diff --git a/lib/Enterprise/CliFramework.php b/lib/Enterprise/CliFramework.php
index fe68f33..91a9a0b 100644
--- a/lib/Enterprise/CliFramework.php
+++ b/lib/Enterprise/CliFramework.php
@@ -141,6 +141,26 @@ abstract class CliFramework
     /** @var float Script start time for elapsed-time reporting. */
     private float $startTime;
 
+    // =========================================================================
+    // Display output — all decorative output goes to stderr
+    // =========================================================================
+
+    /**
+     * Write decorative/diagnostic output to stderr.
+     *
+     * All non-data output (banners, progress bars, section headers, status
+     * lines, log messages) MUST use this method so that stdout is reserved
+     * for machine-readable data.  This ensures that shell captures like
+     *   VERSION=$(php version_read.php --path .)
+     * only receive the actual data, not decorative text.
+     *
+     * @since 04.00.16
+     */
+    protected function display(string $text): void
+    {
+        fwrite(STDERR, $text);
+    }
+
     // =========================================================================
     // Constructor
     // =========================================================================
@@ -326,14 +346,14 @@ abstract class CliFramework
     protected function printHelp(): void
     {
         $w = $this->termWidth();
-        echo $this->c(self::C_BOLD . self::C_CYAN, $this->scriptName);
+        $this->display($this->c(self::C_BOLD . self::C_CYAN, $this->scriptName));
         if ($this->description !== '') {
-            echo ' — ' . $this->description;
+            $this->display(' — ' . $this->description);
         }
-        echo "\n";
-        echo $this->c(self::C_DIM, str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $w)) . "\n\n";
-        echo $this->c(self::C_BOLD, 'Usage:') . "  php {$this->scriptName}.php [options]\n\n";
-        echo $this->c(self::C_BOLD, 'Options:') . "\n";
+        $this->display("\n");
+        $this->display($this->c(self::C_DIM, str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $w)) . "\n\n");
+        $this->display($this->c(self::C_BOLD, 'Usage:') . "  php {$this->scriptName}.php [options]\n\n");
+        $this->display($this->c(self::C_BOLD, 'Options:') . "\n");
 
         $builtIn = [
             '--help'     => ['desc' => 'Show this help message',             'default' => null],
@@ -348,16 +368,16 @@ abstract class CliFramework
             $hint    = ($default !== null && $default !== false)
                 ? $this->c(self::C_DIM, "  (default: {$default})")
                 : '';
-            printf(
+            $this->display(sprintf(
                 "  %s%-22s%s%s%s\n",
                 self::C_CYAN,
                 $name,
                 self::C_RESET,
                 $def['desc'],
                 $hint
-            );
+            ));
         }
-        echo "\n";
+        $this->display("\n");
     }
 
     // =========================================================================
@@ -378,23 +398,23 @@ abstract class CliFramework
         $titleLine   = $this->padRight($titleStyled, $inner, strlen($titleRaw));
         $descLine    = ($desc !== '') ? $this->padRight(" {$desc}", $inner) : null;
 
-        echo "\n";
-        echo $this->c(
+        $this->display("\n");
+        $this->display($this->c(
             self::C_CYAN,
             self::BOX_TL . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $inner) . self::BOX_TR
-        ) . "\n";
-        echo $this->c(self::C_CYAN, self::BOX_V)
+        ) . "\n");
+        $this->display($this->c(self::C_CYAN, self::BOX_V)
             . $this->c(self::C_BOLD, $titleLine)
-            . $this->c(self::C_CYAN, self::BOX_V) . "\n";
+            . $this->c(self::C_CYAN, self::BOX_V) . "\n");
         if ($descLine !== null) {
-            echo $this->c(self::C_CYAN, self::BOX_V)
+            $this->display($this->c(self::C_CYAN, self::BOX_V)
                 . $this->c(self::C_DIM, $descLine)
-                . $this->c(self::C_CYAN, self::BOX_V) . "\n";
+                . $this->c(self::C_CYAN, self::BOX_V) . "\n");
         }
-        echo $this->c(
+        $this->display($this->c(
             self::C_CYAN,
             self::BOX_BL . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $inner) . self::BOX_BR
-        ) . "\n\n";
+        ) . "\n\n");
     }
 
     /** Print the dry-run notice box. */
@@ -403,18 +423,18 @@ abstract class CliFramework
         $w   = min($this->termWidth(), 70);
         $msg = '  ' . self::ICON_DRY . '  DRY-RUN MODE — no changes will be written  ';
         $row = $this->padRight($msg, $w - 2);
-        echo $this->c(
+        $this->display($this->c(
             self::C_YELLOW . self::C_BOLD,
             self::BOX_TL . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $w - 2) . self::BOX_TR
-        ) . "\n";
-        echo $this->c(
+        ) . "\n");
+        $this->display($this->c(
             self::C_YELLOW . self::C_BOLD,
             self::BOX_V . $row . self::BOX_V
-        ) . "\n";
-        echo $this->c(
+        ) . "\n");
+        $this->display($this->c(
             self::C_YELLOW . self::C_BOLD,
             self::BOX_BL . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $w - 2) . self::BOX_BR
-        ) . "\n\n";
+        ) . "\n\n");
     }
 
