: number;
+  upgrade: boolean;
   token?: string;
 }) => {
   const { exit } = useApp();
 
-  const { model, language, pkg, version, token, port } = props;
+  const { model, language, pkg, version, token, port, upgrade } = props;
 
   const [columns, rows] = useStdoutDimensions();
 
@@ -254,6 +255,7 @@ const App = (props: {
         "-p",
         `${port}`,
         ...(token ? ["-t", token] : []),
+        ...(upgrade ? [] : ["-n"]),
       ],
       {
         shell: true,
diff --git a/apps/cli/src/index.tsx b/apps/cli/src/index.tsx
index 4d3a6e1..34a4f07 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/index.tsx
+++ b/apps/cli/src/index.tsx
@@ -40,11 +40,12 @@ const command = program
     (val) => parseInt(val),
     3000,
   )
+  .option("-n, --no-upgrade", "skip applying the upgrade")
   .option("-s, --simple", "simple mode")
   .option("-i, --ipc", "run in ipc mode")
   .parse();
 
-const { model, language, port, ipc, simple, token } = command.opts();
+const { model, language, port, ipc, simple, token, upgrade } = command.opts();
 
 let [pkg, version] = command.processedArgs;
 
@@ -113,13 +114,17 @@ const bumpgen = makeBumpgen({
 });
 
 if (simple) {
-  for await (const event of bumpgen.execute()) {
+  for await (const event of bumpgen.execute({
+    upgrade,
+  })) {
     console.log("event", event);
   }
 } else if (ipc) {
   console.log("Running in IPC mode");
 
-  for await (const event of bumpgen.executeSerializeable()) {
+  for await (const event of bumpgen.executeSerializeable({
+    upgrade,
+  })) {
     console.log("event", event);
     try {
       const options = {
@@ -147,6 +152,7 @@ if (simple) {
       version={version}
       token={token}
       port={port}
+      upgrade={upgrade}
     />,
   );
   await app.waitUntilExit();
diff --git a/packages/bumpgen-core/src/index.ts b/packages/bumpgen-core/src/index.ts
index af88b52..2648430 100644
--- a/packages/bumpgen-core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/bumpgen-core/src/index.ts
@@ -394,22 +394,26 @@ const bumpgen = ({
   const execute = async function* (options?: {
     maxIterations?: number;
     timeout?: number;
+    upgrade?: boolean;
   }) {
+    const upgrade = options?.upgrade ?? true;
     let id;
     try {
-      id = v4();
-      yield {
-        type: "upgrade.apply" as const,
-        status: "started" as const,
-        id,
-      };
-      const applied = await bumpgen.upgrade.apply();
-      yield {
-        type: "upgrade.apply" as const,
-        status: "finished" as const,
-        data: applied,
-        id,
-      };
+      if (upgrade) {
+        id = v4();
+        yield {
+          type: "upgrade.apply" as const,
+          status: "started" as const,
+          id,
+        };
+        const applied = await bumpgen.upgrade.apply();
+        yield {
+          type: "upgrade.apply" as const,
+          status: "finished" as const,
+          data: applied,
+          id,
+        };
+      }
       let iteration = 0;
       const startedAt = Date.now();
 
@@ -500,8 +504,12 @@ const bumpgen = ({
     }
   };
 
-  const executeSerializeable = async function* () {
-    for await (const event of execute()) {
+  const executeSerializeable = async function* (options?: {
+    maxIterations?: number;
+    timeout?: number;
+    upgrade?: boolean;
+  }) {
+    for await (const event of execute(options)) {
       if (event.type === "graph.initialize" && event.status === "finished") {
         yield {
           ...event,