feat: auto-detect piped output for JSON mode and add semantic exit codes

Author: junhsss

src/commands/browser/start.rs

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use clap::Parser;
 use serde_json::json;
 
 use crate::browser::daemon::client::DaemonClient;
+use crate::status;
 use crate::browser::daemon::process;
 use crate::browser::daemon::protocol::{DaemonCommand, DaemonCreateParams, SessionInfo};
 use crate::browser::lifecycle::sanitize_connect_url;
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ pub async fn run(args: Args, session: Option<&str>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     // `start` always creates a fresh session — use `steel browser sessions`
     // to inspect existing ones.
     if DaemonClient::connect(&session_name).await.is_ok() {
-        eprintln!("Replacing existing session \"{session_name}\"...");
+        status!("Replacing existing session \"{session_name}\"...");
         process::stop_daemon(&session_name).await?;
     } else {
         // No live daemon, but stale files may remain

src/commands/cache.rs

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 use clap::Parser;
 
+use crate::status;
+
 #[derive(Parser)]
 pub struct Args {
     /// Remove all cached files and directories
@@ -13,13 +15,13 @@ pub async fn run(args: Args) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         .join("steel");
 
     if !args.clean {
-        println!("Steel CLI cache directory: {}", cache_dir.display());
-        println!("Use --clean to remove all cached files.");
+        status!("Steel CLI cache directory: {}", cache_dir.display());
+        status!("Use --clean to remove all cached files.");
         return Ok(());
     }
 
     if !cache_dir.exists() {
-        println!("Cache directory does not exist. Nothing to clean.");
+        status!("Cache directory does not exist. Nothing to clean.");
         return Ok(());
     }
 
@@ -35,8 +37,8 @@ pub async fn run(args: Args) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         count += 1;
     }
 
-    println!("Removed {count} item(s) from cache.");
-    println!("Cache directory: {}", cache_dir.display());
+    status!("Removed {count} item(s) from cache.");
+    status!("Cache directory: {}", cache_dir.display());
 
     Ok(())
 }

src/commands/dev.rs

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use std::process::Command as ProcessCommand;
 use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
 
 use crate::config;
+use crate::status;
 
 #[derive(Subcommand)]
 pub enum Command {
@@ -66,9 +67,9 @@ fn run_install(args: InstallArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let path = repo_path();
 
     if path.exists() {
-        println!("Local Steel Browser runtime already installed.");
-        println!("repo_path: {}", path.display());
-        println!("repo_url: {repo_url}");
+        status!("Local Steel Browser runtime already installed.");
+        status!("repo_path: {}", path.display());
+        status!("repo_url: {repo_url}");
         return Ok(());
     }
 
@@ -85,17 +86,17 @@ fn run_install(args: InstallArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         anyhow::bail!("Failed to clone repository.");
     }
 
-    println!("Local Steel Browser runtime installed.");
-    println!("repo_path: {}", path.display());
-    println!("repo_url: {repo_url}");
+    status!("Local Steel Browser runtime installed.");
+    status!("repo_path: {}", path.display());
+    status!("repo_url: {repo_url}");
 
     Ok(())
 }
 
 fn run_start(args: StartArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     if args.docker_check {
         return if is_docker_running() {
-            println!("Docker is running.");
+            status!("Docker is running.");
             Ok(())
         } else {
             anyhow::bail!("Docker is not running.");
@@ -124,9 +125,9 @@ fn run_start(args: StartArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         anyhow::bail!("Failed to start local Steel Browser runtime.");
     }
 
-    println!("Local Steel Browser runtime started.");
-    println!("repo_path: {}", path.display());
-    println!("api_port: {port}");
+    status!("Local Steel Browser runtime started.");
+    status!("repo_path: {}", path.display());
+    status!("api_port: {port}");
 
     Ok(())
 }
@@ -150,8 +151,8 @@ fn run_stop(args: StopArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         anyhow::bail!("Failed to stop local Steel Browser runtime.");
     }
 
-    println!("Local Steel Browser runtime stopped.");
-    println!("repo_path: {}", path.display());
+    status!("Local Steel Browser runtime stopped.");
+    status!("repo_path: {}", path.display());
 
