diff --git a/gptme/cli.py b/gptme/cli.py
index 6111aea7..81dc1b40 100644
--- a/gptme/cli.py
+++ b/gptme/cli.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import errno
 import importlib.metadata
-import io
 import logging
 import os
 import re
@@ -15,8 +14,6 @@
 
 import click
 from pick import pick
-from rich import print  # noqa: F401
-from rich.console import Console
 
 from .commands import (
     CMDFIX,
@@ -35,10 +32,15 @@
 from .prompts import get_prompt
 from .tools import ToolUse, execute_msg, has_tool
 from .tools.browser import read_url
-from .util import epoch_to_age, generate_name, print_bell
+from .util import (
+    console,
+    epoch_to_age,
+    generate_name,
+    print_bell,
+    rich_to_str,
+)
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-print_builtin = __builtins__["print"]  # type: ignore
 
 
 script_path = Path(os.path.realpath(__file__))
@@ -135,10 +137,10 @@ def main(
     """Main entrypoint for the CLI."""
     if version:
         # print version
-        print_builtin(f"gptme {importlib.metadata.version('gptme-python')}")
+        print(f"gptme {importlib.metadata.version('gptme-python')}")
 
         # print dirs
-        print_builtin(f"Logs dir: {get_logs_dir()}")
+        print(f"Logs dir: {get_logs_dir()}")
 
         exit(0)
 
@@ -227,7 +229,7 @@ def chat(
     logfile = get_logfile(
         name, interactive=(not prompt_msgs and interactive) and sys.stdin.isatty()
     )
-    print(f"Using logdir {logfile.parent}")
+    console.log(f"Using logdir {logfile.parent}")
     log = LogManager.load(logfile, initial_msgs=initial_msgs, show_hidden=show_hidden)
 
     # change to workspace directory
@@ -235,10 +237,10 @@ def chat(
     if (logfile.parent / "workspace").exists():
         assert workspace in ["@log", "."], "Workspace already exists"
         workspace_path = logfile.parent / "workspace"
-        print(f"Using workspace at {workspace_path}")
+        console.log(f"Using workspace at {workspace_path}")
     elif workspace == "@log":
         workspace_path = logfile.parent / "workspace"
-        print(f"Creating workspace at {workspace_path}")
+        console.log(f"Creating workspace at {workspace_path}")
         os.makedirs(workspace_path, exist_ok=True)
     else:
         workspace_path = Path(workspace)
@@ -258,7 +260,7 @@ def chat(
 
     # print log
     log.print()
-    print("--- ^^^ past messages ^^^ ---")
+    console.print("--- ^^^ past messages ^^^ ---")
 
     # main loop
     while True:
@@ -320,12 +322,6 @@ def step(
     stream: bool = True,
 ) -> Generator[Message, None, None]:
     """Runs a single pass of the chat."""
-
-    # if last message was from assistant, try to run tools again
-    # FIXME: can't do this here because it will run twice
-    # if log[-1].role == "assistant":
-    #     yield from execute_msg(log[-1], ask=not no_confirm)
-
     # If last message was a response, ask for input.
     # If last message was from the user (such as from crash/edited log),
     # then skip asking for input and generate response
@@ -397,7 +393,7 @@ def get_name(name: str) -> Path:
             if not logpath.exists():
                 break
             else:
-                print(f"Name {name} already exists, try again.")
+                console.print(f"Name {name} already exists, try again.")
     else:
         # if name starts with date, use as is
         try:
@@ -483,9 +479,9 @@ def prompt_user(value=None) -> str:  # pragma: no cover
 def prompt_input(prompt: str, value=None) -> str:  # pragma: no cover
     prompt = prompt.strip() + ": "
     if value:
-        print(prompt + value)
+        console.print(prompt + value)
     else:
-        prompt = _rich_to_str(prompt)
+        prompt = rich_to_str(prompt, color_system="256")
 
         # https://stackoverflow.com/a/53260487/965332
         original_stdout = sys.stdout
@@ -495,12 +491,6 @@ def prompt_input(prompt: str, value=None) -> str:  # pragma: no cover
     return value
 
 
-def _rich_to_str(s: str) -> str:
-    console = Console(file=io.StringIO(), color_system="256")
-    console.print(s)
-    return console.file.getvalue()  # type: ignore
-
-
 def _read_stdin() -> str:
     chunk_size = 1024  # 1 KB
     all_data = ""
diff --git a/gptme/config.py b/gptme/config.py
index 404ace5c..fa278954 100644
--- a/gptme/config.py
+++ b/gptme/config.py
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 from tomlkit import TOMLDocument
 from tomlkit.container import Container
 
