Improve update checks and cleanup UX, add timeout regressions

cmd/status/main.go

@@ -24,6 +24,20 @@ var (
 	jsonOutput = flag.Bool("json", false, "output metrics as JSON instead of TUI")
 )
 
+func shouldUseJSONOutput(forceJSON bool, stdout *os.File) bool {
+	if forceJSON {
+		return true
+	}
+	if stdout == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	info, err := stdout.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return (info.Mode() & os.ModeCharDevice) == 0
+}
+
 type tickMsg struct{}
 type animTickMsg struct{}
 
@@ -246,7 +260,7 @@ func runTUIMode() {
 func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
 
-	if *jsonOutput {
+	if shouldUseJSONOutput(*jsonOutput, os.Stdout) {
 		runJSONMode()
 	} else {
 		runTUIMode()

cmd/status/main_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestShouldUseJSONOutput_ForceFlag(t *testing.T) {
+	if !shouldUseJSONOutput(true, nil) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected force JSON flag to enable JSON mode")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestShouldUseJSONOutput_NilStdout(t *testing.T) {
+	if shouldUseJSONOutput(false, nil) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected nil stdout to keep TUI mode")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestShouldUseJSONOutput_NonTTYPipe(t *testing.T) {
+	reader, writer, err := os.Pipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("create pipe: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer reader.Close()
+	defer writer.Close()
+
+	if !shouldUseJSONOutput(false, writer) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected pipe stdout to use JSON mode")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestShouldUseJSONOutput_NonTTYFile(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpFile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "mole-status-stdout-*.txt")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("create temp file: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer os.Remove(tmpFile.Name())
+	defer tmpFile.Close()
+
+	if !shouldUseJSONOutput(false, tmpFile) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected file stdout to use JSON mode")
+	}
+}