diff --git a/src/bin/cargo/cli.rs b/src/bin/cargo/cli.rs
index 7b7725fa271..db52bc8f27a 100644
--- a/src/bin/cargo/cli.rs
+++ b/src/bin/cargo/cli.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Context as _};
 use cargo::core::shell::Shell;
 use cargo::core::{features, CliUnstable};
-use cargo::{self, drop_print, drop_println, CliResult, Config};
+use cargo::{self, drop_print, drop_println, CargoResult, CliResult, Config};
 use clap::{Arg, ArgMatches};
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
@@ -175,10 +175,11 @@ Run with 'cargo -Z [FLAG] [COMMAND]'",
             return Ok(());
         }
     };
-    config_configure(config, &expanded_args, subcommand_args, global_args)?;
+    let exec = Exec::infer(cmd)?;
+    config_configure(config, &expanded_args, subcommand_args, global_args, &exec)?;
     super::init_git(config);
 
-    execute_subcommand(config, cmd, subcommand_args)
+    exec.exec(config, subcommand_args)
 }
 
 pub fn get_version_string(is_verbose: bool) -> String {
@@ -363,12 +364,26 @@ fn config_configure(
     args: &ArgMatches,
     subcommand_args: &ArgMatches,
     global_args: GlobalArgs,
+    exec: &Exec,
 ) -> CliResult {
     let arg_target_dir = &subcommand_args.value_of_path("target-dir", config);
-    let verbose = global_args.verbose + args.verbose();
+    let mut verbose = global_args.verbose + args.verbose();
     // quiet is unusual because it is redefined in some subcommands in order
     // to provide custom help text.
-    let quiet = args.flag("quiet") || subcommand_args.flag("quiet") || global_args.quiet;
+    let mut quiet = args.flag("quiet") || subcommand_args.flag("quiet") || global_args.quiet;
+    if matches!(exec, Exec::Manifest(_)) && !quiet {
+        // Verbosity is shifted quieter for `Exec::Manifest` as it is can be used as if you ran
+        // `cargo install` and we especially shouldn't pollute programmatic output.
+        //
+        // For now, interactive output has the same default output as `cargo run` but that is
+        // subject to change.
+        if let Some(lower) = verbose.checked_sub(1) {
+            verbose = lower;
+        } else if !config.shell().is_err_tty() {
+            // Don't pollute potentially-scripted output
+            quiet = true;
+        }
+    }
     let global_color = global_args.color; // Extract so it can take reference.
     let color = args
         .get_one::<String>("color")
@@ -399,53 +414,64 @@ fn config_configure(
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Precedence isn't the most obvious from this function because
-/// - Some is determined by `expand_aliases`
-/// - Some is enforced by `avoid_ambiguity_between_builtins_and_manifest_commands`
-///
-/// In actuality, it is:
-/// 1. built-ins xor manifest-command
-/// 2. aliases
-/// 3. external subcommands
-fn execute_subcommand(config: &mut Config, cmd: &str, subcommand_args: &ArgMatches) -> CliResult {
-    if let Some(exec) = commands::builtin_exec(cmd) {
-        return exec(config, subcommand_args);
+enum Exec {
+    Builtin(commands::Exec),
+    Manifest(String),
+    External(String),
+}
+
+impl Exec {
+    /// Precedence isn't the most obvious from this function because
+    /// - Some is determined by `expand_aliases`
+    /// - Some is enforced by `avoid_ambiguity_between_builtins_and_manifest_commands`
+    ///
+    /// In actuality, it is:
+    /// 1. built-ins xor manifest-command
+    /// 2. aliases
+    /// 3. external subcommands
+    fn infer(cmd: &str) -> CargoResult<Self> {
+        if let Some(exec) = commands::builtin_exec(cmd) {
+            Ok(Self::Builtin(exec))
+        } else if commands::run::is_manifest_command(cmd) {
+            Ok(Self::Manifest(cmd.to_owned()))
+        } else {
+            Ok(Self::External(cmd.to_owned()))
+        }
     }
 