+from .util import console
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ def _load_config() -> tomlkit.TOMLDocument:
         os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(config_path), exist_ok=True)
         with open(config_path, "w") as config_file:
             tomlkit.dump(default_config.dict(), config_file)
-        print(f"Created config file at {config_path}")
+        console.log(f"Created config file at {config_path}")
 
     # Now you can read the settings from the config file like this:
     with open(config_path) as config_file:
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@ def get_workspace_prompt(workspace: str) -> str:
     ]
     if project_config_paths:
         project_config_path = project_config_paths[0]
-        logger.info(f"Using project configuration at {project_config_path}")
+        console.log(f"Using project configuration at {project_config_path}")
         # load project config
         with open(project_config_path) as f:
             project_config = tomlkit.load(f)
diff --git a/gptme/init.py b/gptme/init.py
index 5747ffef..e25cd91f 100644
--- a/gptme/init.py
+++ b/gptme/init.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from .models import PROVIDERS, get_recommended_model, set_default_model
 from .tabcomplete import register_tabcomplete
 from .tools import init_tools
+from .util import console
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 _init_done = False
@@ -58,8 +59,8 @@ def init(model: str | None, interactive: bool):
 
     if not model:
         model = get_recommended_model(provider)
-        logger.info(
-            "No model specified, using recommended model for provider: %s", model
+        console.log(
+            f"No model specified, using recommended model for provider: {model}"
         )
     set_default_model(model)
 
diff --git a/gptme/message.py b/gptme/message.py
index 110731a6..d152bd18 100644
--- a/gptme/message.py
+++ b/gptme/message.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 import base64
-import builtins
 import dataclasses
-import io
 import logging
 import shutil
 import sys
@@ -12,15 +10,13 @@
 from typing import Any, Literal
 
 import tomlkit
-from rich import print
-from rich.console import Console
 from rich.syntax import Syntax
 from tomlkit._utils import escape_string
 from typing_extensions import Self
 
 from .codeblock import Codeblock
 from .constants import ROLE_COLOR
-from .util import get_tokenizer
+from .util import console, get_tokenizer, rich_to_str
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -247,11 +243,7 @@ def format_msgs(
                     continue
                 elif highlight:
                     lang = block.split("\n")[0]
-                    console = Console(
-                        file=io.StringIO(), width=shutil.get_terminal_size().columns
-                    )
-                    console.print(Syntax(block.rstrip(), lang))
-                    block = console.file.getvalue()  # type: ignore
+                    block = rich_to_str(Syntax(block.rstrip(), lang))
                 output += f"```{block.rstrip()}\n```"
         outputs.append(f"{userprefix}: {output.rstrip()}")
     return outputs
@@ -276,12 +268,13 @@ def print_msg(
             skipped_hidden += 1
             continue
         try:
-            print(s)
+            console.print(s)
         except Exception:
             # rich can throw errors, if so then print the raw message
-            builtins.print(s)
+            logger.exception("Error printing message")
+            print(s)
     if skipped_hidden:
-        print(
+        console.print(
             f"[grey30]Skipped {skipped_hidden} hidden system messages, show with --show-hidden[/]"
         )
 
diff --git a/gptme/util.py b/gptme/util.py
index 92cb3e93..a6624524 100644
--- a/gptme/util.py
+++ b/gptme/util.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import io
 import logging
 import random
 import re
@@ -5,6 +6,7 @@
 import textwrap
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from functools import lru_cache
+from typing import Any
 
 import tiktoken
 from rich import print
@@ -15,6 +17,8 @@
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+console = Console()
+
 
 def get_tokenizer(model: str):
     if "gpt-4" in model or "gpt-3.5" in model:
@@ -130,8 +134,7 @@ def print_preview(code: str, lang: str):  # pragma: no cover
 
 
 def ask_execute(question="Execute code?", default=True) -> bool:  # pragma: no cover
-    # TODO: add a way to outsource ask_execute decision to another agent/LLM
-    console = Console()
+    # TODO: add a way to outsource ask_execute decision to another agent/LLM, possibly by overriding rich console somehow
     choicestr = f"({'Y' if default else 'y'}/{'n' if default else 'N'})"
     # answer = None
     # while not answer or answer.lower() not in ["y", "yes", "n", "no", ""]:
@@ -212,3 +215,9 @@ def decorator(func):  # pragma: no cover
         return func
 
     return decorator
+
+
+def rich_to_str(s: Any, **kwargs) -> str:
+    c = Console(file=io.StringIO(), **kwargs)
+    c.print(s)
+    return c.file.getvalue()  # type: ignore