A JSON verb's answer is its standard output alone

status --json prints its warnings beside the document; parsed from both streams together the first
status asked through the console carried no answer as data. Output stays both streams, in order.

cmd/mesh-controller/seatverbs.go

@@ -113,14 +113,18 @@ func runVerb(ctx context.Context, argv []string) (verbAnswer, error) {
 	// The same environment: the stores' credentials, the bus, the broker — everything a command run
 	// from a shell in this container would have, because it is that.
 	cmd.Env = os.Environ()
-	var out bytes.Buffer
-	cmd.Stdout = &out
-	cmd.Stderr = &out
+	// Two buffers, one answer. What the command *says* is both streams, in the order a person at
+	// a shell would read them; what it *answers as data* is standard output alone — `status --json`
+	// prints its warnings beside the document, and a JSON parsed from the two together parsed
+	// nothing (2026-09-30, the first status asked through the console had no `answer`).
+	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
+	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
+	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
 	runErr := cmd.Run()
-	answer := verbAnswer{Output: out.String(), OK: runErr == nil}
+	answer := verbAnswer{Output: stdout.String() + stderr.String(), OK: runErr == nil}
 	if jsonVerbs[argv[0]] && runErr == nil {
 		var parsed any
-		if json.Unmarshal(bytes.TrimSpace(out.Bytes()), &parsed) == nil {
+		if json.Unmarshal(bytes.TrimSpace(stdout.Bytes()), &parsed) == nil {
 			answer.Answer = parsed
 		}
 	}

cmd/mesh-controller/seatverbs_test.go

@@ -77,3 +77,21 @@ func TestToolsAnswersTheSeatsRecords(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("the mesh-controller seat is not in the listing")
 	}
 }
+
+// A JSON verb's answer is parsed from what the command wrote to standard output alone; a warning it
+// printed beside the document does not take the document away. The test binary stands in for the
+// controller: `-test.run` with a name that matches nothing prints `ok` and a warning about no tests.
+func TestAJSONVerbsAnswerIsItsStandardOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonVerbs["-test.run"] = true
+	t.Cleanup(func() { delete(jsonVerbs, "-test.run") })
+	answer, err := runVerb(t.Context(), []string{"-test.run", "TestAnswerEcho", "-test.v"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !answer.OK {
+		t.Fatalf("the command failed: %s", answer.Output)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(answer.Output, "PASS") {
+		t.Fatalf("stderr and stdout are both what the command said: %s", answer.Output)
+	}
+}