diff --git a/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/_engine/session-render.ts b/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/_engine/session-render.ts
index 0b08da0..78c6e12 100644
--- a/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/_engine/session-render.ts
+++ b/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/_engine/session-render.ts
@@ -3,15 +3,42 @@ import {
   isTerminalSessionStatus,
   type ProviderSessionEvent,
 } from "@openagentpack/sdk";
-import { sanitizeSessionEvent, sanitizeSessionEvents } from "@openagentpack/sdk/session-events";
+import { sanitizeSessionEvents } from "@openagentpack/sdk/session-events";
 
 /** Skip user echo + thinking noise in live rendering (mirrors OpenAgentPack CLI). */
 function shouldRenderLiveEvent(event: ProviderSessionEvent): boolean {
   return event.type !== "thinking" && !(event.type === "message" && event.role === "user");
 }
 
-function writeJsonLine(value: unknown): void {
-  process.stdout.write(`${JSON.stringify(value)}\n`);
+function renderTerminalStatus(status: string, json: boolean): void {
+  if (json) return;
+  process.stderr.write(`\n[session ${status}]\n`);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Consume an SSE stream. Text mode renders live (assistant text → stdout,
+ * diagnostics → stderr). JSON mode collects every event and emits exactly one
+ * JSON document at the end — `--output json` guarantees a single valid JSON
+ * result on stdout (mirrors `text chat --stream --output json`).
+ */
+export async function streamAndRenderEvents(
+  events: AsyncIterable<ProviderSessionEvent>,
+  json: boolean,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const collected: ProviderSessionEvent[] = [];
+  for await (const event of events) {
+    if (json) collected.push(event);
+    else renderEvent(event);
+    if (event.type === "status" && isTerminalSessionStatus(event.status)) {
+      renderTerminalStatus(event.status ?? "", json);
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+  if (json) {
+    process.stdout.write(
+      `${JSON.stringify({ events: sanitizeSessionEvents(collected) }, null, 2)}\n`,
+    );
+  }
 }
 
 /** Assistant text → stdout (data channel); everything else → stderr (diagnostics). */
@@ -32,26 +59,6 @@ function renderEvent(event: ProviderSessionEvent): void {
   }
 }
 
-function renderTerminalStatus(status: string, json: boolean): void {
-  if (json) return;
-  process.stderr.write(`\n[session ${status}]\n`);
-}
-
-/** Consume an SSE stream, rendering live (text) or as JSONL (json). */
-export async function streamAndRenderEvents(
-  events: AsyncIterable<ProviderSessionEvent>,
-  json: boolean,
-): Promise<void> {
-  for await (const event of events) {
-    if (json) writeJsonLine(sanitizeSessionEvent(event));
-    else renderEvent(event);
-    if (event.type === "status" && isTerminalSessionStatus(event.status)) {
-      renderTerminalStatus(event.status ?? "", json);
-      break;
-    }
-  }
-}
-
 /** Render a polled (non-streaming) collected result. */
 export function renderCollectedEvents(result: CollectedSessionEvents, json: boolean): void {
   if (json) {
diff --git a/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/apply.ts b/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/apply.ts
index a10899b..a00a166 100644
--- a/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/apply.ts
+++ b/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/apply.ts
@@ -85,16 +85,24 @@ export default defineCommand({
     );
 
     const plan = planned.plan;
+    // In --output json, stdout must stay a single-JSON data channel: diagnostics
+    // and the action preview are progress info → stderr; text mode keeps stdout.
+    const emitProgress = (line: string): void => {
+      if (format === "json") process.stderr.write(`${line}\n`);
+      else emitBare(line);
+    };
     if (plan.diagnostics.some((diag) => diag.severity === "error")) {
       for (const diag of plan.diagnostics) {
-        if (diag.severity === "error") emitBare(`[error] ${diag.code}: ${diag.message}`);
+        if (diag.severity === "error") emitProgress(`[error] ${diag.code}: ${diag.message}`);
       }
       throw new BailianError("Cannot apply: resolve the errors above first.", ExitCode.GENERAL);
     }
 
     const actionable = plan.actions.filter((action) => action.action !== "no-op");
     if (actionable.length === 0) {
-      emitBare("No changes. Infrastructure is up-to-date.");
+      if (format === "json")
+        emitResult({ succeeded: 0, failed: 0, skipped: 0, results: [] }, format);
+      else emitBare("No changes. Infrastructure is up-to-date.");
       return;
     }
 
@@ -104,7 +112,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
 
     for (const action of actionable) {
       const icon = action.action === "create" ? "+" : action.action === "update" ? "~" : "-";
-      emitBare(`  ${icon} ${formatResourceLabel(action.address)}`);
+      emitProgress(`  ${icon} ${formatResourceLabel(action.address)}`);
     }
 
     if (!flags.yes) {
diff --git a/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/destroy.ts b/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/destroy.ts
index 5261e8e..1732067 100644
--- a/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/destroy.ts
+++ b/packages/commands/src/commands/managed-agent/destroy.ts
@@ -61,12 +61,17 @@ export default defineCommand({
 
     const resources = planned.resources;
     if (resources.length === 0) {
-      emitBare("No resources in state. Nothing to destroy.");
+      if (format === "json") emitResult({ destroyed: 0, total: 0 }, format);
+      else emitBare("No resources in state. Nothing to destroy.");
       return;
     }
 
+    // In --output json, stdout must stay a single-JSON data channel: the
+    // resource preview is progress info → stderr; text mode keeps stdout.
     for (const resource of resources) {
-      emitBare(`  - ${formatResourceLabel(resource.address)} [${resource.remote_id}]`);
+      const line = `  - ${formatResourceLabel(resource.address)} [${resource.remote_id}]`;
+      if (format === "json") process.stderr.write(`${line}\n`);
+      else emitBare(line);
     }
 
     if (!flags.yes) {