diff --git a/src/modes/get.rs b/src/modes/get.rs
index c7d6297..d3686e4 100644
--- a/src/modes/get.rs
+++ b/src/modes/get.rs
@@ -43,6 +43,17 @@ pub fn mode_get(
         let mut item_path = data_path.clone();
         item_path.push(item_id.to_string());
 
+        // Check if this is a binary item and we're outputting to a TTY
+        if !args.options.force {
+            if let Some(binary_meta) = item.meta.get("binary") {
+                if binary_meta == "true" {
+                    if is_stdout_tty() {
+                        return Err(anyhow!("Refusing to output binary data to TTY, use --force to override"));
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         let compression_type = CompressionType::from_str(&item.compression)?;
         let compression_engine = get_compression_engine(compression_type)?;
         compression_engine.cat(item_path.clone())?;
@@ -52,3 +63,21 @@ pub fn mode_get(
         Err(anyhow!("Unable to find matching item in database"))
     }
 }
+
+fn is_stdout_tty() -> bool {
+    #[cfg(unix)]
+    unsafe {
+        libc::isatty(libc::STDOUT_FILENO) != 0
+    }
+    
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    unsafe {
+        let stdout_handle = winapi::um::processenv::GetStdHandle(winapi::um::winbase::STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
+        let mut console_mode: winapi::shared::minwindef::DWORD = 0;
+        winapi::um::consoleapi::GetConsoleMode(stdout_handle, &mut console_mode) != 0
+    }
+    
+    // Fallback for non-unix platforms or if we can't determine
+    #[cfg(not(any(unix, windows)))]
+    false
+}