diff --git a/internal/app/app.go b/internal/app/app.go
index 9e848b66..767b9a20 100644
--- a/internal/app/app.go
+++ b/internal/app/app.go
@@ -109,22 +109,16 @@ func NewRoot(deps Dependencies) *cobra.Command {
 	flags.StringVarP(&a.options.repo, "repo", "R", "", "Repository owner/name or URL")
 	flags.StringVar(&a.options.cwd, "cwd", "", "Working directory for repository discovery")
 	flags.StringVar(&a.options.remote, "remote", "", "Git remote used for repository discovery")
-	flags.StringVar(&a.options.json, "json", "", "Output JSON; optionally select comma-separated fields")
+	flags.StringVar(&a.options.json, "json", "", "Output JSON with the specified comma-separated `fields`, or all fields")
 	flags.Lookup("json").NoOptDefVal = "*"
-	flags.StringVar(&a.options.jq, "jq", "", "Filter JSON with a jq expression")
+	flags.StringVarP(&a.options.jq, "jq", "q", "", "Filter JSON output using a jq `expression`; implies --json")
 	flags.BoolVar(&a.options.noInput, "no-input", false, "Disable prompts and implicit editor/browser interactions")
 	flags.BoolVar(&a.options.interactive, "interactive", false, "Allow prompts with machine output")
-	flags.BoolVar(&a.options.yes, "yes", false, "Accept confirmations without prompting")
+	flags.BoolVarP(&a.options.yes, "yes", "y", false, "Accept confirmations without prompting")
 	flags.BoolVar(&a.options.debug, "debug", false, "Log the method, URL, status, and duration of each HTTP request to stderr")
 	root.PersistentPreRunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
-		if reason := cmd.Annotations["tea.text"]; reason != "" && a.options.json != "" {
-			return clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, fmt.Errorf("%s; --json is not supported", reason))
-		}
-		if flag := cmd.Flags().Lookup("web"); flag != nil && flag.Value.String() == "true" && (a.options.json != "" || a.options.jq != "") {
-			return clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, errors.New("--web cannot be combined with --json or --jq"))
-		}
-		if a.options.jq != "" && a.options.json == "" {
-			return clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, errors.New("--jq requires --json"))
+		if err := a.checkOutputFlags(cmd); err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
 		if cmd.Flags().Changed("sudo") {
 			if a.options.sudo == "" || strings.IndexFunc(a.options.sudo, func(r rune) bool { return unicode.IsSpace(r) || unicode.IsControl(r) }) >= 0 {
@@ -136,9 +130,6 @@ func NewRoot(deps Dependencies) *cobra.Command {
 				}
 			}
 		}
-		if err := terminal.ValidateOutput(a.options.json, a.options.jq, commandOutputFields(cmd)); err != nil {
-			return clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, err)
-		}
 		if offline(cmd) {
 			return nil
 		}
@@ -161,6 +152,28 @@ func NewRoot(deps Dependencies) *cobra.Command {
 	return root
 }
 
+// checkOutputFlags validates --json and --jq before a command runs. --jq alone selects every field,
+// except on commands that filter their raw JSON themselves (annotation tea.rawjson).
+func (a *application) checkOutputFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) error {
+	selected := ""
+	switch {
+	case cmd.Flags().Changed("json"):
+		if a.options.json == "" {
+			return clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, errors.New("--json= needs field names; use --json alone for every field"))
+		}
+		selected = "--json"
+	case a.options.jq != "" && cmd.Annotations["tea.rawjson"] == "":
+		selected, a.options.json = "--jq", "*"
+	}
+	if reason := cmd.Annotations["tea.text"]; reason != "" && selected != "" {
+		return clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, fmt.Errorf("%s; %s is not supported", reason, selected))
+	}
+	if flag := cmd.Flags().Lookup("web"); flag != nil && flag.Value.String() == "true" && (a.options.json != "" || a.options.jq != "") {
+		return clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, errors.New("--web cannot be combined with --json or --jq"))
+	}
+	return clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, terminal.ValidateOutput(a.options.json, a.options.jq, commandOutputFields(cmd)))
+}
+
 // offline reports commands that must work without valid settings.
 func offline(cmd *cobra.Command) bool {
 	if cmd.Annotations["tea.group"] == "true" {
@@ -257,11 +270,13 @@ func Execute(ctx context.Context, deps Dependencies, args []string) error {
 	return err
 }
 
-var jsonFieldList = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z_]+(,[a-z_]+)*$`)
+var jsonFieldList = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_]*(,[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_]*)*$`)
 
-// joinJSONFields accepts `--json number,title` like `--json=number,title` unless the selected command
-// does not output those fields, in which case the word stays a positional argument. A bare --json
-// still selects every field. Unknown commands, such as aliases before expansion, are joined.
