diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/main.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/main.ts
index a4f47dc4..38f95246 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/main.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/main.ts
@@ -112,6 +112,10 @@ function toPrintOutputMode(appMode: AppMode): Exclude<Mode, "rpc"> {
 	return appMode === "json" ? "json" : "text";
 }
 
+function isPlainRuntimeMetadataCommand(parsed: Args): boolean {
+	return !parsed.print && parsed.mode === undefined && (parsed.help === true || parsed.listModels !== undefined);
+}
+
 async function prepareInitialMessage(
 	parsed: Args,
 	autoResizeImages: boolean,
@@ -480,11 +484,6 @@ export async function main(args: string[], options?: MainOptions) {
 		}
 	}
 	time("parseArgs");
-	let appMode = resolveAppMode(parsed, process.stdin.isTTY, process.stdout.isTTY);
-	const shouldTakeOverStdout = appMode !== "interactive";
-	if (shouldTakeOverStdout) {
-		takeOverStdout();
-	}
 
 	if (parsed.version) {
 		console.log(VERSION);
@@ -505,6 +504,12 @@ export async function main(args: string[], options?: MainOptions) {
 		process.exit(0);
 	}
 
+	let appMode = resolveAppMode(parsed, process.stdin.isTTY, process.stdout.isTTY);
+	const shouldTakeOverStdout = appMode !== "interactive" && !isPlainRuntimeMetadataCommand(parsed);
+	if (shouldTakeOverStdout) {
+		takeOverStdout();
+	}
+
 	if (parsed.mode === "rpc" && parsed.fileArgs.length > 0) {
 		console.error(chalk.red("Error: @file arguments are not supported in RPC mode"));
 		process.exit(1);
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/test/stdout-cleanliness.test.ts b/packages/coding-agent/test/stdout-cleanliness.test.ts
index 057db06a..f1b31eb3 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/test/stdout-cleanliness.test.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/test/stdout-cleanliness.test.ts
@@ -80,6 +80,22 @@ async function runCli(args: string[]): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string;
 }
 
 describe("stdout cleanliness in non-interactive modes", () => {
+	it("prints --version to stdout when stdout is redirected", async () => {
+		const result = await runCli(["--version"]);
+
+		expect(result.code).toBe(0);
+		expect(result.stdout.trim()).toMatch(/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+/);
+		expect(result.stderr).toBe("");
+	});
+
+	it("prints plain --help to stdout when stdout is redirected", async () => {
+		const result = await runCli(["--help"]);
+
+		expect(result.code).toBe(0);
+		expect(result.stdout).toContain("Usage:");
+		expect(result.stderr).not.toContain("Usage:");
+	});
+
 	it("keeps stdout empty for --mode json --help while routing trusted startup chatter to stderr", async () => {
 		const result = await runCli(["--mode", "json", "--help", "--approve"]);