     // =========================================================================
@@ -435,11 +455,11 @@ abstract class CliFramework
         $w    = $this->termWidth();
         $text = " {$title} ";
         $fill = max(0, $w - strlen($text) - 4);
-        echo "\n";
-        echo $this->c(
+        $this->display("\n");
+        $this->display($this->c(
             self::C_CYAN,
             str_repeat(self::BOX_H, 2) . $text . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $fill)
-        ) . "\n\n";
+        ) . "\n\n");
     }
 
     /** Print a plain horizontal divider. */
@@ -449,7 +469,7 @@ abstract class CliFramework
             return;
         }
         $this->clearProgress();
-        echo $this->c(self::C_DIM, str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $this->termWidth())) . "\n";
+        $this->display($this->c(self::C_DIM, str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $this->termWidth())) . "\n");
     }
 
     // =========================================================================
@@ -495,11 +515,7 @@ abstract class CliFramework
 
         $line = "{$ts} {$icon} {$badge} {$text}\n";
 
-        if ($level === 'ERROR') {
-            fwrite(STDERR, $line);
-        } else {
-            echo $line;
-        }
+        $this->display($line);
     }
 
     /** Log a success message. */
@@ -564,7 +580,7 @@ abstract class CliFramework
             ? '  ' . $this->c(self::C_DIM, "— {$detail}")
             : '';
 
-        echo '  ' . $this->c($color . self::C_BOLD, $icon) . '  ' . $label . $suffix . "\n";
+        $this->display('  ' . $this->c($color . self::C_BOLD, $icon) . '  ' . $label . $suffix . "\n");
     }
 
     // =========================================================================
@@ -601,10 +617,10 @@ abstract class CliFramework
         $line = "  [{$bar}] {$percent}  {$counter}{$suffix}";
 
         if ($newline) {
-            echo "\r{$line}\n";
+            $this->display("\r{$line}\n");
             $this->progressActive = false;
         } else {
-            echo "\r{$line}";
+            $this->display("\r{$line}");
             $this->progressActive = true;
         }
     }
@@ -613,7 +629,7 @@ abstract class CliFramework
     protected function clearProgress(): void
     {
         if ($this->progressActive) {
-            echo "\r" . str_repeat(' ', $this->termWidth()) . "\r";
+            $this->display("\r" . str_repeat(' ', $this->termWidth()) . "\r");
             $this->progressActive = false;
         }
     }
@@ -644,8 +660,8 @@ abstract class CliFramework
         $maxKey = max(array_map('strlen', array_keys($rows)));
         $inner  = $maxKey + 20;
 
-        echo "\n";
-        echo $this->c($color, self::BOX_TL . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $inner) . self::BOX_TR) . "\n";
+        $this->display("\n");
+        $this->display($this->c($color, self::BOX_TL . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $inner) . self::BOX_TR) . "\n");
 
         foreach ($rows as $label => $value) {
             $valStr    = (string) $value;
@@ -653,10 +669,10 @@ abstract class CliFramework
             $padding   = $inner - strlen($label) - $valVis - 4;
             $row       = '  ' . $this->c(self::C_BOLD, $label)
                 . str_repeat(' ', max(1, $padding)) . $valStr . '  ';
-            echo $this->c($color, self::BOX_V) . $row . $this->c($color, self::BOX_V) . "\n";
+            $this->display($this->c($color, self::BOX_V) . $row . $this->c($color, self::BOX_V) . "\n");
         }
 
-        echo $this->c($color, self::BOX_BL . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $inner) . self::BOX_BR) . "\n\n";
+        $this->display($this->c($color, self::BOX_BL . str_repeat(self::BOX_H, $inner) . self::BOX_BR) . "\n\n");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -702,7 +718,7 @@ abstract class CliFramework
         $this->clearProgress();
         $badge = $this->c(self::C_BOLD . self::C_MAGENTA, "Step {$current}/{$total}");
         $arrow = $this->c(self::C_DIM, self::ICON_INFO);
-        echo "\n{$badge}  {$arrow}  {$title}\n";
+        $this->display("\n{$badge}  {$arrow}  {$title}\n");
     }
 
     // =========================================================================
@@ -964,13 +980,13 @@ abstract class CliFramework
         }
 
         // Header.
-        echo $sep . "\n";
+        $this->display($sep . "\n");
         $headerLine = '|';
         foreach ($headers as $i => $h) {
             $headerLine .= ' ' . $this->c(self::C_BOLD, str_pad($h, $widths[$i])) . ' |';
         }
-        echo $headerLine . "\n";
-        echo $sep . "\n";
+        $this->display($headerLine . "\n");
+        $this->display($sep . "\n");
 
         // Rows.
         foreach ($rows as $row) {
@@ -978,9 +994,9 @@ abstract class CliFramework
             foreach ($row as $i => $cell) {
                 $line .= ' ' . str_pad((string) $cell, $widths[$i]) . ' |';
             }
-            echo $line . "\n";
+            $this->display($line . "\n");
         }
-        echo $sep . "\n";
+        $this->display($sep . "\n");
     }
 }