Summary

gog CLI] No output when executed in non-interactive environments

The gog CLI tool (Google Workspace CLI) works correctly in interactive terminals but produces no stdout output when executed in non-interactive environments, even though commands exit with code 0 (success). This makes the tool unusable for automation, CI/CD pipelines, and agent-based workflows.

    **Key Points:**
    - Commands execute successfully (exit code 0)
    - No stdout, stderr, or output to files
    - Issue occurs in all non-interactive contexts
    - Interactive mode works perfectly

Steps to reproduce

1. Setup authentication:
   bash export GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD="your-passphrase" export GOG_ACCOUNT="[email protected]"

    2. **Run basic version check:**
       ```bash
       gog --version
       ```
       **Expected:** Version information displayed
       **Actual:** No output (empty stdout)
    
    3. **Test Gmail search:**
       ```bash
       gog gmail search 'newer_than:1d' --max 5
       ```
       **Expected:** List of recent emails
       **Actual:** No output
    
    4. **Verify exit code:**
       ```bash
       gog --version
       echo $?
       ```
       **Result:** 0 (success, but no output)
    
    5. **Test output redirection:**
       ```bash
       gog --version > /tmp/version.txt
       cat /tmp/version.txt
       ```
       **Result:** File is 0 bytes
   

Expected behavior

When running gog --version in any environment (interactive or non-interactive), it should display:
gog version 1.2.3

    When running `gog gmail search 'newer_than:1d' --max 1`, it should display:
    ```
    ID                DATE              FROM              SUBJECT  LABELS  THREAD
    19c67a4eb49b4251  2026-02-17 01:09  [email protected]  Test     INBOX   -
    ```
    
    Output should be written to stdout and captured by:
    - File redirection (`>`)
    - Pipe operations (`|`)
    - Subprocess capture
    - Automation tools

Actual behavior

...Actual Behavior:
- Command executes successfully (exit code: 0)
- Stdout: Completely empty (zero bytes)
- Stderr: Completely empty

• File redirection: Creates 0-byte files
  - Subprocess capture: Returns empty strings
  - No error messages displayed

    **Specific Examples:**
    ```bash
    $ gog --version
    $ echo $?
    0
    
    $ gog gmail search 'newer_than:1d' --max 1
    $ echo $?
    0
    
    $ gog --version > /tmp/out.txt
    $ wc -c /tmp/out.txt
    0 /tmp/out.txt...
  

Interactive Environment (Works):
- Terminal: GNOME Terminal 3.44.0
- Shell: bash 5.1.16
- TTY: /dev/pts/0

    **Non-Interactive Environments (Fails):**
    - OpenClaw exec tool
    - Python subprocess: `subprocess.run(['gog', '--version'], capture_output=True)`
    - Bash script: `#!/bin/bash\ngog --version`
    - CI/CD pipeline: GitHub Actions, Jenkins
    - File redirection: `gog --version > file.txt`
    
    **System Information:**
    - OS: Linux 6.6.117-45.1.oc9.x86_64 (x64)
    - gog CLI: Latest from steipete/tap/gogcli
    - Python: 3.11.7
    - Node: v24.13.1
    - OpenClaw: 2026.2.15 (3fe22ea)

OpenClaw version

2026.2.15

Operating system

Linux 6.6.117-45.1.oc9.x86_64 (x64)

Install method

npm global

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

**Interactive Terminal (Working):**
        
        $ gog --version
        gog version 1.2.3
        
        $ gog gmail search 'newer_than:1d' --max 1
        ID                DATE              FROM              SUBJECT  LABELS  THREAD
        19c67a4eb49b4251  2026-02-17 01:09  [email protected]  Test     INBOX   -
        
        
        **Non-Interactive (Failing):**
        
        $ gog --version
        $ echo $?
        0
        
        $ gog --version > /tmp/out.txt
        $ cat /tmp/out.txt
        (no output)
        
        $ python3 -c "import subprocess; r = subprocess.run(['gog', '--version'], capture_output=True, text=True); print(f'exit:{r.returncode}, stdout:\"{r.stdout}\", stderr:\"{r.stderr}\"')"
        exit:0, stdout:"", stderr:""

Impact and severity

This issue makes gog completely unusable for:
- Email automation workflows: Cannot read or process emails automatically
- CI/CD pipelines: Cannot send notifications or check for alerts
- Agent-based task automation: OpenClaw and similar tools cannot use gog
- Scheduled email processing: Cron jobs cannot process emails
- Integration with other tools: Cannot pipe output to other commands

    **Business Impact:**
    - Forces migration to direct Google API usage
    - Increases development time and complexity
    - Breaks existing automation that relied on gog CLI
    - Blocks adoption of gog in automation platforms
    
    **Workaround Attempted:**
    - Direct Gmail API via Python (works, but requires rewriting automation logic)
    - This is the only viable alternative currently

Additional information

No response