feat(cli): default output to JSON for coding agents

Author: pamelachia

apps/cli/src/legacy/cli/root.ts

@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ import { OutputFormatFlag } from "../../shared/cli/global-flags.ts";
 import { outputLayerFor } from "../../shared/output/output.layer.ts";
 import { legacyQuietProgressTextOutputLayer } from "../output/legacy-quiet-progress-text-output.layer.ts";
 import { makeGoProxyLayer } from "../../shared/legacy/go-proxy.layer.ts";
+import { AiTool } from "../../shared/telemetry/ai-tool.service.ts";
+import { aiToolLayer } from "../../shared/telemetry/ai-tool.layer.ts";
+import { resolveAgentOutputFormat } from "../../shared/cli/agent-output.ts";
 import {
   LEGACY_GLOBAL_FLAGS,
   LegacyAgentFlag,
@@ -96,7 +99,7 @@ export const legacyRoot = Command.make("supabase").pipe(
   Command.provide(
     Layer.unwrap(
       Effect.gen(function* () {
-        const outputFormat = yield* OutputFormatFlag;
+        const explicitOutputFormat = yield* OutputFormatFlag;
         const goOutput = yield* LegacyOutputFlag;
         const profile = yield* LegacyProfileFlag;
         const debug = yield* LegacyDebugFlag;
@@ -108,6 +111,10 @@ export const legacyRoot = Command.make("supabase").pipe(
         const createTicket = yield* LegacyCreateTicketFlag;
         const agent = yield* LegacyAgentFlag;
 
+        const aiTool = yield* AiTool.pipe(Effect.provide(aiToolLayer));
+        const isCodingAgent = agent === "yes" || (agent !== "no" && Option.isSome(aiTool.name));
+        const outputFormat = resolveAgentOutputFormat(explicitOutputFormat, isCodingAgent);
+
         // Build args to prepend to every proxy exec call.
         // --output: use explicit --output if set, otherwise map from --output-format.
         const globalArgs: string[] = [];

apps/cli/src/next/cli/root.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
-import { Effect, Layer } from "effect";
+import { Effect, Layer, Option } from "effect";
 import { CliOutput, Command } from "effect/unstable/cli";
 import { OutputFormatFlag } from "../../shared/cli/global-flags.ts";
+import { AiTool } from "../../shared/telemetry/ai-tool.service.ts";
+import { aiToolLayer } from "../../shared/telemetry/ai-tool.layer.ts";
+import { resolveAgentOutputFormat } from "../../shared/cli/agent-output.ts";
 import { branchesCommand } from "../commands/branches/branches.command.ts";
 import { functionsCommand } from "../commands/functions/functions.command.ts";
 import { linkCommand } from "../commands/link/link.command.ts";
@@ -47,7 +50,10 @@ export const nextRoot = Command.make("supabase").pipe(
   Command.provide(
     Layer.unwrap(
       Effect.gen(function* () {
-        const outputFormat = yield* OutputFormatFlag;
+        const explicitOutputFormat = yield* OutputFormatFlag;
+        const aiTool = yield* AiTool.pipe(Effect.provide(aiToolLayer));
+        const isCodingAgent = Option.isSome(aiTool.name);
+        const outputFormat = resolveAgentOutputFormat(explicitOutputFormat, isCodingAgent);
         const base = outputLayerFor(outputFormat);
         if (outputFormat === "text") return base;
         return Layer.merge(base, CliOutput.layer(jsonCliOutputFormatter()));

apps/cli/src/shared/cli/agent-output.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { Option } from "effect";
+import type { OutputFormat } from "../output/types.ts";
+
+export function resolveAgentOutputFormat(
+  explicit: Option.Option<OutputFormat>,
+  isCodingAgent: boolean,
+): OutputFormat {
+  return Option.getOrElse(explicit, () => (isCodingAgent ? "json" : "text"));
+}

apps/cli/src/shared/cli/agent-output.unit.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { Option } from "effect";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { resolveAgentOutputFormat } from "./agent-output.ts";
+
+describe("resolveAgentOutputFormat", () => {
+  it("defaults a coding agent to json", () => {
+    expect(resolveAgentOutputFormat(Option.none(), true)).toBe("json");
+  });
+
+  it("defaults a non-agent to text", () => {
+    expect(resolveAgentOutputFormat(Option.none(), false)).toBe("text");
+  });
+
+  it("honors an explicit format over agent detection", () => {
+    expect(resolveAgentOutputFormat(Option.some("text"), true)).toBe("text");
+    expect(resolveAgentOutputFormat(Option.some("stream-json"), false)).toBe("stream-json");
+    expect(resolveAgentOutputFormat(Option.some("json"), true)).toBe("json");
+  });
+});

apps/cli/src/shared/cli/global-flags.ts

@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 import { Flag, GlobalFlag } from "effect/unstable/cli";
-import type { OutputFormat } from "../output/types.ts";
 
 export const OutputFormatFlag = GlobalFlag.setting("output-format")({
   flag: Flag.choice("output-format", ["text", "json", "stream-json"]).pipe(
     Flag.withDescription("Output format: text (default), json, or stream-json (NDJSON)"),
-    Flag.withDefault("text" as OutputFormat),
+    Flag.optional,
   ),
 });