diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6971ae28c4e..ec5b618593a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 * The `CryptographicSignature.key()` template method now also works for SSH
   signatures and returns the corresponding public key fingerprint.
 
+* Templates now support an `is_terminal_output()` function that returns true if
+  stdout is connected to a terminal.
+
 ### Fixed bugs
 
 * `jj metaedit --author-timestamp` twice with the same value no longer
diff --git a/cli/src/template_builder.rs b/cli/src/template_builder.rs
index 72c37f3db59..1c184bc4524 100644
--- a/cli/src/template_builder.rs
+++ b/cli/src/template_builder.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 use std::cmp::Ordering;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::io;
+use std::io::IsTerminal as _;
 use std::iter;
 
 use itertools::Itertools as _;
@@ -1939,6 +1940,14 @@ fn builtin_functions<'a, L: TemplateLanguage<'a> + ?Sized>() -> TemplateBuildFun
         // .decorated("", "") to trim leading/trailing whitespace
         Ok(Literal(value.decorated("", "")).into_dyn_wrapped())
     });
+    map.insert(
+        "is_terminal_output",
+        |_language, _diagnostics, _build_ctx, function| {
+            function.expect_no_arguments()?;
+            let is_terminal = io::stdout().is_terminal();
+            Ok(Literal(is_terminal).into_dyn_wrapped())
+        },
+    );
     map
 }
 
@@ -3874,4 +3883,12 @@ mod tests {
             env.render_ok(r#"surround(lt, gt, if(empty_content, "not empty", ""))"#),
             @"");
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_is_terminal_output_function() {
+        let env = TestTemplateEnv::new();
+
+        // When running tests, stdout is typically not a terminal, so we expect false
+        insta::assert_snapshot!(env.render_ok(r#"is_terminal_output()"#), @"false");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/docs/templates.md b/docs/templates.md
index dfe3e2cd22c..5d71b376aad 100644
--- a/docs/templates.md
+++ b/docs/templates.md
@@ -93,6 +93,10 @@ The following functions are defined.
 * `surround(prefix: Template, suffix: Template, content: Template) -> Template`:
   Surround **non-empty** content with texts such as parentheses.
 * `config(name: String) -> ConfigValue`: Look up configuration value by `name`.
+* `is_terminal_output() -> Boolean`: Returns true if stdout is connected to a
+  terminal, or false otherwise. This is mostly useful to conditionally output
+  escape codes or other terminal-specific formatting only when writing to
+  a terminal.
 
 ## Built-in Aliases