diff --git a/internal/commands/prime.go b/internal/commands/prime.go
index 322b7dcb..ee1ca10c 100644
--- a/internal/commands/prime.go
+++ b/internal/commands/prime.go
@@ -2,11 +2,10 @@ package commands
 
 import (
 	_ "embed"
-	"os"
 	"text/template"
 
-	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/hmans/beans/pkg/config"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 //go:embed prompt.tmpl
@@ -26,20 +25,6 @@ var primeCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Long:  `Outputs a prompt that primes AI coding agents on how to use the beans CLI to manage project issues.`,
 	Args:  cobra.NoArgs,
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		// If no explicit path given, check if a beans project exists by searching
-		// upward for a .beans.yml config file
-		if beansPath == "" && configPath == "" {
-			cwd, err := os.Getwd()
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil // Silently exit on error
-			}
-			configFile, err := config.FindConfig(cwd)
-			if err != nil || configFile == "" {
-				// No config file found - silently exit
-				return nil
-			}
-		}
-
 		tmpl, err := template.New("prompt").Parse(agentPromptTemplate)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -52,7 +37,7 @@ var primeCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			Priorities:    config.DefaultPriorities,
 		}
 
-		return tmpl.Execute(os.Stdout, data)
+		return tmpl.Execute(cmd.OutOrStdout(), data)
 	},
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/commands/prime_test.go b/internal/commands/prime_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..22409d94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/commands/prime_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package commands
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestPrimeOutputsPromptWithoutBeansProject(t *testing.T) {
+	oldBeansPath, oldConfigPath := beansPath, configPath
+	beansPath, configPath = "", ""
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		beansPath, configPath = oldBeansPath, oldConfigPath
+	})
+
+	oldCwd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Getwd() error = %v", err)
+	}
+
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	if err := os.Chdir(tmpDir); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Chdir(%q) error = %v", tmpDir, err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		_ = os.Chdir(oldCwd)
+	})
+
+	cmd := *primeCmd
+	var stdout bytes.Buffer
+	cmd.SetOut(&stdout)
+
+	if err := cmd.RunE(&cmd, nil); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("prime RunE() error = %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if stdout.Len() == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("expected prime to write prompt output, got empty output")
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(stdout.String(), "# Beans Usage Guide for Agents") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected prompt heading in output, got %q", stdout.String())
+	}
+}