-    if commands::run::is_manifest_command(cmd) {
-        let ext_path = super::find_external_subcommand(config, cmd);
-        if !config.cli_unstable().script && ext_path.is_some() {
-            config.shell().warn(format_args!(
-                "\
+    fn exec(self, config: &mut Config, subcommand_args: &ArgMatches) -> CliResult {
+        match self {
+            Self::Builtin(exec) => exec(config, subcommand_args),
+            Self::Manifest(cmd) => {
+                let ext_path = super::find_external_subcommand(config, &cmd);
+                if !config.cli_unstable().script && ext_path.is_some() {
+                    config.shell().warn(format_args!(
+                        "\
 external subcommand `{cmd}` has the appearance of a manfiest-command
 This was previously accepted but will be phased out when `-Zscript` is stabilized.
 For more information, see issue #12207 <https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/issues/12207>.",
-            ))?;
-            let mut ext_args = vec![OsStr::new(cmd)];
-            ext_args.extend(
-                subcommand_args
-                    .get_many::<OsString>("")
-                    .unwrap_or_default()
-                    .map(OsString::as_os_str),
-            );
-            super::execute_external_subcommand(config, cmd, &ext_args)
-        } else {
-            let ext_args: Vec<OsString> = subcommand_args
-                .get_many::<OsString>("")
-                .unwrap_or_default()
-                .cloned()
-                .collect();
-            commands::run::exec_manifest_command(config, cmd, &ext_args)
+                    ))?;
+                    Self::External(cmd).exec(config, subcommand_args)
+                } else {
+                    let ext_args: Vec<OsString> = subcommand_args
+                        .get_many::<OsString>("")
+                        .unwrap_or_default()
+                        .cloned()
+                        .collect();
+                    commands::run::exec_manifest_command(config, &cmd, &ext_args)
+                }
+            }
+            Self::External(cmd) => {
+                let mut ext_args = vec![OsStr::new(&cmd)];
+                ext_args.extend(
+                    subcommand_args
+                        .get_many::<OsString>("")
+                        .unwrap_or_default()
+                        .map(OsString::as_os_str),
+                );
+                super::execute_external_subcommand(config, &cmd, &ext_args)
+            }
         }
-    } else {
-        let mut ext_args = vec![OsStr::new(cmd)];
-        ext_args.extend(
-            subcommand_args
-                .get_many::<OsString>("")
-                .unwrap_or_default()
-                .map(OsString::as_os_str),
-        );
-        super::execute_external_subcommand(config, cmd, &ext_args)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/bin/cargo/commands/mod.rs b/src/bin/cargo/commands/mod.rs
index da3109260a4..b9da0e5fb35 100644
--- a/src/bin/cargo/commands/mod.rs
+++ b/src/bin/cargo/commands/mod.rs
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ pub fn builtin() -> Vec<Command> {
     ]
 }
 
-pub fn builtin_exec(cmd: &str) -> Option<fn(&mut Config, &ArgMatches) -> CliResult> {
+pub type Exec = fn(&mut Config, &ArgMatches) -> CliResult;
+
+pub fn builtin_exec(cmd: &str) -> Option<Exec> {
     let f = match cmd {
         "add" => add::exec,
         "bench" => bench::exec,
diff --git a/src/doc/src/reference/unstable.md b/src/doc/src/reference/unstable.md
index 31afa2133bc..0e2478baf88 100644
--- a/src/doc/src/reference/unstable.md
+++ b/src/doc/src/reference/unstable.md
@@ -1483,6 +1483,7 @@ A parameter is identified as a manifest-command if it has one of:
 
 Differences between `cargo run --manifest-path <path>` and `cargo <path>`
 - `cargo <path>` runs with the config for `<path>` and not the current dir, more like `cargo install --path <path>`
+- `cargo <path>` is at a verbosity level below the normal default.  Pass `-v` to get normal output.
 
 ### `[lints]`
 
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/script.rs b/tests/testsuite/script.rs
index 51f4868a6ce..fcf58de6981 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/script.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/script.rs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ fn basic_rs() {
         .file("echo.rs", ECHO_SCRIPT)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript echo.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v echo.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: [..]/debug/echo[EXE]
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ fn basic_path() {
         .file("echo", ECHO_SCRIPT)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript ./echo")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v ./echo")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: [..]/debug/echo[EXE]
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ fn basic_cargo_toml() {
         .file("src/main.rs", ECHO_SCRIPT)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript Cargo.toml")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v Cargo.toml")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: target/debug/foo[EXE]
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ fn path_required() {
         .file("echo", ECHO_SCRIPT)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript echo")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v echo")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_status(101)
         .with_stdout("")
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ fn manifest_precedence_over_plugins() {
     path.push(p.root().join("path-test"));
     let path = std::env::join_paths(path.iter()).unwrap();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript echo.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v echo.rs")
         .env("PATH", &path)
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ fn warn_when_plugin_masks_manifest_on_stable() {
     path.push(p.root().join("path-test"));
     let path = std::env::join_paths(path.iter()).unwrap();
 