+// joinJSONFields accepts `--json number,title` like `--json=number,title`. A field-shaped word after a
+// bare --json stays a positional argument only when the selected command does not output those fields
+// and accepts the word as an argument, so a misspelled field reports the available fields rather than
+// an argument count. A bare --json still selects every field. Unknown commands, such as aliases before
+// expansion, are joined.
 func joinJSONFields(root *cobra.Command, args []string) []string {
 	for i := 0; i < len(args); i++ {
 		if args[i] == "--" {
@@ -271,7 +286,7 @@ func joinJSONFields(root *cobra.Command, args []string) []string {
 			continue
 		}
 		cmd, _, err := root.Find(slices.Concat(args[:i+1], args[i+2:]))
-		if err == nil && terminal.ValidateOutput(args[i+1], "", commandOutputFields(cmd)) != nil {
+		if err == nil && terminal.ValidateOutput(args[i+1], "", commandOutputFields(cmd)) != nil && acceptsArgs(args) {
 			continue
 		}
 		args = slices.Concat(args[:i], []string{"--json=" + args[i+1]}, args[i+2:])
@@ -279,6 +294,13 @@ func joinJSONFields(root *cobra.Command, args []string) []string {
 	return args
 }
 
+// acceptsArgs reports whether the command that args select accepts their positional arguments. It
+// parses a separate command tree, because parsing sets the flags of the one that runs.
+func acceptsArgs(args []string) bool {
+	cmd, rest, err := NewRoot(Dependencies{}).Find(args)
+	return err == nil && cmd.ParseFlags(rest) == nil && cmd.ValidateArgs(cmd.Flags().Args()) == nil
+}
+
 // confirm asks for confirmation under the prompt policy unless --yes was supplied.
 func (a *application) confirm(cmd *cobra.Command, description string) error {
 	s, err := a.deps.Settings.Load()
@@ -364,6 +386,12 @@ func commandIndex(root *cobra.Command, args []string) int {
 	return len(args)
 }
 
+// configKeys are the preferences, instance settings and account settings that config get reads.
+var configKeys = []string{
+	"browser", "color", "default_host", "editor", "git_protocol", "insecure", "oauth_client_id", "pager", "prompt",
+	"remote", "ssh_agent", "ssh_certificate_principal", "ssh_host", "ssh_key", "ssh_key_fingerprint", "version",
+}
+
 func commandOutputFields(cmd *cobra.Command) []string {
 	if cmd.Name() == "status" && cmd.Parent() != nil {
 		if cmd.Parent().Name() == "pr" {
@@ -389,11 +417,7 @@ func commandOutputFields(cmd *cobra.Command) []string {
 		}
 	case "config":
 		if cmd.Name() == "get" || cmd.Name() == "list" {
-			return []string{
-				"version", "default_host", "git_protocol", "editor", "prompt", "pager", "browser", "color", "remote",
-				"ssh_host", "insecure", "oauth_client_id",
-				"ssh_key", "ssh_agent", "ssh_certificate_principal", "ssh_key_fingerprint",
-			}
+			return configKeys
 		}
 	case "tea":
 		if cmd.Name() == "doctor" {
@@ -483,7 +507,7 @@ func commandOutputFields(cmd *cobra.Command) []string {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// jsonFields lists the JSON names of T's fields, which --json can select.
+// jsonFields lists the JSON names of T's fields, which --json can select, in alphabetical order.
 func jsonFields[T any]() []string {
 	t := reflect.TypeFor[T]()
 	fields := make([]string, 0, t.NumField())
@@ -492,5 +516,6 @@ func jsonFields[T any]() []string {
 			fields = append(fields, name)
 		}
 	}
+	slices.Sort(fields)
 	return fields
 }
diff --git a/internal/app/app_test.go b/internal/app/app_test.go
index fe163cd6..831e51be 100644
--- a/internal/app/app_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/app_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ package app
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"gitea.dev/tea/internal/clierr"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
@@ -60,8 +62,8 @@ func TestCommandLineEdgeCases(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, clierr.Usage, clierr.ExitCode(err))
 	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "did you mean issue?")
