diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 665fd5ce..6b60d162 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "orjson",
     "questionary>=2.0,<3.0",
     "semble-grammars>=0.1.2",
+    "tqdm>=4.60",
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
diff --git a/src/semble/cli.py b/src/semble/cli.py
index 1ba51b29..37574122 100644
--- a/src/semble/cli.py
+++ b/src/semble/cli.py
@@ -31,11 +31,12 @@
 
 
 def _build_index(path: str, content: list[ContentType]) -> SembleIndex:
-    """Build an index from a local path or git URL."""
+    """Build an index from a local path or git URL, showing a progress bar on a tty."""
+    show_progress_bar = sys.stderr.isatty()  # Only show the progress bar in a terminal
     return (
-        SembleIndex.from_git(path, content=content)
+        SembleIndex.from_git(path, content=content, show_progress_bar=show_progress_bar)
         if is_git_url(path)
-        else SembleIndex.from_path(path, content=content)
+        else SembleIndex.from_path(path, content=content, show_progress_bar=show_progress_bar)
     )
 
 
@@ -114,17 +115,41 @@ def _load_index(path: str, content: list[ContentType]) -> SembleIndex:
         sys.exit(1)
 
 
-def _run_search(path: str, query: str, top_k: int, content: list[ContentType], max_snippet_lines: int | None) -> None:
+def _print_pretty(out: dict) -> None:
+    """Print a format_results() payload as human-readable text instead of JSON."""
+    if "error" in out:
+        print(out["error"])
+        return
+    for r in out["results"]:
+        print(f"{r['file_path']}:{r['start_line']}-{r['end_line']}")
+        if "content" in r:
+            print()
+            print(r["content"])
+        print()
+
+
+def _run_search(
+    path: str, query: str, top_k: int, content: list[ContentType], max_snippet_lines: int | None, pretty: bool
+) -> None:
     """Handle the `search` subcommand."""
     index = _load_index(path, content)
     results = index.search(query, top_k=top_k, max_snippet_lines=max_snippet_lines)
     out = format_results(query, results, max_snippet_lines) if results else {"error": "No results found."}
-    print(json.dumps(out))
+    if pretty:
+        _print_pretty(out)
+    else:
+        print(json.dumps(out))
     _maybe_save_index(index, path)
 
 
 def _run_find_related(
-    path: str, file_path: str, line: int, top_k: int, content: list[ContentType], max_snippet_lines: int | None
+    path: str,
+    file_path: str,
+    line: int,
+    top_k: int,
+    content: list[ContentType],
+    max_snippet_lines: int | None,
+    pretty: bool,
 ) -> None:
     """Handle the `find-related` subcommand."""
     index = _load_index(path, content)
@@ -139,7 +164,10 @@ def _run_find_related(
         if results
         else {"error": f"No related chunks found for {file_path}:{line}."}
     )
-    print(json.dumps(out))
+    if pretty:
+        _print_pretty(out)
+    else:
+        print(json.dumps(out))
     _maybe_save_index(index, path)
 
 
@@ -241,6 +269,7 @@ def _cli_main() -> None:
         metavar="N",
         help="Lines of source per result (default: full chunk). 10 = signature + body, 0 = no code.",
     )
+    search_p.add_argument("--pretty", action="store_true", help="Human-readable text output instead of JSON.")
     _add_content_args(search_p)
 
     clear_p = sub.add_parser("clear", help="Clear the index cache.")
@@ -262,6 +291,7 @@ def _cli_main() -> None:
         metavar="N",
         help="Lines of source per result (default: full chunk). 10 = signature + body, 0 = no code.",
     )
+    related_p.add_argument("--pretty", action="store_true", help="Human-readable text output instead of JSON.")
     _add_content_args(related_p)
 
     sub.add_parser("savings", help="Show token savings and usage stats.")
@@ -311,6 +341,7 @@ def _cli_main() -> None:
             args.top_k,
             _resolve_content(args.content, args.include_text_files),
             args.max_snippet_lines,
+            args.pretty,
         )
     elif args.command == "find-related":
         _run_find_related(
@@ -320,4 +351,5 @@ def _cli_main() -> None:
             args.top_k,
             _resolve_content(args.content, args.include_text_files),
             args.max_snippet_lines,
+            args.pretty,
         )
diff --git a/src/semble/index/create.py b/src/semble/index/create.py
index 54e39028..43e066c0 100644
--- a/src/semble/index/create.py
+++ b/src/semble/index/create.py
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import contextlib
 import logging
+import sys
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import numpy as np
 from model2vec.model import StaticModel
+from tqdm import tqdm
 from vicinity.backends.basic import BasicArgs
 
 from semble.chunking import chunk_source
@@ -72,6 +74,7 @@ def create_index_from_path(
     content: ContentType | Sequence[ContentType] = (ContentType.CODE,),
     display_root: Path | None = None,
     previous: PreviousIndex | None = None,
+    show_progress_bar: bool = False,
 ) -> tuple[BM25, SelectableBasicBackend, list[Chunk], dict[str, FileManifestEntry]]:
     """Create an index from a resolved directory, optionally reusing a previous index's unchanged files.
 
