diff --git a/src/cli.contract.test.ts b/src/cli.contract.test.ts
index 60b8b5f..d95d773 100644
--- a/src/cli.contract.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli.contract.test.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { dirname, resolve } from "node:path";
 const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const projectRoot = resolve(__dirname, "..");
 
-function runCli(args: string[]) {
+function runCli(args: string[], options?: { input?: string }) {
   return spawnSync(
     process.execPath,
     ["--import", "tsx", "src/cli.tsx", ...args],
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ function runCli(args: string[]) {
       cwd: projectRoot,
       encoding: "utf8",
       env: process.env,
+      input: options?.input,
     },
   );
 }
@@ -70,3 +71,12 @@ test("--quiet keeps schema while compacting JSON", () => {
   assert.ok(!quiet.stdout.includes("\n  "), "expected compact JSON output");
   assert.ok(pretty.stdout.includes("\n  "), "expected pretty JSON output");
 });
+
+test("add command reads value from piped stdin", () => {
+  const result = runCli(["add", "some-channel"], { input: "hello from stdin" });
+  const output = result.stdout + result.stderr;
+  assert.ok(
+    !output.includes("Missing required argument: value"),
+    `expected stdin to supply the value, got: ${output}`,
+  );
+});
diff --git a/src/commands/add.tsx b/src/commands/add.tsx
index 471dc3f..20c2765 100644
--- a/src/commands/add.tsx
+++ b/src/commands/add.tsx
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import { Box, Text } from "ink";
 import { client, getData } from "../api/client";
+import { readStdin } from "../lib/args";
 import { Spinner } from "../components/Spinner";
 import { useCommand } from "../hooks/use-command";
 
 interface Props {
   channel: string;
-  value: string;
+  value?: string;
   title?: string;
   description?: string;
   altText?: string;
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ interface Props {
 
 export function AddCommand({
   channel,
-  value,
+  value: valueProp,
   title,
   description,
   altText,
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ export function AddCommand({
   insertAt,
 }: Props) {
   const { data, error, loading } = useCommand(async () => {
+    const resolvedValue = valueProp ?? (await readStdin());
+    if (!resolvedValue) throw new Error("Missing required argument: value");
+
     const ch = await getData(
       client.GET("/v3/channels/{id}", {
         params: { path: { id: channel } },
@@ -33,7 +37,7 @@ export function AddCommand({
     const block = await getData(
       client.POST("/v3/blocks", {
         body: {
-          value,
+          value: resolvedValue,
           channel_ids: [ch.id],
           title,
           description,
diff --git a/src/lib/registry.tsx b/src/lib/registry.tsx
index 2dfac1d..d5f718d 100644
--- a/src/lib/registry.tsx
+++ b/src/lib/registry.tsx
@@ -578,11 +578,11 @@ export const commands: CommandDefinition[] = [
       },
     ],
     render(args, flags) {
-      const value = requireArg([args.slice(1).join(" ")], 0, "value");
+      const argValue = args.slice(1).join(" ").trim() || undefined;
       return (
         <AddCommand
           channel={requireArg(args, 0, "channel")}
-          value={value}
+          value={argValue}
           title={flag(flags, "title")}
           description={flag(flags, "description")}
           altText={flag(flags, "alt-text")}