diff --git a/app/db.go b/app/db.go
index 450a3d1..25d2baa 100644
--- a/app/db.go
+++ b/app/db.go
@@ -206,10 +206,6 @@ func (db *DB) Get(attr *DbAttr) (*DbEntry, error) {
 	}
 	defer db.Close()
 
-	if err := attr.ParseKV(); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
 	entry := DbEntry{}
 
 	err := db.DB.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
diff --git a/cmd/maincommands.go b/cmd/maincommands.go
index 20a7e52..b8f5055 100644
--- a/cmd/maincommands.go
+++ b/cmd/maincommands.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func Get(conf *cfg.Config) *cobra.Command {
 	)
 
 	var cmd = &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   "get <key> [-o <file>]",
+		Use:   "get <key> [-o <file>] [-m <mode>] [-n]",
 		Short: "Retrieve value for a key",
 		Long:  `Retrieve value for a key`,
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
@@ -80,11 +80,13 @@ func Get(conf *cfg.Config) *cobra.Command {
 				return err
 			}
 
-			return output.Print(os.Stdout, conf, entry)
+			return output.Print(os.Stdout, conf, &attr, entry)
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&conf.Mode, "output", "o", "", "output to file")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&attr.File, "output", "o", "", "output to file (ignores -m)")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&conf.Mode, "mode", "m", "", "output format (simple|wide|json) (default 'simple')")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&conf.NoHeaders, "no-headers", "n", false, "omit headers in tables")
 
 	cmd.Aliases = append(cmd.Aliases, "show")
 	cmd.Aliases = append(cmd.Aliases, "g")
@@ -192,7 +194,7 @@ func List(conf *cfg.Config) *cobra.Command {
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&conf.Mode, "output-mode", "o", "", "output format (table|wide|json), wide is a verbose table. (default 'table')")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&conf.Mode, "mode", "m", "", "output format (table|wide|json), wide is a verbose table. (default 'table')")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&wide, "wide-output", "l", false, "output mode: wide")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&conf.NoHeaders, "no-headers", "n", false, "omit headers in tables")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringArrayVarP(&attr.Tags, "tags", "t", nil, "tags, multiple allowed")
diff --git a/output/single.go b/output/single.go
index a4fb263..5431bb8 100644
--- a/output/single.go
+++ b/output/single.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package output
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
@@ -11,10 +12,9 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/term"
 )
 
-func Print(writer io.Writer, conf *cfg.Config, entry *app.DbEntry) error {
-	if conf.Mode != "" {
-		// consider this to be a file
-		fd, err := os.OpenFile(conf.Mode, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0755)
+func Print(writer io.Writer, conf *cfg.Config, attr *app.DbAttr, entry *app.DbEntry) error {
+	if attr.File != "" {
+		fd, err := os.OpenFile(attr.File, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0755)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -41,19 +41,34 @@ func Print(writer io.Writer, conf *cfg.Config, entry *app.DbEntry) error {
 	}
 
 	isatty := term.IsTerminal(int(os.Stdout.Fd()))
-	if len(entry.Bin) > 0 {
-		if isatty {
-			fmt.Println("binary data omitted")
-		} else {
-			os.Stdout.Write(entry.Bin)
-		}
-	} else {
-		fmt.Print(entry.Value)
 
-		if !strings.HasSuffix(entry.Value, "\n") {
-			// always add a terminal newline
-			fmt.Println()
+	switch conf.Mode {
+	case "simple":
+		fallthrough
+	case "":
+		if len(entry.Bin) > 0 {
+			if isatty {
+				fmt.Println("binary data omitted")
+			} else {
+				os.Stdout.Write(entry.Bin)
+			}
+		} else {
+			fmt.Print(entry.Value)
+
+			if !strings.HasSuffix(entry.Value, "\n") {
+				// always add a terminal newline
+				fmt.Println()
+			}
 		}
+	case "json":
+		jsonentry, err := json.Marshal(entry)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("json marshalling failure: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		fmt.Println(string(jsonentry))
+	case "wide":
+		ListTable(writer, conf, app.DbEntries{*entry})
 	}
 
 	return nil