diff --git a/crates/goose-cli/src/logging.rs b/crates/goose-cli/src/logging.rs
index c9763408..c22db9ef 100644
--- a/crates/goose-cli/src/logging.rs
+++ b/crates/goose-cli/src/logging.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ use goose::tracing::langfuse_layer;
 // Used to ensure we only set up tracing once
 static INIT: Once = Once::new();
 
+fn default_env_filter() -> EnvFilter {
+    EnvFilter::new("")
+        // Keep goose and MCP logs visible without verbose debug payloads.
+        .add_directive("mcp_client=info".parse().unwrap())
+        .add_directive("goose=info".parse().unwrap())
+        .add_directive("goose_cli=info".parse().unwrap())
+        .add_directive(LevelFilter::WARN.into())
+}
+
 /// Sets up the logging infrastructure for the application.
 /// This includes:
 /// - File-based logging with JSON formatting (DEBUG level)
@@ -49,18 +58,8 @@ fn setup_logging_internal(name: Option<&str>, force: bool) -> Result<()> {
                 .json();
 
             // Base filter
-            let env_filter = EnvFilter::try_from_default_env().unwrap_or_else(|_| {
-                // Set default levels for different modules
-                EnvFilter::new("")
-                    // Set mcp-client to DEBUG
-                    .add_directive("mcp_client=debug".parse().unwrap())
-                    // Set goose module to DEBUG
-                    .add_directive("goose=debug".parse().unwrap())
-                    // Set goose-cli to INFO
-                    .add_directive("goose_cli=info".parse().unwrap())
-                    // Set everything else to WARN
-                    .add_directive(LevelFilter::WARN.into())
-            });
+            let env_filter =
+                EnvFilter::try_from_default_env().unwrap_or_else(|_| default_env_filter());
 
             // Start building the subscriber
             let mut layers = vec![
@@ -188,4 +187,14 @@ mod tests {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_default_filter_avoids_debug_by_default() {
+        let filter = super::default_env_filter().to_string();
+        assert!(!filter.contains("mcp_client=debug"));
+        assert!(!filter.contains("goose=debug"));
+        assert!(filter.contains("mcp_client=info"));
+        assert!(filter.contains("goose=info"));
+        assert!(filter.contains("goose_cli=info"));
+    }
 }