diff --git a/cli/cmd_test.go b/cli/cmd_test.go
index 1d58ac1..7fb7b0f 100644
--- a/cli/cmd_test.go
+++ b/cli/cmd_test.go
@@ -379,6 +379,31 @@ func TestVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	runNoServer(t, "version").wantCode(t, 0).wantOut(t, "ccrawl")
 }
 
+// The version line is six facts glued into a sentence, and a CI job that wants
+// one of them should not have to write a regular expression for it. Asking for
+// a format gets the same six as data.
+func TestVersionRendersAsData(t *testing.T) {
+	r := runNoServer(t, "version", "-o", "jsonl").wantCode(t, 0)
+	var got map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(strings.TrimSpace(r.Out)), &got); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("-o jsonl is not JSON: %v\n%s", err, r.Out)
+	}
+	for _, k := range []string{"version", "commit", "built", "os", "arch", "go"} {
+		if _, ok := got[k]; !ok {
+			t.Errorf("no %q field: %v", k, got)
+		}
+	}
+	runNoServer(t, "version", "-o", "csv").wantCode(t, 0).wantOut(t, "version,commit,built,os,arch,go")
+
+	// auto keeps the sentence, in a pipe as well as on a terminal, because that
+	// is what ccrawl version has always printed and what anything grepping it
+	// expects. A test run is a pipe, so this is the case that would break.
+	runNoServer(t, "version").wantCode(t, 0).
+		wantOut(t, "ccrawl").
+		wantNotOut(t, `"version"`)
+	runNoServer(t, "version", "--short").wantCode(t, 0).wantNotOut(t, "commit")
+}
+
 // An unknown command and an unknown flag exit 1, not the 2 that means a usage
 // error, because the argument parser rejects them before ccrawl sees anything.
 // The reference says so under Caveat in docs/content/reference/exit-codes.md,
diff --git a/cli/version.go b/cli/version.go
index 53a9489..a85fda5 100644
--- a/cli/version.go
+++ b/cli/version.go
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ func newVersionCmd() kit.Command {
 	return kit.Command{
 		Use:   "version",
 		Short: "Print version information",
+		Long: `Print the version, the commit it was built from, when it was built, and the platform and Go toolchain behind it.
+
+The default is the one-line form people read. -o renders the same six fields as data, for a CI job that wants one of them without a regular expression:
+
+  ccrawl version -o json | jq -r .commit`,
 		Flags: v.flags,
 		Run:   v.run,
 	}
@@ -27,12 +32,31 @@ func (v *versionCmd) flags(f *kit.FlagSet) {
 	f.BoolVar(&v.short, "short", false, "print just the version number")
 }
 
-func (v *versionCmd) run(_ context.Context, _ []string) error {
+func (v *versionCmd) run(ctx context.Context, _ []string) error {
 	if v.short {
 		_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(cmdOut, Version)
 		return nil
 	}
-	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(cmdOut, "ccrawl %s (commit %s, built %s, %s/%s, %s)\n",
-		Version, Commit, Date, runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH, runtime.Version())
-	return nil
+	// auto stays the sentence, on a terminal and in a pipe alike. Everywhere
+	// else auto means "a table for a person, JSON Lines for a pipe", but this
+	// line is what `ccrawl version` has always printed and what a script that
+	// greps it expects, and changing that to help a script that does not exist
+	// yet is the wrong trade. Asking for a format is how you say you want data.
+	if st := kit.FromContext(ctx); st == nil || st.Output.Format == "" || st.Output.Format == "auto" {
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(cmdOut, "ccrawl %s (commit %s, built %s, %s/%s, %s)\n",
+			Version, Commit, Date, runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH, runtime.Version())
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	app := appFromCtx(ctx)
+	cols := []string{"version", "commit", "built", "os", "arch", "go"}
+	vals := []string{Version, Commit, Date, runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH, runtime.Version()}
+	value := map[string]any{}
+	for i, c := range cols {
+		value[c] = vals[i]
+	}
+	if err := app.Out.Emit(Row{Cols: cols, Vals: vals, Value: value}); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return app.Out.Flush()
 }
diff --git a/docs/content/reference/cli.md b/docs/content/reference/cli.md
index 893f5f1..8dc51af 100644
--- a/docs/content/reference/cli.md
+++ b/docs/content/reference/cli.md
@@ -1078,6 +1078,22 @@ The global flags apply, so `-c`, `--data-dir`, and `--no-cache` all set the serv
 
 ---
 
+## version
+
+```sh
+ccrawl version              # the one-line form
+ccrawl version --short      # just the version number
+ccrawl version -o json      # the same six fields as data
+```
+
+The default line is six facts glued into a sentence: `ccrawl 0.10.1 (commit 664360e, built 2026-08-13, darwin/arm64, go1.26.5)`. Pass `-o` and you get them separately, which is what a CI job wants when it needs one of them and would otherwise write a regular expression:
+
+```bash
+ccrawl version -o json | jq -r .commit
+```
+
+`-o auto`, which is the default, keeps the sentence whether the output is a terminal or a pipe. Every other command switches to JSONL when piped; this one does not, because that line is what `ccrawl version` has always printed and asking for a format is how you say you want data instead.
+
 ## config
 
 ```sh