diff --git a/packages/cli/src/config/config.ts b/packages/cli/src/config/config.ts
index 48cc96a0..6d8c10f6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/config/config.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ const DEFAULT_GEMINI_MODEL = 'gemini-2.5-flash-preview-04-17';
 interface CliArgs {
   target_dir: string | undefined;
   model: string | undefined;
+  debug_mode: boolean | undefined;
 }
 
 function parseArguments(): CliArgs {
@@ -36,6 +37,12 @@ function parseArguments(): CliArgs {
       description: `The Gemini model to use. Defaults to ${DEFAULT_GEMINI_MODEL}.`,
       default: DEFAULT_GEMINI_MODEL,
     })
+    .option('debug_mode', {
+      alias: 'z',
+      type: 'boolean',
+      description: 'Whether to run in debug mode. Defaults to false.',
+      default: false,
+    })
     .help()
     .alias('h', 'help')
     .strict().argv;
@@ -64,6 +71,7 @@ export function loadCliConfig(): Config {
     process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY,
     argv.model || DEFAULT_GEMINI_MODEL,
     argv.target_dir || process.cwd(),
+    argv.debug_mode || false,
   );
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/App.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/App.tsx
index 14b76c8f..cfbc024e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/App.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/App.tsx
@@ -31,11 +31,8 @@ interface AppProps {
 export const App = ({ config }: AppProps) => {
   const [history, setHistory] = useState<HistoryItem[]>([]);
   const [startupWarnings, setStartupWarnings] = useState<string[]>([]);
-  const { streamingState, submitQuery, initError } = useGeminiStream(
-    setHistory,
-    config.getApiKey(),
-    config.getModel(),
-  );
+  const { streamingState, submitQuery, initError, debugMessage } =
+    useGeminiStream(setHistory, config.getApiKey(), config.getModel());
   const { elapsedTime, currentLoadingPhrase } =
     useLoadingIndicator(streamingState);
 
@@ -147,7 +144,11 @@ export const App = ({ config }: AppProps) => {
         </>
       )}
 
-      <Footer queryLength={query.length} />
+      <Footer
+        queryLength={query.length}
+        debugMode={config.getDebugMode()}
+        debugMessage={debugMessage}
+      />
       <ITermDetectionWarning />
     </Box>
   );
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
index 3b4e197b..35ed6910 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
@@ -10,13 +10,22 @@ import { Colors } from '../colors.js';
 
 interface FooterProps {
   queryLength: number;
+  debugMode: boolean;
+  debugMessage: string;
 }
 
-export const Footer: React.FC<FooterProps> = ({ queryLength }) => (
+export const Footer: React.FC<FooterProps> = ({
+  queryLength,
+  debugMode,
+  debugMessage,
+}) => (
   <Box marginTop={1} justifyContent="space-between">
     <Box minWidth={15}>
       <Text color={Colors.SubtleComment}>
         {queryLength === 0 ? '? for shortcuts' : ''}
+        {debugMode && (
+          <Text color="red"> {debugMessage || 'Running in debug mode.'}</Text>
+        )}
       </Text>
     </Box>
     <Text color={Colors.AccentBlue}>Gemini</Text>
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useGeminiStream.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useGeminiStream.ts
index 56203179..1d839998 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useGeminiStream.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useGeminiStream.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
   const [streamingState, setStreamingState] = useState<StreamingState>(
     StreamingState.Idle,
   );
+  const [debugMessage, setDebugMessage] = useState<string>('');
   const [initError, setInitError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const abortControllerRef = useRef<AbortController | null>(null);
   const chatSessionRef = useRef<Chat | null>(null);
@@ -104,6 +105,10 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
       if (streamingState === StreamingState.Responding) return;
       if (typeof query === 'string' && query.trim().length === 0) return;
 
+      if (typeof query === 'string') {
+        setDebugMessage(`User query: ${query}`);
+      }
+
       const userMessageTimestamp = Date.now();
       const client = geminiClientRef.current;
       if (!client) {
@@ -403,7 +408,7 @@ export const useGeminiStream = (
     ],
   );
 
-  return { streamingState, submitQuery, initError };
+  return { streamingState, submitQuery, initError, debugMessage };
 };
 
 // Define ServerTool interface here if not importing from server (circular dep issue?)
diff --git a/packages/server/src/config/config.ts b/packages/server/src/config/config.ts
index 86cd7a6c..bd698cf6 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/config/config.ts
@@ -13,11 +13,18 @@ export class Config {
   private apiKey: string;
   private model: string;
   private targetDir: string;
+  private debugMode: boolean;
 
-  constructor(apiKey: string, model: string, targetDir: string) {
+  constructor(
+    apiKey: string,
+    model: string,
+    targetDir: string,
+    debugMode: boolean,
+  ) {
     this.apiKey = apiKey;
     this.model = model;
     this.targetDir = targetDir;
+    this.debugMode = debugMode;
   }
 
   getApiKey(): string {
@@ -31,6 +38,10 @@ export class Config {
   getTargetDir(): string {
     return this.targetDir;
   }
+
+  getDebugMode(): boolean {
+    return this.debugMode;
+  }
 }
 
 function findEnvFile(startDir: string): string | null {
@@ -60,6 +71,7 @@ export function createServerConfig(
   apiKey: string,
   model: string,
   targetDir: string,
+  debugMode: boolean,
 ): Config {
-  return new Config(apiKey, model, path.resolve(targetDir));
+  return new Config(apiKey, model, path.resolve(targetDir), debugMode);
 }