diff --git a/src/config/commands.ts b/src/config/commands.ts
index f1b2187a..e67aeee4 100644
--- a/src/config/commands.ts
+++ b/src/config/commands.ts
@@ -504,6 +504,13 @@ function fieldOptions (): Array<{ long: string; type: 'string'; description: str
   ]
 }
 
+/** Appends any warnings from a handler result as `Warning: <msg>` lines. */
+function appendWarnings (base: string, result: JsonValue): string {
+  const warnings = (result as Record<string, JsonValue>).warnings
+  if (!Array.isArray(warnings)) return base
+  return base + warnings.map((w) => `Warning: ${w}\n`).join('')
+}
+
 function buildContextGroup (): OpaqueCommandHandle {
   const addCmd = defineCommand({
     name: 'add',
@@ -516,6 +523,7 @@ function buildContextGroup (): OpaqueCommandHandle {
       ...fieldOptions(),
     ],
     handler: async (parsed) => handleContextAdd(parsed),
+    formatOutput: (result) => appendWarnings(`Context '${(result as unknown as CommandSummary).context}' added.\n`, result),
   })
 
   const removeCmd = defineCommand({
@@ -527,6 +535,7 @@ function buildContextGroup (): OpaqueCommandHandle {
       { long: 'force', type: 'boolean', description: 'allow removing the current context' },
     ],
     handler: async (parsed) => handleContextRemove(parsed),
+    formatOutput: (result) => appendWarnings(`Context '${(result as unknown as CommandSummary).context}' removed.\n`, result),
   })
 
   const editCmd = defineCommand({
@@ -539,6 +548,7 @@ function buildContextGroup (): OpaqueCommandHandle {
       ...fieldOptions(),
     ],
     handler: async (parsed) => handleContextEdit(parsed),
+    formatOutput: (result) => appendWarnings(`Context '${(result as unknown as CommandSummary).context}' updated.\n`, result),
   })
 
   const listCmd = defineCommand({
@@ -546,6 +556,11 @@ function buildContextGroup (): OpaqueCommandHandle {
     description: 'List all contexts defined in the config file',
     options: [CONFIG_FILE_OPT],
     handler: async (parsed) => handleContextList(parsed.options),
+    formatOutput: (result) => {
+      const r = result as { contexts: Array<{ name: string; current: boolean }> }
+      if (r.contexts.length === 0) return 'No contexts configured.\n'
+      return r.contexts.map((c) => (c.current ? `* ${c.name}` : `  ${c.name}`)).join('\n') + '\n'
+    },
   })
 
   return defineGroup({ name: 'context', description: 'Manage contexts in the elastic config file' }, listCmd, addCmd, editCmd, removeCmd)
@@ -558,6 +573,9 @@ function buildCurrentContextGroup (): OpaqueCommandHandle {
     positionalArg: { name: 'name', description: 'context name', required: true },
     options: [CONFIG_FILE_OPT],
     handler: async (parsed) => handleCurrentContextSet(parsed),
+    formatOutput: (result) => appendWarnings(
+      `Switched to context '${(result as { current: string }).current}'.\n`, result
+    ),
   })
 
   const getCmd = defineCommand({
@@ -565,6 +583,7 @@ function buildCurrentContextGroup (): OpaqueCommandHandle {
     description: 'Print the current context name',
     options: [CONFIG_FILE_OPT],
     handler: async (parsed) => handleCurrentContextGet(parsed.options),
+    formatOutput: (result) => (result as { current: string }).current + '\n',
   })
 
   return defineGroup(
diff --git a/src/output.ts b/src/output.ts
index a7f9d1de..1a1fc2c9 100644
--- a/src/output.ts
+++ b/src/output.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@ export function renderText(value: JsonValue): string {
     }
   }
 
