diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c6a0616..8ffa35b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - uses: devops-maturity/devops-maturity-action@main
+      - uses: devops-maturity/devops-maturity-action@v1
         with:
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 ```
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ D202: false   # Functional Testing (must have)
 | `commit-message` | no       | `chore: update devops-maturity badges`     | Commit message for the badge update.                     |
 | `pr-title`       | no       | `chore: update devops-maturity badges`     | Title of the pull request.                               |
 | `pr-body`        | no       | *(auto-generated)*                         | Body text of the pull request.                           |
+| `cli-version`    | no       | *(latest)*                                 | Pin a specific CLI version for reproducible results (e.g. `0.1.0`). |
 
 ## Outputs
 
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ D202: false   # Functional Testing (must have)
 
 ```yaml
 - id: maturity
-  uses: devops-maturity/devops-maturity-action@main
+  uses: devops-maturity/devops-maturity-action@v1
   with:
     github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
@@ -123,6 +124,17 @@ shields.io badge using a regular expression. If one is found it is replaced
 in-place; if none exists the new badge is prepended before the first Markdown
 heading (or at the very top of the file).
 
+## Reproducibility
+
+For reproducible CI results, pin both the action and the CLI to specific versions:
+
+```yaml
+- uses: devops-maturity/devops-maturity-action@v1
+  with:
+    github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+    cli-version: '0.1.0'  # pin CLI version
+```
+
 ## License
 
 [Apache 2.0](LICENSE)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index dbc28b9..a4fdda0 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 name: 'DevOps Maturity Action'
-description: >
-  Automatically runs the devops-maturity CLI against a devops-maturity.yml file,
-  updates the README badge, and opens a pull request for review.
+description: 'Run devops-maturity CLI, update README badge, and open a PR for review.'
 author: 'devops-maturity'
 
 branding:
@@ -54,6 +52,13 @@ inputs:
       [devops-maturity-action](https://github.com/devops-maturity/devops-maturity-action)
       based on changes to `devops-maturity.yml`.
 
+  cli-version:
+    description: >
+      Version of the devops-maturity CLI to install (e.g. '0.1.0').
+      Defaults to latest. Pinning a specific version ensures reproducible results.
+    required: false
+    default: ''
+
 outputs:
   score:
     description: 'Overall DevOps maturity score as a percentage (e.g. "72.3%").'
@@ -90,27 +95,44 @@ runs:
 
     - name: Install devops-maturity CLI
       shell: bash
-      run: pip install --quiet devops-maturity
+      run: |
+        if [ -n "${{ inputs.cli-version }}" ]; then
+          pip install --quiet "devops-maturity==${{ inputs.cli-version }}"
+        else
+          pip install --quiet devops-maturity
+        fi
 
     # ── 2. Run the assessment ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    # Tries --format json first (available in CLI >= next release).
+    # Falls back to text parsing for older CLI versions.
     - name: Run devops-maturity assessment
       id: assessment
       shell: bash
       run: |
-        OUTPUT=$(dm config --file "${{ inputs.file }}" 2>&1)
+        OUTPUT=$(dm config --file "${{ inputs.file }}" --format json 2>&1) || true
         echo "$OUTPUT"
 
-        SCORE=$(echo "$OUTPUT"     | awk '/Your score: / {print $NF}')
-        LEVEL=$(echo "$OUTPUT"     | awk '/Your maturity level: / {print $NF}')
-        BADGE_URL=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | awk '/Badge URL: / {print $NF}')
-        # Prefer the CLI-provided Markdown badge; fall back to constructing it
-        BADGE_MD=$(echo "$OUTPUT"  | sed -n 's/^Markdown badge: //p')
-        if [ -z "$BADGE_MD" ] && [ -n "$BADGE_URL" ]; then
-          BADGE_MD="[![DevOps Maturity](${BADGE_URL})](https://devops-maturity.github.io/)"
+        # Try JSON path first
+        if echo "$OUTPUT" | python3 -c "import sys,json; json.load(sys.stdin)" 2>/dev/null; then
+          echo "→ Parsed as JSON"
+          SCORE=$(echo "$OUTPUT"    | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['score'])")
+          LEVEL=$(echo "$OUTPUT"    | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['level'])")
+          BADGE_URL=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['badge_url'])")
+          BADGE_MD=$(echo "$OUTPUT"  | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['badge_markdown'])")
+        else
+          # Fallback: text parsing for older CLI (pre --format json)
+          echo "→ JSON not available, falling back to text parsing"
+          SCORE=$(echo "$OUTPUT"     | awk '/Your score: / {print $NF}')
+          LEVEL=$(echo "$OUTPUT"     | awk '/Your maturity level: / {print $NF}')
+          BADGE_URL=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | awk '/Badge URL: / {print $NF}')
+          BADGE_MD=$(echo "$OUTPUT"  | sed -n 's/^Markdown badge: //p')
+          if [ -z "$BADGE_MD" ] && [ -n "$BADGE_URL" ]; then
+            BADGE_MD="[![DevOps Maturity](${BADGE_URL})](https://devops-maturity.github.io/)"
+          fi
         fi
 
         if [ -z "$LEVEL" ] || [ -z "$BADGE_URL" ]; then
-          echo "ERROR: could not parse assessment output"
+          echo "ERROR: missing required fields in JSON output"
           exit 1
         fi