diff --git a/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/scripts/runTheMatrix.py b/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/scripts/runTheMatrix.py
index 3544ee9488550..e9ce275bbbbda 100755
--- a/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/scripts/runTheMatrix.py
+++ b/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/scripts/runTheMatrix.py
@@ -457,6 +457,8 @@ def stepOrIndex(s):
         opt.overWrite=eval(opt.overWrite)
     if opt.interactive:
         import cmd
+        from colorama import Fore, Style
+        from os import isatty
 
         class TheMatrix(cmd.Cmd):
             intro = "Welcome to the Matrix (? for help)"
@@ -486,6 +488,12 @@ def do_exit(self, arg):
             def default(self, inp):
                 if inp == 'x' or inp == 'q':
                     return self.do_exit(inp)
+                else:
+                    is_pipe = not isatty(sys.stdin.fileno())
+                    print(Fore.RED + "Error: " + Fore.RESET + "unrecognized command.")
+                    # Quit only if given a piped command.
+                    if is_pipe:
+                      sys.exit(1)
 
             def help_predefined(self):
                 print("\n".join(["predefined [predef1 [...]]\n",
@@ -509,7 +517,7 @@ def do_predefined(self, arg):
                         else:
                             print("Unknown Set: %s" % w)
                 else:
-                    print(predefinedSet.keys())
+                    print("[ " + Fore.RED + ", ".join([str(k) for k in predefinedSet.keys()]) + Fore.RESET + " ]")
 
             def help_showWorkflow(self):
                 print("\n".join(["showWorkflow [workflow1 [...]]\n",
@@ -526,7 +534,8 @@ def do_showWorkflow(self, arg):
                 if arg == '':
                     print("Available workflows:")
                     for k in self.matrices_.keys():
-                        print(k)
+                        print(Fore.RED + Style.BRIGHT + k)
+                    print(Style.RESET_ALL)
                 else:
                     selected = arg.split()
                     for k in selected:
@@ -534,9 +543,9 @@ def do_showWorkflow(self, arg):
                             print("Unknown workflow %s: skipping" % k)
                         else:
                             for wfl in self.matrices_[k].workFlows:
-                                wfName, stepNames = wfl.nameId.split('+',1)
-                                print("%s %s %s" % (wfl.numId, wfName, stepNames))
-                            print("%s contains %d workflows" % (k, len(self.matrices_[k].workFlows)))
+                                print("%s %s" % (Fore.BLUE + str(wfl.numId) + Fore.RESET,
+                                                              Fore.GREEN + wfl.nameId + Fore.RESET))
+                            print("%s contains %d workflows" % (Fore.RED + k + Fore.RESET, len(self.matrices_[k].workFlows)))
 
             def help_searchInWorkflow(self):
                 print("\n".join(["searchInWorkflow wfl_name search_regexp\n",
@@ -566,11 +575,12 @@ def do_searchInWorkflow(self, arg):
                     return
                 counter = 0
                 for wfl in self.matrices_[args[0]].workFlows:
-                    wfName, stepNames = wfl.nameId.split('+',1)
-                    if re.match(pattern, wfName) or re.match(pattern, stepNames):
-                        print("%s %s %s" % (wfl.numId, wfName, stepNames))
-                        counter += 1
-                print("Found %d compatible workflows inside %s" % (counter, args[0]))
+                    if re.match(pattern, wfl.nameId):
+                      print("%s %s" % (Fore.BLUE + str(wfl.numId) + Fore.RESET,
+                                       Fore.GREEN + wfl.nameId + Fore.RESET))
+                      counter +=1
+                print("Found %s compatible workflows inside %s" % (Fore.RED + str(counter) + Fore.RESET,
+                                                                   Fore.YELLOW + str(args[0])) + Fore.RESET)
 
             def help_search(self):
                 print("\n".join(["search search_regexp\n",
@@ -595,19 +605,19 @@ def do_dumpWorkflowId(self, arg):
                     print("dumpWorkflowId [wfl-id1 [...]]")
                     return
 
-                fmt   = "[%d]: %s\n"
+                fmt   = "[%s]: %s\n"
                 maxLen = 100
                 for wflid in wflids:
                     dump = True
                     for key, mrd in self.matrices_.items():
                         for wfl in mrd.workFlows:
                             if wfl.numId == float(wflid):
-                                wfName, stepNames = wfl.nameId.split('+',1)
                                 if dump:
                                     dump = False
-                                    print(wfl.numId, stepNames)
+                                    print(Fore.GREEN + str(wfl.numId) + Fore.RESET + " " + Fore.YELLOW + wfl.nameId + Fore.RESET)
                                     for i,s in enumerate(wfl.cmds):
-                                        print(fmt % (i+1, (str(s)+' ')))
+                                        print(fmt % (Fore.RED + str(i+1) + Fore.RESET,
+                                          (str(s)+' ')))
                                     print("\nWorkflow found in %s." % key)
                                 else:
                                     print("Workflow also found in %s." % key)
diff --git a/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/test/BuildFile.xml b/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/test/BuildFile.xml
index 6fa7c3e401898..a10e105995cbc 100644
--- a/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/test/BuildFile.xml
+++ b/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/test/BuildFile.xml
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 <test name="test-das-selected-lumis" command="test-das-selected-lumis.sh">
   <flags USE_UNITTEST_DIR="1"/>
 </test>
+<test name="test-runTheMatrix-interactive" command="test-runTheMatrix_interactive.sh">
+  <flags USE_UNITTEST_DIR="1"/>
+</test>
diff --git a/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/test/test-runTheMatrix_interactive.sh b/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/test/test-runTheMatrix_interactive.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..d995c64e2eafd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Configuration/PyReleaseValidation/test/test-runTheMatrix_interactive.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash -e
+
+echo 'help' | runTheMatrix.py --interactive || exit 1
+echo 'predefined' | runTheMatrix.py --interactive || exit 1
+echo 'showWorkflow' | runTheMatrix.py --interactive || exit 1
+echo 'search .*D88.*' | runTheMatrix.py --interactive || exit 1
+echo 'dumpWorkflowId 1.0' | runTheMatrix.py --interactive || exit 1
+echo 'searchInWorkflow standard .*' | runTheMatrix.py --interactive || exit 1
+echo 'wrongCommand' | runTheMatrix.py --interactive || exit 0
+