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Add a plain-text / ASCII-only mode for terminal output #2917

@chaosky

Description

@chaosky

Describe the feature or problem you'd like to solve

When Copilot CLI exits, it prints a summary that includes Unicode box-drawing characters / decorative glyphs, for example:

  ╭─╮╭─╮   Changes   +9 -0
  ╰─╯╰─╯   Requests  1 Premium (7h 19m 47s)
  █ ▘▝ █   Tokens    ↑ 989.8k • ↓ 41.2k • 781.2k (cached)
   ▔▔▔▔    Resume    copilot --resume=xxx

In earlier versions, the same summary was printed as plain text without the decorative characters:

Changes   +1251 -337
Requests  1 Premium (17h 55m 30s)
Tokens    ↑ 5.3m • ↓ 52.4k • 4.9m (cached) • 14.4k (reasoning)

I would like a way to disable the special characters and output a plain-text summary instead.

Proposed solution

Provide one of the following:

  • a CLI flag such as --plain, --no-unicode, --ascii-only, or --no-icons
  • an environment variable such as COPILOT_CLI_ASCII_ONLY=1
  • an automatic fallback to plain text when the terminal does not support Unicode or when output is redirected to logs/pipes

Why this matters

  • Makes the output easier to consume in scripts and logs
  • Improves compatibility with minimal terminals and remote SSH sessions
  • Makes it easier to copy/paste summaries into issues, tickets, or documentation
  • Preserves the older plain-text behavior for users who prefer it

Additional context

If this capability already exists, please point me to the documentation. If it is planned, it would be helpful to know the expected flag or configuration key.

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    area:configurationConfig files, instruction files, settings, and environment variablesarea:terminal-renderingDisplay and rendering: flickering, scrolling, line wrapping, output formatting
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