diff --git a/cmd/deploy.go b/cmd/deploy.go
index 2b4ecc50..eb7f2afd 100644
--- a/cmd/deploy.go
+++ b/cmd/deploy.go
@@ -53,6 +53,12 @@ func runDeploy(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		log.Dim("Running containerized.")
 	}
 
+	if env.RunningInteractively {
+		log.Dim("Running with a controlling terminal.")
+	} else {
+		log.Dim("Running without a controlling terminal.")
+	}
+
 	component := "both"
 	if len(args) > 0 {
 		component = args[0]
@@ -62,6 +68,10 @@ func runDeploy(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return errors.New("already in a roxie sub-shell (ROXIE_SHELL environment variable is set), please exit the shell and try again")
 	}
 
+	if !env.RunningInteractively && envrc == "" {
+		return errors.New("running without a controlling terminal requires --envrc to be set")
+	}
+
 	if envrc != "" && portForwarding {
 		return errors.New("cannot use --envrc with --port-forwarding. The --envrc flag is for non-interactive mode with remote cluster access")
 	}
@@ -116,6 +126,7 @@ func runDeploy(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	}
 
 	if envrc != "" {
+		log.Dimf("Writing environment variables to %s", envrc)
 		d.SetEnvrcFile(envrc)
 	}
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 91f382c0..a457e6c9 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/fatih/color v1.16.0
 	github.com/moby/sys/mountinfo v0.7.2
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.0
+	golang.org/x/term v0.38.0
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 )
 
@@ -14,5 +15,5 @@ require (
 	github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.14.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.39.0 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 651f17ee..d1733f43 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@ github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 h1:iy+VFUOCP1a+8yFto/drg2CJ5u0yRoB7fZw3DKv/JXA=
 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220811171246-fbc7d0a398ab/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.14.0 h1:Vz7Qs629MkJkGyHxUlRHizWJRG2j8fbQKjELVSNhy7Q=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.14.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.39.0 h1:CvCKL8MeisomCi6qNZ+wbb0DN9E5AATixKsvNtMoMFk=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.39.0/go.mod h1:OgkHotnGiDImocRcuBABYBEXf8A9a87e/uXjp9XT3ks=
+golang.org/x/term v0.38.0 h1:PQ5pkm/rLO6HnxFR7N2lJHOZX6Kez5Y1gDSJla6jo7Q=
+golang.org/x/term v0.38.0/go.mod h1:bSEAKrOT1W+VSu9TSCMtoGEOUcKxOKgl3LE5QEF/xVg=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
diff --git a/internal/env/env.go b/internal/env/env.go
index 0f9adbc3..75026755 100644
--- a/internal/env/env.go
+++ b/internal/env/env.go
@@ -9,10 +9,12 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/stackrox/roxie/internal/containerutil"
+	"golang.org/x/term"
 )
 
 var (
-	RunningInContainer bool
+	RunningInContainer   bool
+	RunningInteractively bool
 )
 
 // ClusterType represents different types of Kubernetes clusters
@@ -47,6 +49,18 @@ func init() {
 	if RunningInContainer {
 		os.Setenv("KUBECONFIG", "/kubeconfig")
 	}
+	RunningInteractively = isRunningInteractively()
+}
+
+// isRunningInteractively detects if roxie is running interactively
+// by checking if stdin, stdout, and stderr are all connected to a terminal.
+func isRunningInteractively() bool {
+	for _, f := range []*os.File{os.Stdin, os.Stdout, os.Stderr} {
+		if !term.IsTerminal(int(f.Fd())) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
 }
 
 // ensureInitialized performs lazy initialization of cluster information