+  if (isFlatObject(value)) {
+    return Object.entries(value)
+      .map(([k, v]) => `${k}: ${v ?? ''}`)
+      .join('\n') + '\n'
+  }
+
   return JSON.stringify(value, null, 2) + '\n'
 }
 
diff --git a/test/config/text-output.test.ts b/test/config/text-output.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5c07040a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/text-output.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, before, after } from 'node:test'
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict'
+import { mkdtemp, rm } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { Command } from 'commander'
+import { registerConfigCommands } from '../../src/config/commands.ts'
+
+/**
+ * Runs a config sub-command in-process (text mode), capturing stdout and
+ * stderr and restoring process.exitCode (error envelopes set it to 1).
+ */
+async function runCapture (args: string[]): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string }> {
+  const prog = new Command('elastic')
+  const group = registerConfigCommands()
+  prog.addCommand(group)
+  prog.exitOverride()
+  group.exitOverride()
+  let stdout = ''
+  let stderr = ''
+  const origOut = process.stdout.write.bind(process.stdout)
+  const origErr = process.stderr.write.bind(process.stderr)
+  const origExitCode = process.exitCode
+  // The factory writes plain strings; the test runner flushes Buffer chunks
+  // to stdout between awaits. Capture only strings and pass Buffers through
+  // so the runner's reporting protocol is not corrupted.
+  process.stdout.write = ((chunk: unknown, ...rest: unknown[]) => {
+    if (typeof chunk === 'string') { stdout += chunk; return true }
+    return origOut(chunk as Uint8Array, ...(rest as []))
+  }) as typeof process.stdout.write
+  process.stderr.write = ((chunk: unknown, ...rest: unknown[]) => {
+    if (typeof chunk === 'string') { stderr += chunk; return true }
+    return origErr(chunk as Uint8Array, ...(rest as []))
+  }) as typeof process.stderr.write
+  try {
+    await prog.parseAsync(['config', ...args], { from: 'user' })
+  } finally {
+    process.stdout.write = origOut
+    process.stderr.write = origErr
+    process.exitCode = origExitCode
+  }
+  return { stdout, stderr }
+}
+
+async function runText (args: string[]): Promise<string> {
+  return (await runCapture(args)).stdout
+}
+
+describe('config commands text output', () => {
+  let dir: string
+  let cfg: string
+
+  before(async () => {
+    dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'elastic-cli-text-'))
+    cfg = join(dir, 'cfg.yml')
+  })
+  after(async () => rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true }))
+
+  it('context add prints a confirmation sentence', async () => {
+    const out = await runText([
+      'context', 'add', 'local',
+      '--config-file', cfg,
+      '--es-url', 'http://localhost:9200',
+      '--es-api-key', 'k1',
+      '--inline-secrets',
+    ])
+    assert.match(out, /^Context 'local' added\.\n/)
+  })
+
+  it('context list marks the current context with an asterisk', async () => {
+    await runText([
+      'context', 'add', 'staging',
+      '--config-file', cfg,
+      '--es-url', 'https://staging:9200',
+      '--es-api-key', 'k2',
+      '--inline-secrets',
+    ])
+    const out = await runText(['context', 'list', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.equal(out, '* local\n  staging\n')
+  })
+
+  it('current-context set prints a switch confirmation', async () => {
+    const out = await runText(['current-context', 'set', 'staging', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.match(out, /^Switched to context 'staging'\.\n/)
+  })
+
+  it('current-context get prints just the name', async () => {
+    const out = await runText(['current-context', 'get', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.equal(out, 'staging\n')
+  })
+
+  it('context edit prints an update confirmation', async () => {
+    const out = await runText([
+      'context', 'edit', 'local',
+      '--config-file', cfg,
+      '--es-url', 'http://new:9200',
+      '--inline-secrets',
+    ])
+    assert.match(out, /^Context 'local' updated\.\n/)
+  })
+
+  it('context remove prints a removal confirmation', async () => {
+    const out = await runText(['context', 'remove', 'local', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.match(out, /^Context 'local' removed\.\n/)
+  })
+
+  it('context add of an existing name without --force errors', async () => {
+    const { stderr } = await runCapture([
+      'context', 'add', 'staging',
+      '--config-file', cfg,
+      '--es-url', 'http://x:9200',
+      '--es-api-key', 'k',
+      '--inline-secrets',
+    ])
+    assert.match(stderr, /already exists/)
+  })
+
+  it('context add with no fields errors', async () => {
+    const { stderr } = await runCapture(['context', 'add', 'bare', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.match(stderr, /No context fields provided/)
+  })
+
+  it('context edit of an unknown context errors', async () => {
+    const { stderr } = await runCapture([
+      'context', 'edit', 'missing',
+      '--config-file', cfg,
+      '--es-url', 'http://y:9200',
+    ])
+    assert.match(stderr, /not found/)
+  })
+
+  it('current-context set of an unknown context errors', async () => {
+    const { stderr } = await runCapture(['current-context', 'set', 'nope', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.match(stderr, /not found/)
+  })
+
+  it('context remove of the current context without --force errors', async () => {
+    const { stderr } = await runCapture(['context', 'remove', 'staging', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.match(stderr, /current context/)
+  })
+
+  it('context remove of an unknown context errors', async () => {
+    const { stderr } = await runCapture(['context', 'remove', 'ghost', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.match(stderr, /not found/)
+  })
+
+  it('context add --force overwrites an existing context', async () => {
+    const out = await runText([
+      'context', 'add', 'staging',
+      '--config-file', cfg,
+      '--es-url', 'http://forced:9200',
+      '--es-username', 'user',
+      '--es-password', 'pw',
+      '--inline-secrets',
+      '--force',
+    ])
+    assert.match(out, /^Context 'staging' added\.\n/)
+  })
+
+  it('context remove of the last context deletes the config file', async () => {
+    const out = await runText(['context', 'remove', 'staging', '--config-file', cfg, '--force'])
+    assert.match(out, /removed/)
+    const listOut = await runText(['context', 'list', '--config-file', cfg])
+    assert.equal(listOut, 'No contexts configured.\n')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/test/factory.test.ts b/test/factory.test.ts
index bb6c4d5f..9bdbcab2 100644
--- a/test/factory.test.ts
+++ b/test/factory.test.ts
@@ -1881,14 +1881,14 @@ describe('defineCommand', () => {
       assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(out), { ok: true, count: 3 })
     })
 
