diff --git a/count.go b/count.go
index 339c04b..ba3f1ed 100644
--- a/count.go
+++ b/count.go
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ var count = &cli.Command{
 			var result string
 			j, _ := json.Marshal([]any{"COUNT", "nak", filter})
 			result = string(j)
-			fmt.Println(result)
+			stdout(result)
 		}
 
 		return nil
diff --git a/decode.go b/decode.go
index d8b0fd9..371ddc2 100644
--- a/decode.go
+++ b/decode.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package main
 import (
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
@@ -68,7 +67,7 @@ var decode = &cli.Command{
 				continue
 			}
 
-			fmt.Println(decodeResult.JSON())
+			stdout(decodeResult.JSON())
 
 		}
 
diff --git a/encode.go b/encode.go
index 320bef2..107c47d 100644
--- a/encode.go
+++ b/encode.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ var encode = &cli.Command{
 					}
 
 					if npub, err := nip19.EncodePublicKey(target); err == nil {
-						fmt.Println(npub)
+						stdout(npub)
 					} else {
 						return err
 					}
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ var encode = &cli.Command{
 					}
 
 					if npub, err := nip19.EncodePrivateKey(target); err == nil {
-						fmt.Println(npub)
+						stdout(npub)
 					} else {
 						return err
 					}
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ var encode = &cli.Command{
 					}
 
 					if npub, err := nip19.EncodeProfile(target, relays); err == nil {
-						fmt.Println(npub)
+						stdout(npub)
 					} else {
 						return err
 					}
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ var encode = &cli.Command{
 					}
 
 					if npub, err := nip19.EncodeEvent(target, relays, author); err == nil {
-						fmt.Println(npub)
+						stdout(npub)
 					} else {
 						return err
 					}
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ var encode = &cli.Command{
 					}
 
 					if npub, err := nip19.EncodeEntity(pubkey, kind, d, relays); err == nil {
-						fmt.Println(npub)
+						stdout(npub)
 					} else {
 						return err
 					}
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ var encode = &cli.Command{
 					}
 
 					if note, err := nip19.EncodeNote(target); err == nil {
-						fmt.Println(note)
+						stdout(note)
 					} else {
 						return err
 					}
diff --git a/event.go b/event.go
index cdaca12..e75d837 100644
--- a/event.go
+++ b/event.go
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ example:
 				j, _ := easyjson.Marshal(&evt)
 				result = string(j)
 			}
-			fmt.Println(result)
+			stdout(result)
 
 			// publish to relays
 			if len(relays) > 0 {
diff --git a/fetch.go b/fetch.go
index 33cf46c..7f3d966 100644
--- a/fetch.go
+++ b/fetch.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
-
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr/nip19"
 	sdk "github.com/nbd-wtf/nostr-sdk"
@@ -93,7 +91,7 @@ var fetch = &cli.Command{
 			}
 
 			for ie := range pool.SubManyEose(c.Context, relays, nostr.Filters{filter}) {
-				fmt.Println(ie.Event)
+				stdout(ie.Event)
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/helpers.go b/helpers.go
index 204df0f..5cf95f7 100644
--- a/helpers.go
+++ b/helpers.go
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ var log = func(msg string, args ...any) {
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, msg, args...)
 }
 
+var stdout = fmt.Println
+
 func isPiped() bool {
 	stat, _ := os.Stdin.Stat()
 	return stat.Mode()&os.ModeCharDevice == 0
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index c18b50e..c0175fa 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
 )
 
+var q int
+
 var app = &cli.App{
 	Name:                   "nak",
 	Suggest:                true,
@@ -25,12 +26,16 @@ var app = &cli.App{
 	},
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
 		&cli.BoolFlag{
-			Name:    "silent",
-			Usage:   "do not print logs and info messages to stderr",
-			Aliases: []string{"s"},
+			Name:    "quiet",
+			Usage:   "do not print logs and info messages to stderr, use -qq to also not print anything to stdout",
+			Count:   &q,
+			Aliases: []string{"q"},
 			Action: func(ctx *cli.Context, b bool) error {
-				if b {
+				if q >= 1 {
 					log = func(msg string, args ...any) {}
+					if q >= 2 {
+						stdout = func(a ...any) (int, error) { return 0, nil }
+					}
 				}
 				return nil
 			},
@@ -40,7 +45,7 @@ var app = &cli.App{
 
 func main() {
 	if err := app.Run(os.Args); err != nil {
-		fmt.Println(err)
+		stdout(err)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/relay.go b/relay.go
index a0faee4..a3f7551 100644
--- a/relay.go
+++ b/relay.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ var relay = &cli.Command{
 		}
 
 		pretty, _ := json.MarshalIndent(info, "", "  ")
-		fmt.Println(string(pretty))
+		stdout(string(pretty))
 		return nil
 	},
 }
diff --git a/req.go b/req.go
index 878fa7d..d164d6a 100644
--- a/req.go
+++ b/req.go
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ example:
 					fn = pool.SubMany
 				}
 				for ie := range fn(c.Context, relayUrls, nostr.Filters{filter}) {
-					fmt.Println(ie.Event)
+					stdout(ie.Event)
 				}
 			} else {
 				// no relays given, will just print the filter
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ example:
 					result = string(j)
 				}
 
-				fmt.Println(result)
+				stdout(result)
 			}
 		}