diff --git a/src/api-client.ts b/src/api-client.ts
index 1b98b67..833590e 100644
--- a/src/api-client.ts
+++ b/src/api-client.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ export type GlobalFlags = AuthOverrides & {
   dryRun: boolean;
   verbose: boolean;
   pretty: boolean;
+  prettyExplicit?: boolean;
   agentMode?: boolean;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 4eb3f0f..678524b 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ function buildProgram(): Command {
       apiBase: opts.apiBase,
       dryRun: Boolean(opts.dryRun),
       pretty: opts.pretty !== false,
+      prettyExplicit: program.getOptionValueSource("pretty") === "cli",
       verbose: Boolean(opts.verbose),
       agentMode: opts.agentMode,
       clientId: opts.clientId,
diff --git a/src/output.test.ts b/src/output.test.ts
index 64b1f95..554cccf 100644
--- a/src/output.test.ts
+++ b/src/output.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import { describe, it } from "node:test";
-import { printResponse } from "./output.js";
+import { printResponse, shouldUseAgentOutput } from "./output.js";
 
 describe("printResponse", () => {
   it("unwraps results.data into data/nextCursor", () => {
@@ -26,3 +26,35 @@ describe("printResponse", () => {
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe("shouldUseAgentOutput", () => {
+  it("honors explicit --pretty in an auto-detected agent environment", () => {
+    assert.equal(
+      shouldUseAgentOutput(
+        { pretty: true, prettyExplicit: true },
+        true,
+      ),
+      false,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("honors explicit --no-pretty in an auto-detected agent environment", () => {
+    assert.equal(
+      shouldUseAgentOutput(
+        { pretty: false, prettyExplicit: true },
+        true,
+      ),
+      false,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("keeps explicit agent mode precedence over explicit pretty output", () => {
+    assert.equal(
+      shouldUseAgentOutput(
+        { pretty: true, prettyExplicit: true, agentMode: true },
+        false,
+      ),
+      true,
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/output.ts b/src/output.ts
index 9f77f2b..8779fdd 100644
--- a/src/output.ts
+++ b/src/output.ts
@@ -3,9 +3,23 @@ import { agentModeEnabled } from "./agent-mode.js";
 
 export type OutputOptions = {
   pretty: boolean;
+  prettyExplicit?: boolean;
   agentMode?: boolean;
 };
 
+export function shouldUseAgentOutput(
+  options: OutputOptions,
+  agentEnvironmentDetected?: boolean,
+): boolean {
+  if (options.agentMode !== undefined) {
+    return options.agentMode;
+  }
+  return (
+    !options.prettyExplicit &&
+    (agentEnvironmentDetected ?? agentModeEnabled())
+  );
+}
+
 function unwrapResultsData(value: unknown): unknown {
   if (!value || typeof value !== "object" || Array.isArray(value)) {
     return value;
@@ -51,7 +65,7 @@ export function printResponse(
 
   const normalized = unwrapResultsData(value);
 
-  if (agentModeEnabled(options.agentMode)) {
+  if (shouldUseAgentOutput(options)) {
     write(`${encode(normalized)}\n`);
     return;
   }