diff --git a/aider/coders/base_coder.py b/aider/coders/base_coder.py
index cface7d72..8f433bae8 100755
--- a/aider/coders/base_coder.py
+++ b/aider/coders/base_coder.py
@@ -241,8 +241,6 @@ class Coder:
         dry_run=False,
         map_tokens=1024,
         verbose=False,
-        assistant_output_color="blue",
-        code_theme="default",
         stream=True,
         use_git=True,
         cur_messages=None,
@@ -315,8 +313,6 @@ class Coder:
 
         self.auto_commits = auto_commits
         self.dirty_commits = dirty_commits
-        self.assistant_output_color = assistant_output_color
-        self.code_theme = code_theme
 
         self.dry_run = dry_run
         self.pretty = self.io.pretty
@@ -1096,11 +1092,7 @@ class Coder:
             utils.show_messages(messages, functions=self.functions)
 
         self.multi_response_content = ""
-        if self.show_pretty() and self.stream:
-            mdargs = dict(style=self.assistant_output_color, code_theme=self.code_theme)
-            self.mdstream = MarkdownStream(mdargs=mdargs)
-        else:
-            self.mdstream = None
+        self.mdstream=self.io.assistant_output("", self.stream)
 
         retry_delay = 0.125
 
@@ -1452,14 +1444,7 @@ class Coder:
             raise Exception("No data found in LLM response!")
 
         show_resp = self.render_incremental_response(True)
-        if self.show_pretty():
-            show_resp = Markdown(
-                show_resp, style=self.assistant_output_color, code_theme=self.code_theme
-            )
-        else:
-            show_resp = Text(show_resp or "<no response>")
-
-        self.io.console.print(show_resp)
+        self.io.assistant_output(show_resp)
 
         if (
             hasattr(completion.choices[0], "finish_reason")
diff --git a/aider/commands.py b/aider/commands.py
index 6f6fb6acd..71c5316a4 100644
--- a/aider/commands.py
+++ b/aider/commands.py
@@ -562,8 +562,7 @@ class Commands:
             "HEAD",
         )
 
-        # don't use io.tool_output() because we don't want to log or further colorize
-        print(diff)
+        self.io.print(diff)
 
     def quote_fname(self, fname):
         if " " in fname and '"' not in fname:
@@ -1030,9 +1029,9 @@ class Commands:
 
         if text:
             self.io.add_to_input_history(text)
-            print()
+            self.io.print()
             self.io.user_input(text, log_only=False)
-            print()
+            self.io.print()
 
         return text
 
diff --git a/aider/io.py b/aider/io.py
index d756505a2..93182bac5 100644
--- a/aider/io.py
+++ b/aider/io.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ from pygments.token import Token
 from rich.console import Console
 from rich.style import Style as RichStyle
 from rich.text import Text
+from rich.markdown import Markdown
+from aider.mdstream import MarkdownStream
 
 from .dump import dump  # noqa: F401
 from .utils import is_image_file
@@ -177,6 +179,8 @@ class InputOutput:
         tool_output_color=None,
         tool_error_color="red",
         tool_warning_color="#FFA500",
+        assistant_output_color="blue",
+        code_theme="default",
         encoding="utf-8",
         dry_run=False,
         llm_history_file=None,
@@ -191,6 +195,8 @@ class InputOutput:
         self.tool_output_color = tool_output_color if pretty else None
         self.tool_error_color = tool_error_color if pretty else None
         self.tool_warning_color = tool_warning_color if pretty else None
+        self.assistant_output_color = assistant_output_color
+        self.code_theme = code_theme
 
         self.input = input
         self.output = output
@@ -563,6 +569,27 @@ class InputOutput:
         style = RichStyle(**style)
         self.console.print(*messages, style=style)
 
+    def assistant_output(self, message, stream=False):
+        mdStream = None
+        show_resp = message
+        
+        if self.pretty:
+            if stream:
+                mdargs = dict(style=self.assistant_output_color, code_theme=self.code_theme)
+                mdStream = MarkdownStream(mdargs=mdargs)
+            else:
+                show_resp = Markdown(
+                    message, style=self.assistant_output_color, code_theme=self.code_theme
+                )
+        else:
+            show_resp = Text(message or "<no response>")
+
+        self.console.print(show_resp)
+        return mdStream
+        
+    def print(self, message):
+        print(message)
+        
     def append_chat_history(self, text, linebreak=False, blockquote=False, strip=True):
         if blockquote:
             if strip:
diff --git a/aider/main.py b/aider/main.py
index aca80da84..fa334a00c 100644
--- a/aider/main.py
+++ b/aider/main.py
@@ -396,6 +396,8 @@ def main(argv=None, input=None, output=None, force_git_root=None, return_coder=F
             user_input_color=args.user_input_color,
             tool_output_color=args.tool_output_color,
             tool_error_color=args.tool_error_color,
+            assistant_output_color=args.assistant_output_color,
+            code_theme=args.code_theme,
             dry_run=args.dry_run,
             encoding=args.encoding,
             llm_history_file=args.llm_history_file,
@@ -577,8 +579,6 @@ def main(argv=None, input=None, output=None, force_git_root=None, return_coder=F
             dry_run=args.dry_run,
             map_tokens=args.map_tokens,
             verbose=args.verbose,
-            assistant_output_color=args.assistant_output_color,
-            code_theme=args.code_theme,
             stream=args.stream,
             use_git=args.git,
             restore_chat_history=args.restore_chat_history,