Print warnings to stderr instead of stdout

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## v2.5.2-dev
 
+### Enhancements
+
+* Print warnings to standard error instead of standard output, keeping stdout clean for machine-readable output such as `mix hex.outdated --json`. Warning-colored lines that are part of a command's regular output, such as retirement notices in `mix hex.info` and the `mix deps.get` dependency listing, remain on standard output
+
 ## v2.5.1 (2026-07-09)
 
 ### Enhancements

lib/hex/remote_converger.ex

@@ -660,7 +660,10 @@ defmodule Hex.RemoteConverger do
     Hex.Shell.info(Hex.Shell.format(line))
 
     if retired do
-      Hex.Shell.warn("    #{Hex.Utils.package_retirement_message(retired)}")
+      # Part of the stdout dependency listing, so only warning-colored
+      # instead of Hex.Shell.warn/1 which prints to stderr.
+      retirement_message = "    #{Hex.Utils.package_retirement_message(retired)}"
+      Hex.Shell.info(Hex.Shell.format([:yellow, retirement_message, :reset]))
     end
 
     advisories

lib/hex/shell.ex

@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@ defmodule Hex.Shell do
     Mix.shell().info(output)
   end
 
+  # Warnings are diagnostics, so print them to stderr, keeping stdout
+  # clean for machine-readable output such as `mix hex.outdated --json`.
   def warn(output) do
     validate_output!(output)
-    Mix.shell().info([IO.ANSI.yellow(), output, IO.ANSI.reset()])
+    Mix.shell().error([IO.ANSI.yellow(), output, IO.ANSI.reset()])
   end
 
   def error(output) do

lib/mix/tasks/hex.audit.ex

@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ defmodule Mix.Tasks.Hex.Audit do
         :ok
 
       warnings ->
-        Hex.Shell.info("")
+        Hex.Shell.warn("")
         Enum.each(warnings, &Hex.Shell.warn/1)
     end
   end

lib/mix/tasks/hex.info.ex

@@ -249,11 +249,17 @@ defmodule Mix.Tasks.Hex.Info do
       message: release["retirement"]["message"]
     }
 
-    Hex.Shell.warn([
-      [:bright, "This version has been retired"],
-      [:normal, ": "],
-      [:normal, Hex.Utils.package_retirement_message(retirement)]
-    ])
+    # Part of the stdout package report, so only warning-colored instead
+    # of Hex.Shell.warn/1 which prints to stderr.
+    Hex.Shell.info(
+      Hex.Shell.format([
+        :yellow,
+        [:bright, "This version has been retired"],
+        [:normal, ": "],
+        [:normal, Hex.Utils.package_retirement_message(retirement)],
+        :reset
+      ])
+    )
   end
 
   defp print_publisher(release) do

test/hex/mix_task_test.exs

@@ -912,7 +912,7 @@ defmodule Hex.MixTaskTest do
 
       Mix.Task.run("deps.get")
 
-      assert_received {:mix_shell, :info,
+      assert_received {:mix_shell, :error,
                        ["\e[33mex_doc is missing its version requirement, use \">= 0.0.0\"" <> _]}
     end)
   end
@@ -925,10 +925,10 @@ defmodule Hex.MixTaskTest do
 
       Mix.Task.run("deps.get")
 
-      assert_received {:mix_shell, :info,
+      assert_received {:mix_shell, :error,
                        ["\e[33mex_doc is missing its version requirement, use \">= 0.0.0\"" <> _]}
 
-      assert_received {:mix_shell, :info,
+      assert_received {:mix_shell, :error,
                        ["\e[33mex_doc is using unknown options: :dir, :typo\e[0m"]}
     end)
   end

test/hex/mix_test.exs

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ defmodule Hex.MixTest do
 
   test "from_lock/1 warns on newer lock versions" do
     message =
-      {:mix_shell, :info,
+      {:mix_shell, :error,
        [
          "\e[33mThe mix.lock file was generated with a newer version of Hex. " <>
            "Update your client by running `mix local.hex` to avoid losing data.\e[0m"

test/mix/tasks/hex.build_test.exs

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ defmodule Mix.Tasks.Hex.BuildTest do
       File.write!("myfile.txt", "hello")
       Mix.Tasks.Hex.Build.run([])
 
-      assert_received {:mix_shell, :info, ["\e[33m\nYou have not included any licenses\n\e[0m"]}
+      assert_received {:mix_shell, :error, ["\e[33m\nYou have not included any licenses\n\e[0m"]}
       assert package_created?("release_missing_licenses-0.0.1")
     end)
   after
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ defmodule Mix.Tasks.Hex.BuildTest do
       File.write!("myfile.txt", "hello")
       Mix.Tasks.Hex.Build.run([])
 
-      assert_received {:mix_shell, :info,
+      assert_received {:mix_shell, :error,
                        [
                          "\e[33mThe following licenses are not recognized by SPDX:\n * CustomLicense\n\nValid license identifiers are available from https://spdx.org/licenses\e[0m"
                        ]}
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ defmodule Mix.Tasks.Hex.BuildTest do
         "\e[33mMix project configuration :organization belongs under the :package key, " <>
           "did you misplace it?\e[0m"
 
-      assert_received {:mix_shell, :info, [^message]}
+      assert_received {:mix_shell, :error, [^message]}
     end)
   after
     purge([ReleaseOrganizationWrongLocation.MixProject])