diff --git a/src/api/action.c b/src/api/action.c
index 70436992..51ea9f29 100644
--- a/src/api/action.c
+++ b/src/api/action.c
@@ -121,7 +121,15 @@ static int run_and_stream_command(struct ftl_conn *api, const char *path, const
 
 int api_action_gravity(struct ftl_conn *api)
 {
-	return run_and_stream_command(api, "/usr/local/bin/pihole", (const char *const []){ "pihole", "-g", NULL }, "FORCE_COLOR");
+	// Only set FORCE_COLOR if the client explicitly requests it via "color=true" query parameter
+	// This prevents ANSI escape codes from being included in the output for API consumers that don't need them
+	bool color = false;
+	const char *query = api->request != NULL ? api->request->query_string : "";
+	if(query != NULL)
+		get_bool_var(query, "color", &color);
+
+	const char *extra_env = color ? "FORCE_COLOR" : NULL;
+	return run_and_stream_command(api, "/usr/local/bin/pihole", (const char *const []){ "pihole", "-g", NULL }, extra_env);
 }
 
 int api_action_restartDNS(struct ftl_conn *api)
diff --git a/src/api/docs/content/specs/action.yaml b/src/api/docs/content/specs/action.yaml
index 893a42cf..b5d8edeb 100644
--- a/src/api/docs/content/specs/action.yaml
+++ b/src/api/docs/content/specs/action.yaml
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@ components:
     gravity:
       post:
         summary: Run gravity
+        parameters:
+          - $ref: 'action.yaml#/components/parameters/color'
         tags:
           - Actions
         operationId: "action_gravity"
         description: |
-          Update Pi-hole's adlists by running `pihole -g`. The output of the process is streamed with chunked encoding.
+          Update Pi-hole's adlists by running `pihole -g`. The output of the process is streamed with chunked encoding. Use the optional `color` query parameter to include ANSI color escape codes in the output.
         responses:
           '200':
             description: OK
@@ -183,6 +185,17 @@ components:
                     - $ref: 'action.yaml#/components/errors/forbidden'
                     - $ref: 'common.yaml#/components/schemas/took'
 
+  parameters:
+    color:
+      name: color
+      in: query
+      description: Include ANSI color escape codes in the streamed output. Defaults to false to prevent colored output for API consumers that don't need formatting.
+      schema:
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
+        example: true
+      required: false
+
   errors:
     forbidden:
       description: |