diff --git a/src/cli/cli_main.cpp b/src/cli/cli_main.cpp
index 7fe65c53..a4abc99b 100644
--- a/src/cli/cli_main.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/cli_main.cpp
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@ void CLISetInterface::onChangeSet() {
 void CLISetInterface::run() {
 	// show welcome logo
 	if (!quiet) showWelcome();
+	handle_pending_errors();
 	// loop
 	running = true;
 	while (running) {
 		if (!cli.canGetLine()) break;
-		handle_pending_errors();
 		// show prompt
 		if (!quiet) {
 			cli << GRAY << _("> ") << NORMAL;
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ void CLISetInterface::run() {
 		String command = cli.getLine();
 		handleCommand(command);
 		cli.flush();
+		cli.flushRaw();
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cli/text_io_handler.cpp b/src/cli/text_io_handler.cpp
index 85117e23..4786409e 100644
--- a/src/cli/text_io_handler.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/text_io_handler.cpp
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@ void TextIOHandler::init() {
 		have_stderr = true;
 		escapes = true; // TODO: detect output redirection
 	#endif
+	// write to standard output
 	stream = stdout;
+	raw_mode = false;
 	// always write to stderr if possible
 	if (have_console) {
 		write_errors_to_cli = true;
@@ -71,8 +73,8 @@ bool TextIOHandler::haveConsole() const {
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Output
 
 TextIOHandler& TextIOHandler::operator << (const Char* str) {
-	if (escapes || str[0] != 27) {
-		if (have_console) {
+	if ((escapes && !raw_mode) || str[0] != 27) {
+		if (have_console && !raw_mode) {
 			IF_UNICODE(fwprintf,fprintf)(stream,str);
 		} else {
 			buffer += str;
@@ -82,17 +84,11 @@ TextIOHandler& TextIOHandler::operator << (const Char* str) {
 }
 
 TextIOHandler& TextIOHandler::operator << (const String& str) {
-	if (escapes || str.empty() || str.GetChar(0) != 27) {
-		if (have_console) {
-			IF_UNICODE(fwprintf,fprintf)(stream,str.c_str());
-		} else {
-			buffer += str;
-		}
-	}
-	return *this;
+	return *this << str.c_str();
 }
 
 void TextIOHandler::flush() {
+	if (raw_mode) return;
 	if (have_console) {
 		fflush(stream);
 	} else if (!buffer.empty()) {
@@ -124,6 +120,38 @@ bool TextIOHandler::canGetLine() {
 	return !feof(stdin);
 }
 
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Raw mode
+
+void TextIOHandler::enableRaw() {
+	raw_mode = true;
+	raw_mode_status = 0;
+}
+
+void TextIOHandler::flushRaw() {
+	if (!raw_mode) return;
+	// always end in a newline
+	if (!buffer.empty() && buffer.GetChar(buffer.size()-1) != _('\n')) {
+		buffer += _('\n');
+	}
+	// count newlines
+	int newline_count = 0;
+	FOR_EACH_CONST(c,buffer) if (c==_('\n')) newline_count++;
+	// write record
+	printf("%d\n%d\n", raw_mode_status, newline_count);
+	if (!buffer.empty()) {
+		#ifdef UNICODE
+			wxCharBuffer buf = buffer.mb_str(wxConvUTF8);
+			puts(buf);
+		#else
+			puts(buffer.c_str());
+		#endif
+	}
+	fflush(stdout);
+	// clear
+	buffer.clear();
+	raw_mode_status = 0;
+}
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Errors
 
 void TextIOHandler::showError(const String& message) {
@@ -131,6 +159,7 @@ void TextIOHandler::showError(const String& message) {
 	*this << RED << _("ERROR: ") << NORMAL << replace_all(message,_("\n"),_("\n       ")) << ENDL;
 	flush();
 	stream = stdout;
+	if (raw_mode) raw_mode_status = max(raw_mode_status, 2);
 }
 
 void TextIOHandler::showWarning(const String& message) {
@@ -138,4 +167,5 @@ void TextIOHandler::showWarning(const String& message) {
 	*this << YELLOW << _("WARNING: ") << NORMAL << replace_all(message,_("\n"),_("\n         ")) << ENDL;
 	flush();
 	stream = stdout;
+	if (raw_mode) raw_mode_status = max(raw_mode_status, 1);
 }
diff --git a/src/cli/text_io_handler.hpp b/src/cli/text_io_handler.hpp
index aa0f5238..fcc1f7bb 100644
--- a/src/cli/text_io_handler.hpp
+++ b/src/cli/text_io_handler.hpp
@@ -41,11 +41,19 @@ class TextIOHandler {
 	/// Show a warning message
 	void showWarning(const String& message);
 	
+	/// Enable raw mode
+	void enableRaw();
+	/// Output a single raw-mode record
+	/// Has no effect unless enableRaw() was called
+	void flushRaw();
+	
   private:
 	bool have_console;
 	bool escapes;
 	FILE* stream;
 	String buffer; ///< Buffer when not writing to console
+	bool raw_mode;
+	int raw_mode_status;
 };
 
 /// The global TextIOHandler object
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 66dd0e80..463f4d28 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -191,9 +191,18 @@ int MSE::OnRun() {
 					cli << _("\n         \tIMAGE is the same format as for 'export all card images'.");
 					cli << _("\n\n  ") << BRIGHT << _("--cli") << NORMAL << _(" [")
 					                   << PARAM << _("FILE") << NORMAL << _("] [")
-					                   << BRIGHT << _("--quiet") << NORMAL << _("]");
+					                   << BRIGHT << _("--quiet") << NORMAL << _("] [")
+					                   << BRIGHT << _("--raw") << NORMAL << _("]");
 					cli << _("\n         \tStart the command line interface for performing commands on the set file.");
 					cli << _("\n         \tUse ") << BRIGHT << _("-q") << NORMAL << _(" or ") << BRIGHT << _("--quiet") << NORMAL << _(" to supress the startup banner and prompts.");
+					cli << _("\n         \tUse ") << BRIGHT << _("-raw") << NORMAL << _(" for raw output mode.");
+					cli << _("\n\nRaw output mode is intended for use by other programs:");
+					cli << _("\n    - The only output is only in response to commands.");
+					cli << _("\n    - For each command a single 'record' is written to the standard output.");
+					cli << _("\n    - The record consists of:");
+					cli << _("\n        - A line with an integer status code, 0 for ok, 1 for warnings, 2 for errors");
+					cli << _("\n        - A line containing an integer k, the number of lines to follow");
+					cli << _("\n        - k lines, each containing UTF-8 encoded string data.");
 					cli << ENDL;
 					cli.flush();
 					return EXIT_SUCCESS;
@@ -214,6 +223,9 @@ int MSE::OnRun() {
 							set = import_set(arg);
 						} else if (arg == _("-q") || arg == _("--quiet")) {
 							quiet = true;
+						} else if (arg == _("-r") || arg == _("--raw")) {
+							quiet = true;
+							cli.enableRaw();
 						}
 					}
 					CLISetInterface cli_interface(set,quiet);