@@ -80,6 +83,7 @@ def create_index_from_path(
     :param content: Content types to index.
     :param display_root: If set, chunk file paths are stored relative to this root.
     :param previous: A previously built index to reuse unchanged files' chunks/embeddings/postings from.
+    :param show_progress_bar: Show a progress bar on stderr while indexing.
     :raises ValueError: if no items were found, no index can be created.
     :return: A BM25 index, semantic index, list of chunks, and file manifest.
     """
@@ -98,7 +102,10 @@ def create_index_from_path(
 
     skipped_large: list[str] = []
 
-    for file_path in walk_files(path, resolved_extensions):
+    files = list(walk_files(path, resolved_extensions))
+    for file_path in tqdm(
+        files, desc="Indexing", unit="file", file=sys.stderr, leave=False, colour="green", disable=not show_progress_bar
+    ):
         language = detect_language(file_path)
         with contextlib.suppress(OSError):
             file_status = get_file_status(file_path, None)
diff --git a/src/semble/index/index.py b/src/semble/index/index.py
index cc199edd..9ec48b07 100644
--- a/src/semble/index/index.py
+++ b/src/semble/index/index.py
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ def from_path(
         content: ContentType | Sequence[ContentType] = _DEFAULT_CONTENT,
         include_text_files: bool | None = None,
         model_path: str | None = None,
+        show_progress_bar: bool = False,
     ) -> SembleIndex:
         """Create and index a SembleIndex from a directory.
 
@@ -143,6 +144,7 @@ def from_path(
         :param content: Content types to index, e.g. ContentType.CODE or [ContentType.CODE, ContentType.DOCS].
         :param include_text_files: Deprecated. Pass a content sequence directly instead.
         :param model_path: Path to the model to use. If None, the default model will be used.
+        :param show_progress_bar: Show a progress bar while indexing.
         :return: An indexed SembleIndex. Chunk file paths are relative to ``path``.
         :raises FileNotFoundError: If `path` does not exist.
         :raises NotADirectoryError: If `path` exists but is not a directory.
@@ -167,6 +169,7 @@ def from_path(
             content=normalized,
             display_root=path,
             previous=previous,
+            show_progress_bar=show_progress_bar,
         )
 
         return SembleIndex(
@@ -181,6 +184,7 @@ def from_git(
         model_path: str | None = None,
         content: ContentType | Sequence[ContentType] = _DEFAULT_CONTENT,
         include_text_files: bool | None = None,
+        show_progress_bar: bool = False,
     ) -> SembleIndex:
         """Clone a git repository and index it.
 
@@ -194,6 +198,7 @@ def from_git(
         :param model_path: Path to the model to use. If None, the default model will be used.
         :param content: Content types to index, e.g. (ContentType.CODE,) or (ContentType.CODE, ContentType.DOCS).
         :param include_text_files: Deprecated. Pass content=(ContentType.CODE, ContentType.DOCS, ...) instead.
+        :param show_progress_bar: Show a progress bar while indexing.
         :return: An indexed SembleIndex. Chunk file paths are repo-relative (e.g. ``src/foo.py``).
         :raises RuntimeError: If git is not on PATH, the clone fails, or times out.
         """
@@ -224,6 +229,7 @@ def from_git(
                 model=model,
                 content=normalized,
                 display_root=resolved_path,
+                show_progress_bar=show_progress_bar,
             )
 
             return SembleIndex(
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 029c4079..8ccc614c 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ def test_main_calls_asyncio_run(argv: list[str], monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
     [
         (["semble", "search", "query text", "/some/path"], ["query text", "0.9"]),
         (["semble", "search", "nothing", "/some/path", "--top-k", "3"], ["No results found"]),
+        (["semble", "search", "query text", "/some/path", "--pretty"], ["src/foo.py:1-1\n\ndef foo(): pass"]),
+        (["semble", "search", "nothing", "/some/path", "--pretty"], ["No results found."]),
     ],
 )
 def test_cli_search(
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@ def test_cli_search(
     ("scenario", "expected_stdout", "expected_stderr", "expected_exit_code"),
     [
         ("with_results", ["src/bar.py", "0.8"], None, None),
+        ("pretty", ["src/bar.py:1-1\n\nclass Bar: pass"], None, None),
         ("no_results", ["No related chunks found"], None, None),
         ("unknown_chunk", [], "No chunk found", 1),
     ],
@@ -75,9 +78,11 @@ def test_cli_find_related(
     chunk = make_chunk("class Bar: pass", "src/bar.py")
     fake_index = MagicMock()
     fake_index.chunks = [] if scenario == "unknown_chunk" else [chunk]
-    fake_index.find_related.return_value = [SearchResult(chunk=chunk, score=0.8)] if scenario == "with_results" else []
+    has_results = scenario in ("with_results", "pretty")
+    fake_index.find_related.return_value = [SearchResult(chunk=chunk, score=0.8)] if has_results else []
     file_path = "unknown.py" if scenario == "unknown_chunk" else "src/bar.py"
-    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "argv", ["semble", "find-related", file_path, "1", "/some/path"])
+    argv = ["semble", "find-related", file_path, "1", "/some/path"] + (["--pretty"] if scenario == "pretty" else [])
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "argv", argv)
     with patch("semble.cli.SembleIndex.from_path", return_value=fake_index):
         if expected_exit_code is None:
             _cli_main()
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 7630799b..1e69d081 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -3140,6 +3140,7 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "pathspec" },
     { name = "questionary" },
     { name = "semble-grammars" },
+    { name = "tqdm" },
     { name = "vicinity" },
 ]
 
@@ -3186,6 +3187,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "semble-grammars", specifier = ">=0.1.2" },
     { name = "sentence-transformers", marker = "extra == 'benchmark'", specifier = ">=3.0" },
     { name = "tiktoken", marker = "extra == 'benchmark'", specifier = ">=0.7" },
+    { name = "tqdm", specifier = ">=4.60" },
     { name = "vicinity", specifier = ">=0.4.4" },
 ]
 provides-extras = ["mcp", "benchmark", "dev"]