-    p.cargo("echo.rs")
+    p.cargo("-v echo.rs")
         .env("PATH", &path)
         .with_stdout("")
         .with_stderr(
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ fn requires_nightly() {
         .file("echo.rs", ECHO_SCRIPT)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("echo.rs")
+    p.cargo("-v echo.rs")
         .with_status(101)
         .with_stdout("")
         .with_stderr(
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ fn requires_z_flag() {
         .file("echo.rs", ECHO_SCRIPT)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("echo.rs")
+    p.cargo("-v echo.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_status(101)
         .with_stdout("")
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ fn main() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"Hello world!
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ fn main() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"Hello world!
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ fn main() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"msg = undefined
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ fn main() {
         .run();
 
     // Verify we don't rebuild
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"msg = undefined
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ fn main() {
         .run();
 
     // Verify we do rebuild
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .env("_MESSAGE", "hello")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
@@ -373,6 +373,48 @@ args: ["-NotAnArg"]
         .run();
 }
 
+#[cargo_test]
+fn default_programmatic_verbosity() {
+    let script = ECHO_SCRIPT;
+    let p = cargo_test_support::project()
+        .file("script.rs", script)
+        .build();
+
+    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs -NotAnArg")
+        .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
+        .with_stdout(
+            r#"bin: [..]/debug/script[EXE]
+args: ["-NotAnArg"]
+"#,
+        )
+        .with_stderr(
+            "\
+",
+        )
+        .run();
+}
+
+#[cargo_test]
+fn quiet() {
+    let script = ECHO_SCRIPT;
+    let p = cargo_test_support::project()
+        .file("script.rs", script)
+        .build();
+
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -q script.rs -NotAnArg")
+        .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
+        .with_stdout(
+            r#"bin: [..]/debug/script[EXE]
+args: ["-NotAnArg"]
+"#,
+        )
+        .with_stderr(
+            "\
+",
+        )
+        .run();
+}
+
 #[cargo_test]
 fn test_line_numbering_preserved() {
     let script = r#"#!/usr/bin/env cargo
@@ -385,7 +427,7 @@ fn main() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"line: 4
@@ -409,7 +451,7 @@ fn test_escaped_hyphen_arg() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript -- script.rs -NotAnArg")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v -- script.rs -NotAnArg")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: [..]/debug/script[EXE]
@@ -434,7 +476,7 @@ fn test_unescaped_hyphen_arg() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs -NotAnArg")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs -NotAnArg")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: [..]/debug/script[EXE]
@@ -459,7 +501,7 @@ fn test_same_flags() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs --help")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs --help")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: [..]/debug/script[EXE]
@@ -484,7 +526,7 @@ fn test_name_has_weird_chars() {
         .file("s-h.w§c!.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript s-h.w§c!.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v s-h.w§c!.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: [..]/debug/s-h-w-c-[EXE]
@@ -507,7 +549,7 @@ fn script_like_dir() {
         .file("script.rs/foo", "something")
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_status(101)
         .with_stderr(
@@ -522,7 +564,7 @@ error: manifest path `script.rs` is a directory but expected a file
 fn missing_script_rs() {
     let p = cargo_test_support::project().build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_status(101)
         .with_stderr(
@@ -550,7 +592,7 @@ fn main() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs --help")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs --help")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"Hello world!
@@ -590,7 +632,7 @@ fn main() {
         .file("bar/src/lib.rs", "pub fn bar() {}")
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs --help")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs --help")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"Hello world!
@@ -620,7 +662,7 @@ fn main() {
         .file("build.rs", "broken")
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs --help")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs --help")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"Hello world!
@@ -649,7 +691,7 @@ fn main() {
         .file("src/bin/not-script/main.rs", "fn main() {}")
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs --help")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs --help")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"Hello world!
@@ -673,7 +715,7 @@ fn implicit_target_dir() {
         .file("script.rs", script)
         .build();
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: [ROOT]/home/.cargo/target/[..]/debug/script[EXE]
@@ -701,7 +743,7 @@ fn no_local_lockfile() {
 
     assert!(!local_lockfile_path.exists());
 
-    p.cargo("-Zscript script.rs")
+    p.cargo("-Zscript -v script.rs")
         .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo(&["script"])
         .with_stdout(
             r#"bin: [ROOT]/home/.cargo/target/[..]/debug/script[EXE]