     Ok(())
 }

src/commands/forge.rs

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ use clap::Parser;
 use dialoguer::{Input, Select};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 
+use crate::status;
+
 #[derive(Parser)]
 pub struct Args {
     /// Template to start from
@@ -99,7 +101,7 @@ pub async fn run(args: Args) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         manifest.version, template_path
     );
 
-    println!("Downloading template '{}'...", example.title);
+    status!("Downloading template '{}'...", example.title);
 
     let client = reqwest::Client::new();
     let response = client.get(&download_url).send().await?;
@@ -136,20 +138,20 @@ pub async fn run(args: Args) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         anyhow::bail!("Failed to extract template archive.");
     }
 
-    println!(
+    status!(
         "Project '{}' created at {}",
         project_name,
         target_dir.display()
     );
-    println!("\nNext steps:");
-    println!("  cd {project_name}");
+    status!("\nNext steps:");
+    status!("  cd {project_name}");
 
     match example.language.as_deref() {
         Some("python") => {
-            println!("  pip install -r requirements.txt");
+            status!("  pip install -r requirements.txt");
         }
         _ => {
-            println!("  npm install");
+            status!("  npm install");
         }
     }
 

src/commands/login.rs

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use tokio::net::TcpListener;
 
 use crate::config;
 use crate::config::auth;
+use crate::status;
 use crate::config::settings::{Config, read_config_from, write_config_to};
 
 #[derive(Parser)]
@@ -16,17 +17,17 @@ pub async fn run(_args: Args) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     // Check if already logged in
     let existing_auth = auth::resolve_auth();
     if existing_auth.api_key.is_some() {
-        println!("You are already logged in.");
+        status!("You are already logged in.");
         return Ok(());
     }
 
-    println!("Launching browser for authentication...");
+    status!("Launching browser for authentication...");
 
     let (api_key, name) = login_flow().await?;
 
     save_api_key(&api_key, &name)?;
 
-    println!("Authentication successful! Your API key has been saved.");
+    status!("Authentication successful! Your API key has been saved.");
 
     Ok(())
 }
@@ -45,13 +46,13 @@ async fn login_flow() -> anyhow::Result<(String, String)> {
         state
     );
 
-    println!("Opening your browser for authentication...");
-    println!("If it does not open automatically, please click:");
-    println!("{auth_url}");
+    status!("Opening your browser for authentication...");
+    status!("If it does not open automatically, please click:");
+    status!("{auth_url}");
 
     if let Err(e) = open::that(&auth_url) {
-        eprintln!("Warning: could not open browser automatically: {e}");
-        eprintln!("Please open the URL above manually.");
+        status!("Warning: could not open browser automatically: {e}");
+        status!("Please open the URL above manually.");
     }
 
     // Wait for the callback with timeout

src/commands/logout.rs

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use clap::Parser;
 
 use crate::config;
 use crate::config::settings::{read_config_from, write_config_to};
+use crate::status;
 
 #[derive(Parser)]
 pub struct Args {}
@@ -12,13 +13,13 @@ pub async fn run(_args: Args) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let mut cfg = match read_config_from(&config_path) {
         Ok(c) => c,
         Err(_) => {
-            println!("You are not logged in.");
+            status!("You are not logged in.");
             return Ok(());
         }
     };
 
     if cfg.api_key.is_none() {
-        println!("You are not logged in.");
+        status!("You are not logged in.");
         return Ok(());
     }
 
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ pub async fn run(_args: Args) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
 
     write_config_to(&config_path, &cfg)?;
 
-    println!("Successfully logged out. Have a great day!");
+    status!("Successfully logged out. Have a great day!");
 
     Ok(())
 }

src/commands/mod.rs

@@ -179,6 +179,8 @@ Environment:
   STEEL_BROWSER_API_URL                Steel Browser API endpoint
   STEEL_LOCAL_API_URL                  Local runtime API endpoint
   STEEL_CONFIG_DIR                     Custom config directory
+  STEEL_FORCE_TTY                      Force text output when piped (disable auto-JSON)
+  NO_COLOR                             Disable colored output
 
 Examples:
   steel scrape https://example.com
@@ -288,7 +290,7 @@ pub enum Command {
 }
 
 pub async fn run(cli: Cli) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-    crate::util::output::set_json_mode(cli.json);
+    crate::util::output::init(cli.json);
     crate::util::api::init(cli.local, cli.api_url);
 
     match cli.command {