diff --git a/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/e2e/__snapshots__/sqip-cli-e2e.test.ts.snap b/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/e2e/__snapshots__/sqip-cli-e2e.test.ts.snap
index 18cdc084..1e95e578 100644
--- a/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/e2e/__snapshots__/sqip-cli-e2e.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/e2e/__snapshots__/sqip-cli-e2e.test.ts.snap
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ exports[`cli api > --help shows help screen to user 1`] = `
 sqip CLI
 
  Usage: sqip --input [path]
+ command | sqip
 
  "SQIP" (pronounced skwɪb like the non-magical folk of magical descent) is a
  SVG-based LQIP technique - https://github.com/technopagan/sqip
@@ -15,18 +16,23 @@ Options
  --version string Show version number
  -p, --plugins string[] One or more plugins. E.g. "-p
  primitive blur"
- -i, --input string
+ -i, --input string Input file path. Can also be
+ provided via stdin: command |
+ sqip
  -o, --output string Define the path of the resulting
  file. By default SQIP will guess
  the output file name.
  -w, --width number Width of the resulting file.
  Negative values and 0 will fall
  back to original image width.
- --silent Supress all output
+ --silent Supress all output. Defaults to
+ true when reading from stdin.
  --parseable-output Ensure the output is parseable.
  Will suppress the preview images
  and the table borders.
  --print Print resulting svg to stdout.
+ Defaults to true when reading
+ from stdin.
  -n, --primitive-numberOfPrimitives number The number of primitive shapes to
  use to build the SQIP SVG
  -m, --primitive-mode number The style of primitives to use:
@@ -81,5 +87,8 @@ Examples
 
  Save input.jpg as result.svg with 25 shapes and no blur
  $ sqip -i input.jpg -n 25 -b 0 -o result.svg
+
+ Process an image from stdin
+ $ curl -s https://example.com/image.jpg | sqip -p pixels blur svgo
 "
 `;
diff --git a/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/e2e/sqip-cli-e2e.test.ts b/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/e2e/sqip-cli-e2e.test.ts
index 8bc5a156..de98951d 100644
--- a/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/e2e/sqip-cli-e2e.test.ts
+++ b/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/e2e/sqip-cli-e2e.test.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ describe('cli api', () => {
   test('no config exists programm and shows help', async () => {
     await expect(() =>
       execa(cliCmd, [cliPath], {
-        stripFinalNewline: true
+        stripFinalNewline: true,
+        stdin: 'ignore'
       })
     ).rejects.toThrow('Please provide the following arguments: input')
   })
@@ -104,4 +105,38 @@ describe('cli api', () => {
 
     await remove(tmpOutputFile)
   })
+
+  test('reads image from stdin and prints SVG', async () => {
+    const { stdout } = await execa(
+      'cat',
+      [inputFile, '|', cliCmd, cliPath, '-p', 'pixels'],
+      { shell: true, stripFinalNewline: true }
+    )
+
+    // stdin mode defaults to --print, so stdout should contain an SVG
+    expect(stdout).toContain('<svg')
+    expect(stdout).toContain('</svg>')
+  })
+
+  test('stdin with -o writes file to given path', async () => {
+    const tmpOutputFile = resolve(
+      tmpdir(),
+      `sqip-stdin-e2e-test-${new Date().getTime()}.svg`
+    )
+
+    await execa(
+      'cat',
+      [inputFile, '|', cliCmd, cliPath, '-p', 'pixels', '-o', tmpOutputFile],
+      { shell: true, stripFinalNewline: true }
+    )
+
+    // Does the new file exist
+    expect(await stat(tmpOutputFile)).toBeTruthy()
+
+    const content = await readFile(tmpOutputFile)
+    const $ = cheerioLoad(content, { xml: true })
+    expect($('svg')).toHaveLength(1)
+
+    await remove(tmpOutputFile)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/unit/__snapshots__/sqip-cli.test.ts.snap b/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/unit/__snapshots__/sqip-cli.test.ts.snap
index f5dd0a06..4839536d 100644
--- a/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/unit/__snapshots__/sqip-cli.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/unit/__snapshots__/sqip-cli.test.ts.snap
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ exports[`sqip-plugin-cli > passes all given args to library 1`] = `
     {
       "input": "mocked-image.jpg",
       "output": "/tmp/mocked-image.svg",
+      "outputFileName": undefined,
       "parseableOutput": false,
       "plugins": [
         {
diff --git a/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/unit/sqip-cli.test.ts b/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/unit/sqip-cli.test.ts
index ccb6bd4f..1ad035e6 100644
--- a/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/unit/sqip-cli.test.ts
+++ b/packages/sqip-cli/__tests__/unit/sqip-cli.test.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,17 @@
 import { vi, type MockedFunction } from 'vitest'
+import { fstatSync } from 'fs'
 import { sqip, resolvePlugins } from 'sqip'
 import sqipCLI from '../../src/sqip-cli'
 