-    it('factory writes handler return value as pretty-printed JSON in text mode', async () => {
+    it('factory writes flat object handler result as key:value lines in text mode', async () => {
       const cmd = defineCommand({
         name: 'status',
         description: 'Get status',
         handler: () => ({ ok: true }),
       })
       const out = await invokeUnderRoot(cmd, [], [])
-      assert.equal(out, JSON.stringify({ ok: true }, null, 2) + '\n')
+      assert.equal(out, 'ok: true\n')
     })
 
     it('factory handles async handler return value', async () => {
@@ -2144,14 +2144,14 @@ describe('text output rendering', () => {
       assert.match(out, /[─├┤┼]/)
     })
 
-    it('falls back to pretty-printed JSON for a plain object', async () => {
+    it('renders a flat object as key:value lines', async () => {
       const cmd = defineCommand({
         name: 'status',
         description: 'Status',
         handler: () => ({ ok: true, count: 3 }),
       })
       const out = await invokeText(cmd)
-      assert.equal(out, JSON.stringify({ ok: true, count: 3 }, null, 2) + '\n')
+      assert.equal(out, 'ok: true\ncount: 3\n')
     })
 
     it('falls back to pretty-printed JSON for nested arrays', async () => {
diff --git a/test/output.test.ts b/test/output.test.ts
index 06df53e3..79724634 100644
--- a/test/output.test.ts
+++ b/test/output.test.ts
@@ -125,8 +125,22 @@ describe('renderText', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  describe('flat objects — key: value pairs', () => {
+    it('renders a flat object as key: value lines', () => {
+      assert.equal(renderText({ status: 'ok', count: 3 }), 'status: ok\ncount: 3\n')
+    })
+
+    it('renders null values as empty string', () => {
+      assert.equal(renderText({ name: 'foo', value: null }), 'name: foo\nvalue: \n')
+    })
+
+    it('renders a single-key flat object', () => {
+      assert.equal(renderText({ version: '1.2.3' }), 'version: 1.2.3\n')
+    })
+  })
+
   describe('complex types — fall back to pretty JSON', () => {
-    it('renders a plain object as pretty-printed JSON', () => {
+    it('renders a nested object as pretty-printed JSON', () => {
       const val = { key: 'value', nested: { x: 1 } }
       assert.equal(renderText(val), JSON.stringify(val, null, 2) + '\n')
     })
@@ -140,11 +154,6 @@ describe('renderText', () => {
       const val = ['hello', { key: 1 }]
       assert.equal(renderText(val as never), JSON.stringify(val, null, 2) + '\n')
     })
-
-    it('renders a flat object (not an array) as pretty-printed JSON', () => {
-      const val = { status: 'ok', count: 3 }
-      assert.equal(renderText(val), JSON.stringify(val, null, 2) + '\n')
-    })
   })
 })