 	// A help flag supplied as a flag value must not bypass validation.
-	err = Execute(context.Background(), deps, []string{"config", "list", "--jq", ".", "--remote", "-h"})
-	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "--jq requires --json")
+	err = Execute(context.Background(), deps, []string{"config", "list", "--jq", ".[", "--remote", "-h"})
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "invalid --jq expression")
 	require.NoError(t, Execute(context.Background(), deps, []string{"--version"}))
 	require.NotContains(t, out.String(), "tea version")
 }
@@ -88,12 +90,17 @@ func TestJoinJSONFields(t *testing.T) {
 		{[]string{"repo", "clone", "--json", "alice/project"}, []string{"repo", "clone", "--json", "alice/project"}},
 		{[]string{"issue", "list", "--json", "--state", "open"}, []string{"issue", "list", "--json", "--state", "open"}},
 		{[]string{"search", "issues", "--", "--json", "id"}, []string{"search", "issues", "--", "--json", "id"}},
-		{[]string{"issue", "list", "--json", "Number"}, []string{"issue", "list", "--json", "Number"}},
 		{[]string{"search", "repo", "--json", "tea"}, []string{"search", "repo", "--json", "tea"}},
 		{[]string{"search", "issue", "--json", "bug"}, []string{"search", "issue", "--json", "bug"}},
 		{[]string{"repo", "clone", "--json", "project"}, []string{"repo", "clone", "--json", "project"}},
 		{[]string{"search", "repo", "--json", "name,url", "tea"}, []string{"search", "repo", "--json=name,url", "tea"}},
 		{[]string{"--json", "number", "my-alias"}, []string{"--json=number", "my-alias"}},
+		// A word that cannot be an argument is a misspelled field, which then lists the available ones.
+		{[]string{"issue", "list", "--json", "Number"}, []string{"issue", "list", "--json=Number"}},
+		{[]string{"issue", "list", "--json", "number,titel"}, []string{"issue", "list", "--json=number,titel"}},
+		{[]string{"run", "list", "--json", "workflow", "--limit", "5"}, []string{"run", "list", "--json=workflow", "--limit", "5"}},
+		{[]string{"issue", "view", "--json", "titel"}, []string{"issue", "view", "--json", "titel"}},
+		{[]string{"issue", "view", "5", "--json", "titel"}, []string{"issue", "view", "5", "--json=titel"}},
 	} {
 		deps, _, _ := testDeps(t)
 		require.Equal(t, tc.want, joinJSONFields(NewRoot(deps), tc.args), tc.args)
@@ -148,3 +155,40 @@ func TestSudoSendsHeaderAfterIdentityCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	requireUsageBeforeRequests(t, "--sudo cannot be used with auth commands", "auth", "status", "--sudo", "bob")
 	requireUsageBeforeRequests(t, "--sudo requires a username", "repo", "view", "--sudo", "")
 }
+
+func TestJSONFieldErrorsListAvailableFields(t *testing.T) {
+	requireUsageBeforeRequests(t, "unknown JSON field \"titel\"\navailable fields: assignees, author, body", "issue", "list", "--json", "number,titel")
+	requireUsageBeforeRequests(t, "unknown JSON field \"workflow\"\navailable fields: actor, attempt, branch", "run", "list", "--json", "workflow")
+	requireUsageBeforeRequests(t, "--json= needs field names; use --json alone for every field", "pr", "list", "--json=")
+	requireUsageBeforeRequests(t, "version prints text; --jq is not supported", "version", "--jq", ".")
