From b3be6ba79c98a7729765b8ef8d88c61f9ac8054f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tian Pan <puncsky@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2026 17:46:23 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix: let an explicit output flag override an invalid output
 default

---
 cmd/root.go            | 11 ++++--
 cmd/workspaces_test.go | 83 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 91 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 0c1c5985..d14f7256 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -289,9 +289,14 @@ func rootPersistentPreRun(deps *dependencies.Dependencies) func(cmd *cobra.Comma
 		}
 
 		explicitOutputSet := cmd.Flags().Changed("output")
-		signals, err := deps.DetectRuntimeSignals()
-		if err != nil {
-			return printRootPreRunError(cmd, err)
+		// An explicit --output wins over RENDER_OUTPUT, so the environment is
+		// only read (and validated) when it would actually select the format.
+		var signals command.RuntimeSignals
+		if !explicitOutputSet {
+			signals, err = deps.DetectRuntimeSignals()
+			if err != nil {
+				return printRootPreRunError(cmd, err)
+			}
 		}
 		output, err := command.ResolveAutoOutput(explicitOutputSet, requestedOutput, signals)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/workspaces_test.go b/cmd/workspaces_test.go
index d958d308..cbf5e387 100644
--- a/cmd/workspaces_test.go
+++ b/cmd/workspaces_test.go
@@ -66,3 +66,86 @@ func TestWorkspaces_NonInteractive_EmptyList(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NotContains(t, result.Stdout, "@", "expected no workspace rows — all workspace emails contain @")
 	assert.True(t, server.HasRequest("GET", "/owners"), "expected GET /owners to be called")
 }
+
+// TestWorkspaces_ExplicitOutputOverridesInvalidRenderOutput runs the real root
+// setup with the real runtime-signal detector, so RENDER_OUTPUT is read from the
+// environment exactly as in a shipped binary.
+func TestWorkspaces_ExplicitOutputOverridesInvalidRenderOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name        string
+		args        []string
+		wantErr     string
+		wantRequest bool
+		wantStdout  string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:        "explicit json wins over the invalid default",
+			args:        []string{"workspaces", "--output", "json"},
+			wantRequest: true,
+			wantStdout:  `"name": "acme-corp"`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "explicit yaml wins over the invalid default",
+			args:        []string{"workspaces", "-o", "yaml"},
+			wantRequest: true,
+			wantStdout:  "name: acme-corp",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "explicit text wins over the invalid default",
+			args:        []string{"workspaces", "-o", "text"},
+			wantRequest: true,
+			wantStdout:  "acme-corp",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "invalid default is still refused when selected",
+			args:    []string{"workspaces"},
+			wantErr: "invalid RENDER_OUTPUT value: qa-invalid-output",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "invalid explicit flag is still refused",
+			args:    []string{"workspaces", "-o", "xml"},
+			wantErr: "invalid output format: xml",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			server := renderapi.NewServer(t)
+			server.Owners.Add(renderapi.NewOwner(client.Owner{Name: "acme-corp", Email: "admin@acme.com"}))
+			t.Setenv("RENDER_CLI_CONFIG_PATH", newTestConfigPath(t))
+			t.Setenv("RENDER_HOST", server.URL())
+			t.Setenv("RENDER_API_KEY", "test-api-key")
+			t.Setenv("RENDER_WORKSPACE", "")
+			t.Setenv("RENDER_OUTPUT", "qa-invalid-output")
+
+			c, err := client.NewClientWithResponses(server.URL())
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			deps := dependencies.New(c)
+
+			root := newRootCmd()
+			// A fresh copy keeps an earlier case's merged --output state from
+			// leaking into this one.
+			cmd := *workspacesCmd
+			cmd.ResetFlags()
+			root.AddCommand(&cmd)
+			setupRootCmdPersistentRun(root, deps)
+
+			var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
+			root.SetOut(&stdout)
+			root.SetErr(&stderr)
+			root.SetArgs(tc.args)
+
+			execErr := root.Execute()
+
+			if tc.wantErr != "" {
+				require.EqualError(t, execErr, tc.wantErr)
+				assert.Contains(t, stderr.String(), tc.wantErr)
+				assert.Empty(t, stdout.String())
+			} else {
+				require.NoError(t, execErr)
+				assert.Contains(t, stdout.String(), tc.wantStdout)
+			}
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.wantRequest, server.HasRequest("GET", "/owners"))
+		})
+	}
+}