diff --git a/tests/help-output.test.ts b/tests/help-output.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc17792
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/help-output.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { createProgram } from '../src/cli/program.js';
+import { createCliContext } from '../src/cli/shared.js';
+
+describe('root help output', () => {
+  it('mentions shorthand + json and lists user commands', () => {
+    const ctx = createCliContext([]);
+    const program = createProgram(ctx);
+    let help = '';
+    program.configureOutput({
+      writeOut: (s) => {
+        help += s;
+      },
+      writeErr: () => {},
+    });
+    program.outputHelp();
+
+    expect(help).toContain('following');
+    expect(help).toContain('followers');
+    expect(help).toContain('likes');
+
+    expect(help).toContain('bird <tweet-id-or-url>');
+    expect(help).toContain('--json');
+  });
+
+  it('shows global options in subcommand help', () => {
+    const ctx = createCliContext([]);
+    const program = createProgram(ctx);
+    const cmd = program.commands.find((c) => c.name() === 'read');
+    if (!cmd) {
+      throw new Error('Expected "read" command to be registered');
+    }
+
+    let help = '';
+    const output = {
+      writeOut: (s) => {
+        help += s;
+      },
+      writeErr: () => {},
+    };
+    program.configureOutput(output);
+    cmd.configureOutput(output);
+
+    cmd.outputHelp();
+
+    expect(help).toContain('--auth-token');
+    expect(help).toContain('--ct0');
+    expect(help).toContain('--timeout');
+    expect(help).toContain('--quote-depth');
+  });
+});