+}
+
+func TestJQImpliesJSONAndShorthands(t *testing.T) {
+	server := newAuthenticatedServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`[{"id":1,"username":"team","full_name":"Team"}]`))
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+	for _, args := range [][]string{{"org", "list", "--jq", ".[].name"}, {"org", "list", "-q", ".[].name"}, {"-q", ".[0].full_name", "org", "list"}} {
+		deps, out, _ := serverDeps(t, server.URL)
+		require.NoError(t, Execute(context.Background(), deps, args), args)
+		require.Contains(t, []string{"team\n", "Team\n"}, out.String(), args)
+	}
+	deps, _, _ := testDeps(t)
+	flags := NewRoot(deps).PersistentFlags()
+	require.Equal(t, "yes", flags.ShorthandLookup("y").Name)
+	require.Equal(t, "jq", flags.ShorthandLookup("q").Name)
+}
+
+func TestRawJSONCommandsKeepJQToThemselves(t *testing.T) {
+	deps, out, _ := testDeps(t)
+	root := NewRoot(deps)
+	root.AddCommand(&cobra.Command{Use: "raw", Annotations: map[string]string{"tea.text": "raw prints text", "tea.rawjson": "true"}, RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
+		_, err := fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "json=%q", cmd.Flag("json").Value)
+		return err
+	}})
+	root.SetArgs([]string{"raw", "--jq", ".x"})
+	require.NoError(t, root.Execute())
+	require.Equal(t, `json=""`, out.String())
+	root.SetArgs([]string{"raw", "--json"})
+	require.ErrorContains(t, root.Execute(), "raw prints text; --json is not supported")
+}
diff --git a/internal/terminal/output.go b/internal/terminal/output.go
index 8beab7f1..7c74431c 100644
--- a/internal/terminal/output.go
+++ b/internal/terminal/output.go
@@ -4,17 +4,36 @@
 package terminal
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/itchyny/gojq"
 )
 
+// JSONOutput selects, filters, and formats command results as JSON.
+type JSONOutput struct {
+	// Fields holds the comma-separated fields to keep; "" and "*" keep every field.
+	Fields string
+	// Query is a jq expression applied after field selection.
+	Query string
+	// Pretty indents the JSON for a terminal and strips control characters from raw jq strings.
+	Pretty bool
+	// Color highlights pretty JSON keys and values.
+	Color bool
+}
+
 // WriteJSON projects explicit result fields and applies an in-process jq filter.
 func WriteJSON(w io.Writer, value any, fields, query string) error {
+	return JSONOutput{Fields: fields, Query: query}.Write(w, value)
+}
+
+// Write projects explicit result fields of value, applies the jq filter, and writes the results.
+func (o JSONOutput) Write(w io.Writer, value any) error {
 	data, err := json.Marshal(value)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -23,7 +42,7 @@ func WriteJSON(w io.Writer, value any, fields, query string) error {
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &normalized); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if names := fieldNames(fields); names != nil {
+	if names := fieldNames(o.Fields); names != nil {
 		selectFields := func(item any) (any, error) {
 			object, ok := item.(map[string]any)
 			if !ok {
@@ -54,12 +73,10 @@ func WriteJSON(w io.Writer, value any, fields, query string) error {
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	encoder := json.NewEncoder(w)
-	encoder.SetEscapeHTML(false)
-	if query == "" {
-		return encoder.Encode(normalized)
+	if o.Query == "" {
+		return o.encode(w, normalized)
 	}
-	parsed, err := parseQuery(query)
+	parsed, err := parseQuery(o.Query)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -73,25 +90,95 @@ func WriteJSON(w io.Writer, value any, fields, query string) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("evaluate --jq: %w", err)
 		}
 		if str, ok := value.(string); ok {
+			if o.Pretty {
+				str = SafeText(str)
+			}
 			if _, err := fmt.Fprintln(w, str); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-		} else if err := encoder.Encode(value); err != nil {
+		} else if err := o.encode(w, value); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 }
 
+// encode writes one JSON value followed by a newline.
+func (o JSONOutput) encode(w io.Writer, value any) error {
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	encoder := json.NewEncoder(&buf)
+	encoder.SetEscapeHTML(false)
+	if o.Pretty {
+		encoder.SetIndent("", "  ")
+	}
+	if err := encoder.Encode(value); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	text := buf.String()
+	if o.Pretty {
+		// The encoder escapes control characters but not format characters such as bidirectional overrides.
+		text = SafeText(text)
+	}
+	if o.Color {
+		text = colorJSON(text)
+	}
+	_, err := io.WriteString(w, text)
+	return err
+}
+
+// JSON colors, following gh: bold blue keys, green strings, yellow booleans, cyan null.
+const (
+	jsonKeyColor    = "\x1b[1;34m"
+	jsonStringColor = "\x1b[32m"
+	jsonBoolColor   = "\x1b[33m"
+	jsonNullColor   = "\x1b[36m"
+	jsonResetColor  = "\x1b[0m"
+)
+
+// colorJSON highlights the keys and literal values of encoded JSON text.
