diff --git a/guidance/models/_model.py b/guidance/models/_model.py
index 74f3c8af0..e4e08d0ff 100644
--- a/guidance/models/_model.py
+++ b/guidance/models/_model.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 
+from ..visual import Environment
+
 try:
     from IPython.display import clear_output, display, HTML
 
@@ -226,7 +228,14 @@ def __init__(self, engine, echo=True, **kwargs):
 
         self.engine = engine
         self.chat_template = engine.get_chat_template() # TODO [HN]: Should this be a method or attr?
-        self.echo = echo
+
+        # HOTFIX(nopdive): Temporary until visualization overhaul is merged.
+        environment = Environment()
+        if environment.is_terminal():
+            self.echo = False
+        else:
+            self.echo = echo
+
         self.token_count = 0  # tracks how many tokens our byte state represents
         self.max_display_rate = 0.2  # this controls how frequently we are allowed to redraw the display (in seconds)
         self.opened_blocks = {}  # what context blocks have been opened but not closed
diff --git a/guidance/visual/__init__.py b/guidance/visual/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a286a2509
--- /dev/null
+++ b/guidance/visual/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+"""UI and other visual UX considerations.
+
+Users should have few reasons to be accessing this module.
+"""
+
+from ._environment import Environment
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/guidance/visual/_environment.py b/guidance/visual/_environment.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ce35a70af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/guidance/visual/_environment.py
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+""" Rendering environment detection.
+
+Detection logic is inspired from both plotly and interpretml environment detection.
+- https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py
+- https://github.com/interpretml/interpret
+"""
+# TODO(nopdive): Major cloud providers implemented and manually verified.
+
+import os
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+
+class EnvFlags(BaseModel):
+    """Environment flags - such as if we're in a notebook or cloud."""
+
+    is_notebook: bool = False
+    is_cloud: bool = False
+
+
+class Environment:
+    """ Capabilities based environment detection."""
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        """ Initializes.
+
+        This will immediately check for which environments are detected.
+        """
+        self._flags = EnvFlags()
+        self._checks = {
+            "vscode": _detect_vscode,
+            "ipython-zmq": _detect_ipython_zmq,
+            "ipython": _detect_ipython,
+        }
+        envs = []
+        for name, update_flags in self._checks.items():
+            if update_flags(self._flags):  # in-place operation on flags
+                envs.append(name)
+        self._detected_envs = envs
+
+
+    @property
+    def detected_envs(self) -> list[str]:
+        """ Detected environments (i.e. vscode, ipython-zmq).
+
+        Returns:
+            Detected environment names.
+        """
+        return self._detected_envs
+
+
+    def is_notebook(self) -> bool:
+        """ Determines if the python process is in a notebook.
+
+        Returns:
+            True if in notebook.
+        """
+        return self._flags.is_notebook
+
+    def is_cloud(self) -> bool:
+        """ Determines if the python process is in a cloud provider.
+
+        Returns:
+            True if in notebook.
+        """
+        return self._flags.is_cloud
+
+    def is_terminal(self) -> bool:
+        """ Determines if the python process not in a notebook (we assume terminal).
+
+        Returns:
+            True if in terminal.
+        """
+        return not self._flags.is_notebook
+
+
+def _detect_vscode(flags: EnvFlags) -> bool:
+    """Detects if called in a vscode process.
+
+    Args:
+        flags: Inplace flags to be set.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if in vscode environment.
+    """
+    # NOTE: We don't flag is_notebook since this will be picked up by ipython-zmq here.
+    found = "VSCODE_PID" in os.environ
+    return found
+
+
+def _detect_ipython(flags: EnvFlags) -> bool:
+    """Detects if called in an IPython environment.
+    Mostly derived from stackoverflow below:
+    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15411967/how-can-i-check-if-code-is-executed-in-the-ipython-notebook
+
+    Args:
+        flags: Inplace flags to be set.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if in IPython environment.
+    """
+    found = False
+    try:
+        from IPython import get_ipython
+        found = get_ipython() is not None
+    except NameError:  # pragma: no cover
+        pass
+    return found
+
+
+def _detect_ipython_zmq(flags: EnvFlags) -> bool:
+    """Detects if in an IPython environment using ZMQ (i.e. notebook/qtconsole/lab).
+
+    Mostly derived from stackoverflow below:
+    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15411967/how-can-i-check-if-code-is-executed-in-the-ipython-notebook/24937408
+
+    Args:
+        flags: Inplace flags to be set.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if called in IPython notebook or qtconsole.
+    """
+    try:
+        from IPython import get_ipython
+
+        shell = get_ipython().__class__.__name__
+        if shell == "ZMQInteractiveShell":
+            found = True  # Jupyter notebook or qtconsole
+        elif shell == "TerminalInteractiveShell":
+            found = False  # Terminal running IPython
+        else:
+            found = False  # Other type (?)
+    except NameError:  # pragma: no cover
+        found = False  # Probably standard Python interpreter
+
+    flags.is_notebook |= found
+    return found
\ No newline at end of file