> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://praison.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Output
> Control how agents display responses — from silent to verbose with streaming
Output controls what agents print, how much detail they show, and whether they stream responses in real time.
```python theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
from praisonaiagents import Agent
agent = Agent(
name="Assistant",
instructions="You are a helpful assistant.",
output="verbose",
)
agent.start("Explain how neural networks learn.")
```
The user runs the agent; output mode controls how much detail prints or streams during the run.
```mermaid theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
graph LR
subgraph "Output Modes"
Silent[🔇 Silent\ndefault] --> Minimal[📄 Minimal]
Minimal --> Normal[📋 Normal]
Normal --> Verbose[📢 Verbose]
Verbose --> Debug[🔬 Debug]
end
classDef mode fill:#6366F1,stroke:#7C90A0,color:#fff
classDef highlight fill:#10B981,stroke:#7C90A0,color:#fff
class Silent highlight
class Minimal,Normal,Verbose,Debug mode
```
## Quick Start
Pick a named output mode — the shortest way to control what the agent prints.
```python theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
from praisonaiagents import Agent
agent = Agent(
name="Assistant",
instructions="You are a helpful assistant.",
output="verbose",
)
agent.start("What is the fastest sorting algorithm?")
```
Use `OutputConfig` to combine formatting flags like streaming and markdown.
```python theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
from praisonaiagents import Agent, OutputConfig
agent = Agent(
name="Assistant",
instructions="You are a helpful assistant.",
output=OutputConfig(
verbose=True,
markdown=True,
stream=True,
),
)
agent.start("Write a comparison of React vs Vue.js.")
```
***
## Output Presets
```mermaid theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
graph TB
Q{What do you need?}
Q -->|Programmatic / API| Silent[silent\ndefault — zero overhead]
Q -->|User-facing terminal| Verbose[verbose\nRich panels + color]
Q -->|Debug tool calls| Actions[actions\ntool trace to stderr]
Q -->|Pipe to other tools| JSON[json\nJSONL events]
Q -->|Simple terminal app| Minimal[minimal\nclean text only]
classDef decision fill:#F59E0B,stroke:#7C90A0,color:#fff
classDef preset fill:#6366F1,stroke:#7C90A0,color:#fff
class Q decision
class Silent,Verbose,Actions,JSON,Minimal preset
```
The default is `output="silent"` — agents return responses without printing anything. This is the fastest mode for programmatic use.
***
## How It Works
```mermaid theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
sequenceDiagram
participant User
participant Agent
participant Output
User->>Agent: Request
Agent->>Agent: Generate response
Agent->>Output: Route to output mode
Output-->>User: Formatted response (or silent)
```
| Phase | What happens |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| 1. Generate | Agent processes the request normally |
| 2. Route | Response is passed to the configured output mode |
| 3. Display | Output mode formats and renders (or stays silent) |
***
## Configuration Options
Full list of options, types, and defaults — `OutputConfig`
The most common options at a glance:
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
| ------------- | ------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------ |
| `verbose` | `bool` | `False` | Show Rich panels and detailed output |
| `markdown` | `bool` | `False` | Render markdown formatting |
| `stream` | `bool` | `False` | Stream tokens as they generate |
| `json_output` | `bool` | `False` | Emit JSONL events for piping |
| `output_file` | `str \| None` | `None` | Auto-save response to file path |
***
## Common Patterns
### Pattern 1 — Streaming for real-time UX
```python theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
from praisonaiagents import Agent, OutputConfig
agent = Agent(
instructions="You are a writing assistant.",
output=OutputConfig(stream=True, markdown=True),
)
response = agent.start("Write a short story about a robot learning to paint.")
print(response)
```
### Pattern 2 — Save output to file
```python theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
from praisonaiagents import Agent, OutputConfig
agent = Agent(
instructions="You are a report writer.",
output=OutputConfig(output_file="report.md", markdown=True),
)
agent.start("Generate a quarterly sales analysis report.")
```
### Pattern 3 — JSON output for pipelines
```python theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"vitesse-dark"}}
from praisonaiagents import Agent, OutputConfig
agent = Agent(
instructions="You are a data extraction agent.",
output=OutputConfig(json_output=True),
)
agent.start("Extract all company names from this text: Apple launched in 1976, Google in 1998.")
```
***
## Best Practices
`output="silent"` (the default) adds zero overhead and returns the response as a Python string. Use it for APIs, background jobs, and any code that processes the response programmatically.
Set `output="verbose"` during development to see tool calls, agent reasoning, and formatted output. Switch back to silent before deploying.
Enable `OutputConfig(stream=True)` for chat interfaces and terminal apps where users expect to see the response appear word by word, not all at once.
Use `output_file="path/to/file.md"` to automatically save every response — useful for report generation, batch processing, and audit trails.
***
## Related
Caching — avoid redundant LLM calls
Execution — control iteration limits and rate limiting