+func colorJSON(text string) string {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	for i := 0; i < len(text); {
+		color, end := "", i+1
+		switch c := text[i]; {
+		case c == '"':
+			for end < len(text) && text[end] != '"' {
+				if text[end] == '\\' {
+					end++
+				}
+				end++
+			}
+			end++
+			color = jsonStringColor
+			if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimLeft(text[end:], " "), ":") {
+				color = jsonKeyColor
+			}
+		case strings.HasPrefix(text[i:], "true"):
+			color, end = jsonBoolColor, i+len("true")
+		case strings.HasPrefix(text[i:], "false"):
+			color, end = jsonBoolColor, i+len("false")
+		case strings.HasPrefix(text[i:], "null"):
+			color, end = jsonNullColor, i+len("null")
+		}
+		if color == "" {
+			b.WriteString(text[i:end])
+		} else {
+			b.WriteString(color + text[i:end] + jsonResetColor)
+		}
+		i = end
+	}
+	return b.String()
+}
+
 // ValidateOutput catches invalid projection/filter syntax before a service mutates data.
+// An unknown field error lists the allowed fields.
 func ValidateOutput(fields, query string, allowed []string) error {
 	if names := fieldNames(fields); names != nil && allowed != nil {
-		known := map[string]bool{}
-		for _, name := range allowed {
-			known[name] = true
-		}
 		for _, name := range names {
-			if !known[name] {
-				return fmt.Errorf("unknown JSON field %q", name)
+			if name == "" {
+				return errors.New("--json field names cannot be empty; use --json alone for every field")
+			}
+			if !slices.Contains(allowed, name) {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unknown JSON field %q\navailable fields: %s", name, strings.Join(allowed, ", "))
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/internal/terminal/output_test.go b/internal/terminal/output_test.go
index 8d41a1a4..bf9fc114 100644
--- a/internal/terminal/output_test.go
+++ b/internal/terminal/output_test.go
@@ -20,5 +20,23 @@ func TestJSONFieldSelectionAndJQ(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, "[]\n", out.String())
 	require.Error(t, WriteJSON(&out, value, "unknown", ""))
 	require.NoError(t, ValidateOutput("number, title", "", []string{"number", "title"}))
-	require.EqualError(t, ValidateOutput("number, foo", "", []string{"number"}), `unknown JSON field "foo"`)
+	require.EqualError(t, ValidateOutput("number, foo", "", []string{"number", "title"}), "unknown JSON field \"foo\"\navailable fields: number, title")
+	require.EqualError(t, ValidateOutput("number,,title", "", []string{"number", "title"}), "--json field names cannot be empty; use --json alone for every field")
+}
+
+func TestJSONOutputIsIndentedAndColoredForTerminals(t *testing.T) {
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+	value := []map[string]any{{"title": "a \u202e\x1b[31mb", "done": true, "due": nil, "number": 1}}
+	require.NoError(t, JSONOutput{Fields: "number,title", Pretty: true}.Write(&out, value))
+	require.Equal(t, "[\n  {\n    \"number\": 1,\n    \"title\": \"a \\u001b[31mb\"\n  }\n]\n", out.String())
+	out.Reset()
+	require.NoError(t, JSONOutput{Pretty: true, Color: true}.Write(&out, map[string]any{"done": true, "due": nil, "title": "x: \"y\""}))
+	require.Equal(t, "{\n  \x1b[1;34m\"done\"\x1b[0m: \x1b[33mtrue\x1b[0m,\n  \x1b[1;34m\"due\"\x1b[0m: \x1b[36mnull\x1b[0m,\n  \x1b[1;34m\"title\"\x1b[0m: \x1b[32m\"x: \\\"y\\\"\"\x1b[0m\n}\n", out.String())
+	out.Reset()
+	// Raw jq strings on a terminal cannot carry escape sequences; piped they stay byte-exact.
+	require.NoError(t, JSONOutput{Query: ".title", Pretty: true}.Write(&out, value[0]))
+	require.Equal(t, "a [31mb\n", out.String())
+	out.Reset()
+	require.NoError(t, WriteJSON(&out, value[0], "", ".title"))
+	require.Equal(t, "a \u202e\x1b[31mb\n", out.String())
 }