 import semver from 'semver'
 
+vi.mock('fs', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import('fs')>()
+  return { ...actual, fstatSync: vi.fn(actual.fstatSync) }
+})
+
+const mockedFstatSync = fstatSync as MockedFunction<typeof fstatSync>
+
 vi.mock('sqip', () => ({
   sqip: vi.fn(async () => []),
   resolvePlugins: vi.fn(() => [
@@ -43,6 +51,7 @@ describe('sqip-plugin-cli', () => {
     proccessExitSpy.mockClear()
     mockedSqip.mockClear()
     mockedResolvePlugins.mockClear()
+    mockedFstatSync.mockRestore()
     process.argv = originalArgv
   })
 
@@ -169,4 +178,97 @@ describe('sqip-plugin-cli', () => {
     expect(errorSpy).toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(proccessExitSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1)
   })
+
+  describe('stdin support', () => {
+    const fakeImageBuffer = Buffer.from('fake-image-data')
+
+    const originalToArray = process.stdin.toArray
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+      process.stdin.toArray = originalToArray
+    })
+
+    function mockStdin(data: Buffer) {
+      mockedFstatSync.mockReturnValue({ isFIFO: () => true } as ReturnType<typeof fstatSync>)
+      process.stdin.toArray = (() => Promise.resolve([data])) as typeof process.stdin.toArray
+    }
+
+    it('reads input from stdin when no --input flag', async () => {
+      mockStdin(fakeImageBuffer)
+      process.argv = ['', '', '-p', 'mocked']
+
+      await sqipCLI()
+
+      expect(mockedSqip).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      const callArgs = mockedSqip.mock.calls[0][0]
+      expect(Buffer.isBuffer(callArgs.input)).toBe(true)
+      expect(callArgs.input).toEqual(fakeImageBuffer)
+    })
+
+    it('--input flag takes precedence over stdin', async () => {
+      mockStdin(fakeImageBuffer)
+      process.argv = ['', '', '-i', 'mocked-image.jpg', '-p', 'mocked']
+
+      await sqipCLI()
+
+      expect(mockedSqip).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      const callArgs = mockedSqip.mock.calls[0][0]
+      expect(callArgs.input).toBe('mocked-image.jpg')
+    })
+
+    it('defaults print to true for stdin input', async () => {
+      mockStdin(fakeImageBuffer)
+      process.argv = ['', '', '-p', 'mocked']
+
+      await sqipCLI()
+
+      expect(mockedSqip).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      const callArgs = mockedSqip.mock.calls[0][0]
+      expect(callArgs.print).toBe(true)
+    })
+
+    it('does not set output when input is from stdin', async () => {
+      mockStdin(fakeImageBuffer)
+      process.argv = ['', '', '-p', 'mocked']
+
+      await sqipCLI()
+
+      expect(mockedSqip).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      const callArgs = mockedSqip.mock.calls[0][0]
+      expect(callArgs.output).toBeUndefined()
+    })
+
+    it('sets outputFileName to stdin for stdin input', async () => {
+      mockStdin(fakeImageBuffer)
+      process.argv = ['', '', '-p', 'mocked']
+
+      await sqipCLI()
+
+      expect(mockedSqip).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      const callArgs = mockedSqip.mock.calls[0][0]
+      expect(callArgs.outputFileName).toBe('stdin')
+    })
+
+    it('respects -o flag with stdin input', async () => {
+      mockStdin(fakeImageBuffer)
+      process.argv = ['', '', '-p', 'mocked', '-o', '/tmp/out.svg']
+
+      await sqipCLI()
+
+      expect(mockedSqip).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      const callArgs = mockedSqip.mock.calls[0][0]
+      expect(callArgs.output).toBe('/tmp/out.svg')
+    })
+
+    it('defaults silent to true for stdin input', async () => {
+      mockStdin(fakeImageBuffer)
+      process.argv = ['', '', '-p', 'mocked']
+
+      await sqipCLI()
+
+      expect(mockedSqip).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      const callArgs = mockedSqip.mock.calls[0][0]
+      expect(callArgs.silent).toBe(true)
+    })
+  })
 })
diff --git a/packages/sqip-cli/src/sqip-cli.ts b/packages/sqip-cli/src/sqip-cli.ts
index 14c7c9d2..10494926 100644
--- a/packages/sqip-cli/src/sqip-cli.ts
+++ b/packages/sqip-cli/src/sqip-cli.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { fstatSync } from 'fs'
 import path from 'path'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
 
