fix(cli): allow global format flag after subcommands

Closes #6879\n\nISSUES CLOSED: #6879

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ The format follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/).
   `sandbox_root=.cleveragents/sandbox/`, so LLM file output (`FILE:` blocks)
   is written to disk during the execute phase. (#4222)
 
+- **CLI global format flag parsing** (#6879): Promotes global CLI options before
+  Typer parsing so `agents <command> --format json` and `-f` shorthand work from
+  the documented position. Adds regression coverage for version, info, and
+  diagnostics commands.
+
 - **Robot Framework TDD Listener Guards** (#5436): Added three guard conditions to the
   `tdd_expected_fail_listener` `end_test()` function to prevent blindly inverting ALL test
   failures to passes, which was masking infrastructure errors and causing flaky CI behavior.

features/cli_global_format_flag.feature

@@ -44,6 +44,25 @@ Feature: Global --format flag propagation to subcommands
     Then the global format command should succeed
     And the global format output should be valid JSON
 
+  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+  # Regression: global --format accepted after the subcommand name
+  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+  Scenario: Global --format flag works after the info subcommand name
+    When I invoke the CLI with global args "info --format json"
+    Then the global format command should succeed
+    And the global format output should be valid JSON
+
+  Scenario: Global --format flag works after the version subcommand name
+    When I invoke the CLI with global args "version --format json"
+    Then the global format command should succeed
+    And the global format output should be valid JSON
+
+  Scenario: Global --format flag works after the diagnostics subcommand name
+    When I invoke the CLI with global args "diagnostics --format json"
+    Then the global format command should succeed
+    And the global format output should be valid JSON
+
   # -----------------------------------------------------------------------
   # Subtask 3: version, info, diagnostics read format from global ctx.obj
   # -----------------------------------------------------------------------

src/cleveragents/cli/main.py

@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Annotated, Any
 
+import click
 import typer
+from typer.core import TyperGroup
 
 from cleveragents import __version__
 from cleveragents.cli.formatting import OutputFormat
@@ -20,6 +22,81 @@ _console: "Console | None" = None
 _err_console: "Console | None" = None
 _subcommands_registered = False
 
+_GLOBAL_VALUE_OPTIONS = frozenset({"--format"})
+_GLOBAL_VALUE_SHORT_OPTIONS = frozenset({"-f"})
+_GLOBAL_VALUE_EQ_PREFIXES = ("--format=",)
+_GLOBAL_FLAG_OPTIONS = frozenset({"--show-secrets", "--version", "-V"})
+
+
+def _split_short_value_option(option: str) -> tuple[str, str] | None:
+    for short in _GLOBAL_VALUE_SHORT_OPTIONS:
+        if option.startswith(short) and len(option) > len(short):
+            return short, option[len(short) :]
+    return None
+
+
+def _promote_global_options(args: list[str]) -> list[str]:
+    """Move global root options before subcommands for Typer parsing."""
+
+    if not args:
+        return args
+
+    promoted: list[str] = []
+    remaining: list[str] = []
+    i = 0
+    length = len(args)
+
+    while i < length:
+        arg = args[i]
+
+        if arg == "--":
+            remaining.extend(args[i:])
+            break
+
+        if arg in _GLOBAL_FLAG_OPTIONS:
+            promoted.append(arg)
+            i += 1
+            continue
+
+        if arg in _GLOBAL_VALUE_OPTIONS:
+            if i + 1 < length:
+                promoted.extend([arg, args[i + 1]])
+                i += 2
+            else:
+                remaining.append(arg)
+                i += 1
+            continue
+
+        eq_prefix = next(
+            (prefix for prefix in _GLOBAL_VALUE_EQ_PREFIXES if arg.startswith(prefix)),
+            None,
+        )
+        if eq_prefix is not None and len(arg) > len(eq_prefix):
+            promoted.extend([eq_prefix.rstrip("="), arg[len(eq_prefix) :]])
+            i += 1
+            continue
+
+        split_short = _split_short_value_option(arg)
+        if split_short is not None:
+            short_opt, value = split_short
+            promoted.extend([short_opt, value])
+            i += 1
+            continue
+
+        remaining.append(arg)
+        i += 1
+
+    return promoted + remaining
+
+
+class CleverAgentsTyperGroup(TyperGroup):
+    """Typer group that promotes global options before subcommand parsing."""
+
+    def parse_args(self, ctx: click.Context, args: list[str]) -> list[str]:
+        promoted_args = _promote_global_options(list(args))
+        return super().parse_args(ctx, promoted_args)
+
+
 __all__ = [
     "_print_basic_help",
     "app",
@@ -68,6 +145,7 @@ app: Any = typer.Typer(
     pretty_exceptions_enable=True,
     pretty_exceptions_show_locals=False,
     rich_markup_mode="rich",
+    cls=CleverAgentsTyperGroup,
 )
 
 
@@ -700,6 +778,9 @@ def main(args: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
         if not args:
             args = ["--help"]
 
+        # Global CLI options are promoted by CleverAgentsTyperGroup.parse_args,
+        # so we avoid reprocessing here to prevent double handling.
+
         # Fast paths for lightweight flags to avoid heavy imports when using the
         # real Typer app. If the app is monkeypatched (e.g., tests), fall back to
         # normal execution so patched call paths are exercised.