diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index c7b2a09b..26423b77 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -667,14 +667,19 @@ export function createProgram(BUILTIN_CLIS: string, USER_CLIS: string, pluginsDi
 
   // ── Built-in: validate / verify ───────────────────────────────────────────
 
-  program
+  const validateCmd = program
     .command('validate')
     .description('Validate CLI definitions')
     .argument('[target]', 'site or site/name')
-    .action(async (target) => {
-      const { validateClisWithTarget, renderValidationReport } = await import('./validate.js');
-      console.log(renderValidationReport(validateClisWithTarget([BUILTIN_CLIS, USER_CLIS], target)));
-    });
+    .option('-f, --format <fmt>', OUTPUT_FORMAT_HELP, 'table');
+  validateCmd.action(async (target, opts) => {
+    const fmt = resolveOutputFormat(opts.format);
+    if (fmt === null) return;
+    const { validateClisWithTarget, renderValidationReport } = await import('./validate.js');
+    const report = validateClisWithTarget([BUILTIN_CLIS, USER_CLIS], target);
+    if (fmt === 'table') console.log(renderValidationReport(report));
+    else renderOutput(report, { fmt });
+  });
 
   program
     .command('verify')
diff --git a/tests/e2e/management.test.ts b/tests/e2e/management.test.ts
index a47e731f..04eb9dca 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/management.test.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/management.test.ts
@@ -96,6 +96,29 @@ describe('management commands E2E', () => {
     expect(stdout).toContain('PASS');
   });
 
+  it('validate -f json produces a structured report', async () => {
+    const { stdout, code } = await runManagementCli(['validate', '-f', 'json']);
+    expect(code).toBe(0);
+    const data = parseJsonOutput(stdout);
+    expect(data).toMatchObject({ ok: true, errors: 0 });
+    expect(Array.isArray(data.results)).toBe(true);
+    expect(typeof data.commands).toBe('number');
+  });
+
+  it('validate -f yaml produces a structured report', async () => {
+    const { stdout, code } = await runManagementCli(['validate', '-f', 'yaml']);
+    expect(code).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toContain('ok: true');
+    expect(stdout).toContain('results:');
+  });
+
+  it('validate without -f still prints the human-readable report', async () => {
+    const { stdout, code } = await runManagementCli(['validate']);
+    expect(code).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toContain(`validate: PASS`);
+    expect(stdout).toContain('Checked');
+  });
+
   // ── verify ──
   it('verify runs validation without smoke tests', async () => {
     const { stdout, code } = await runManagementCli(['verify']);