@@ -36,7 +37,8 @@ const defaultOptionList: SqipCliOptionDefinition[] = [
     name: 'input',
     alias: 'i',
     type: String,
-    required: true
+    description:
+      'Input file path. Can also be provided via stdin: command | sqip'
   },
   {
     name: 'output',
@@ -56,8 +58,8 @@ const defaultOptionList: SqipCliOptionDefinition[] = [
   {
     name: 'silent',
     type: Boolean,
-    defaultValue: false,
-    description: 'Supress all output'
+    description:
+      'Supress all output. Defaults to true when reading from stdin.'
   },
   {
     name: 'parseable-output',
@@ -69,8 +71,8 @@ const defaultOptionList: SqipCliOptionDefinition[] = [
   {
     name: 'print',
     type: Boolean,
-    defaultValue: false,
-    description: 'Print resulting svg to stdout.'
+    description:
+      'Print resulting svg to stdout. Defaults to true when reading from stdin.'
   }
 ]
 
@@ -79,7 +81,7 @@ function showHelp({ optionList }: { optionList: SqipCliOptionDefinition[] }) {
     {
       header: 'sqip CLI',
       content:
-        'Usage: sqip --input [path]\n\n"SQIP" (pronounced \\skwɪb\\ like the non-magical folk of magical descent) is a SVG-based LQIP technique - https://github.com/technopagan/sqip'
+        'Usage: sqip --input [path]\n       command | sqip\n\n"SQIP" (pronounced \\skwɪb\\ like the non-magical folk of magical descent) is a SVG-based LQIP technique - https://github.com/technopagan/sqip'
     },
     {
       header: 'Options',
@@ -91,13 +93,18 @@ function showHelp({ optionList }: { optionList: SqipCliOptionDefinition[] }) {
 $ sqip --input /path/to/input.jpg
 
 Save input.jpg as result.svg with 25 shapes and no blur
-$ sqip -i input.jpg -n 25 -b 0 -o result.svg`
+$ sqip -i input.jpg -n 25 -b 0 -o result.svg
+
+Process an image from stdin
+$ curl -s https://example.com/image.jpg | sqip -p pixels blur svgo`
     }
   ]
   const usage = commandLineUsage(sections)
   console.log(usage)
 }
 
+
+
 export default async function sqipCLI(): Promise<undefined> {
   const pluginDetectionArgs = commandLineArgs(defaultOptionList, {
     partial: true
@@ -162,21 +169,35 @@ export default async function sqipCLI(): Promise<undefined> {
     return process.exit(0)
   }
 
