diff --git a/pkg/core/basic_cluster.go b/pkg/core/basic_cluster.go
index f7c3c5e93b1..45e06648c35 100644
--- a/pkg/core/basic_cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/core/basic_cluster.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ package core
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
 
 	"github.com/tikv/pd/pkg/core/constant"
 )
@@ -156,6 +157,15 @@ type KeyRange struct {
 	EndKey   []byte `json:"end-key"`
 }
 
+// MarshalJSON marshals to json.
+func (kr KeyRange) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	m := map[string]string{
+		"start-key": HexRegionKeyStr(kr.StartKey),
+		"end-key":   HexRegionKeyStr(kr.EndKey),
+	}
+	return json.Marshal(m)
+}
+
 // NewKeyRange create a KeyRange with the given start key and end key.
 func NewKeyRange(startKey, endKey string) KeyRange {
 	return KeyRange{
diff --git a/tools/pd-ctl/pdctl/command/scheduler.go b/tools/pd-ctl/pdctl/command/scheduler.go
index 50525d885fd..1492709fc79 100644
--- a/tools/pd-ctl/pdctl/command/scheduler.go
+++ b/tools/pd-ctl/pdctl/command/scheduler.go
@@ -375,12 +375,13 @@ func NewBalanceWitnessSchedulerCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	return c
 }
 
-// NewBalanceRangeSchedulerCommand returns a command to add a balance-key-range-scheduler.
+// NewBalanceRangeSchedulerCommand returns a command to add a balance-range-scheduler.
 func NewBalanceRangeSchedulerCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	c := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   "balance-range-scheduler [--format=raw|encode|hex] <engine> <role> <start_key> <end_key>",
-		Short: "add a scheduler to balance region for given range",
-		Run:   addSchedulerForBalanceRangeCommandFunc,
+		Use:        "balance-range-scheduler [--format=raw|encode|hex] <engine> <role> <start_key> <end_key>",
+		Short:      "add a scheduler to balance region for given range",
+		Run:        addSchedulerForBalanceRangeCommandFunc,
+		Deprecated: "balance-range will be deprecated in the future, please use sql instead",
 	}
 	c.Flags().String("format", "hex", "the key format")
 	return c
diff --git a/tools/pd-ctl/tests/scheduler/scheduler_test.go b/tools/pd-ctl/tests/scheduler/scheduler_test.go
index f95cf033239..1d011329c42 100644
--- a/tools/pd-ctl/tests/scheduler/scheduler_test.go
+++ b/tools/pd-ctl/tests/scheduler/scheduler_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package scheduler_test
 
 import (
-	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
@@ -554,8 +553,8 @@ func (suite *schedulerTestSuite) checkSchedulerConfig(cluster *pdTests.TestClust
 	})
 	re.Equal(float64(time.Hour.Nanoseconds()), conf["timeout"])
 	ranges := conf["ranges"].([]any)[0].(map[string]any)
-	re.Equal(base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte("a")), ranges["start-key"])
-	re.Equal(base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte("b")), ranges["end-key"])
+	re.Equal(core.HexRegionKeyStr([]byte("a")), ranges["start-key"])
+	re.Equal(core.HexRegionKeyStr([]byte("b")), ranges["end-key"])
 
 	echo = mustExec(re, cmd, []string{"-u", pdAddr, "scheduler", "add", "balance-range-scheduler", "--format=raw", "tiflash", "learner", "a", "b"}, nil)
 	re.Contains(echo, "400")