-  const missing = optionList
-    .filter(({ required }) => required)
-    .filter(({ name }) => !args[name])
-    .map(({ name }) => name)
+  // Detect piped stdin when no --input flag is provided.
+  // Use fstatSync to check if fd 0 is a pipe (FIFO) — this reliably detects
+  // shell pipes (e.g., cat img | sqip) without hanging in non-TTY environments.
+  if (!args.input) {
+    const stdinIsPiped = (() => {
+      try { return fstatSync(0).isFIFO() } catch { return false }
+    })()
+
+    if (stdinIsPiped) {
+      const chunks = await process.stdin.toArray()
+      const stdinBuffer = Buffer.concat(chunks)
+
+      if (stdinBuffer.length > 0) {
+        args.input = stdinBuffer
+      }
+    }
+  }
 
-  if (missing.length) {
+  if (!args.input) {
     showHelp({ optionList })
     console.error(
-      `\nPlease provide the following arguments: ${missing.join(', ')}`
+      `\nPlease provide the following arguments: input`
     )
     return process.exit(1)
   }
 
   const { input, output, width } = args
-  const { name } = path.parse(input)
+  const fromStdin = Buffer.isBuffer(input)
+  const name = fromStdin ? 'stdin' : path.parse(input).name
   const guessedOutput = path.resolve(process.cwd(), `${name}.svg`)
 
   // Build list of plugins with options based on passed arguments
@@ -192,12 +213,13 @@ export default async function sqipCLI(): Promise<undefined> {
 
   const options: SqipOptions = {
     input,
-    output: output || guessedOutput,
+    outputFileName: fromStdin ? 'stdin' : undefined,
+    output: fromStdin ? output : output || guessedOutput,
     width,
     plugins: pluginsOptions,
-    silent: args.silent,
+    silent: fromStdin ? args.silent ?? true : args.silent || false,
     parseableOutput: args['parseable-output'],
-    print: args.print || false
+    print: fromStdin ? args.print ?? true : args.print || false
   }
 
   debug(`Final sqip options:`, options)
diff --git a/packages/sqip/__tests__/unit/__snapshots__/sqip.test.ts.snap b/packages/sqip/__tests__/unit/__snapshots__/sqip.test.ts.snap
index 7ee8fe85..4b7a1134 100644
--- a/packages/sqip/__tests__/unit/__snapshots__/sqip.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/sqip/__tests__/unit/__snapshots__/sqip.test.ts.snap
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ exports[`node api > accepts buffers as input 1`] = `
     "backgroundColor": "#454449",
     "dataURI": "data:image/svg+xml,dataURI",
     "dataURIBase64": "data:image/svg+xml;base64,dataURIBase64==",
-    "filename": "-",
+    "filename": "buffer-test.svg",
     "height": 188,
-    "mimeType": "unknown",
+    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
     "originalHeight": 640,
     "originalWidth": 1024,
     "palette": {
diff --git a/packages/sqip/src/sqip.ts b/packages/sqip/src/sqip.ts
index 0d5447b2..4df4f202 100644
--- a/packages/sqip/src/sqip.ts
+++ b/packages/sqip/src/sqip.ts
@@ -300,6 +300,11 @@ async function processFile({
     }
   }
 
+  // Print to stdout even when silent (for piping)
+  if (silent && print && metadata.type === 'svg') {
+    process.stdout.write(result.content.toString())
+  }
+
   return result
 }
 
@@ -333,8 +338,20 @@ async function processImage({
 
   const backgroundColor = await findBackgroundColor(buffer)
 
-  const { name: filename } = path.parse(filePath)
-  const mimeType = mime.getType(filePath) || 'unknown'
+  let filename: string
+  let mimeType: string
+
+  if (filePath === '-') {
+    // Input from stdin — detect format from buffer contents
+    const sharpMeta = await sharp(buffer).metadata()
+    filename = config.outputFileName || 'stdin'
+    mimeType = sharpMeta.format
+      ? mime.getType(sharpMeta.format) || `image/${sharpMeta.format}`
+      : 'unknown'
+  } else {
+    filename = path.parse(filePath).name
+    mimeType = mime.getType(filePath) || 'unknown'
+  }
 
   const metadata: SqipImageMetadata = {
     filename,