diff --git a/cmd/ratify/cmd/cmd_test.go b/cmd/ratify/cmd/cmd_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..49149dcf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/ratify/cmd/cmd_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/*
+Copyright The Ratify Authors.
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+const (
+	configFilePath = "../../../config/config.json"
+	subject        = "localhost:5000/net-monitor:v1"
+	storeName      = "oras"
+	digest         = "sha256:17490f904cf278d4314a1ccba407fc8fd00fb45303589b8cc7f5174ac35554f4"
+)
+
+func TestVerify(t *testing.T) {
+	err := verify((verifyCmdOptions{
+		subject:        subject,
+		artifactTypes:  []string{""},
+		configFilePath: configFilePath,
+	}))
+
+	// TODO: make ratify cli more unit testable
+	// unit test should not have dependency for real image
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "plugin not found") {
+		t.Errorf("error expected")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDiscover(t *testing.T) {
+	err := discover((discoverCmdOptions{
+		subject:        subject,
+		artifactTypes:  []string{""},
+		configFilePath: configFilePath,
+	}))
+
+	// TODO: make ratify cli more unit testable
+	// unit test should not need to resolve real image
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "referrer store failure") {
+		t.Errorf("error expected")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestShowRefManifest(t *testing.T) {
+	err := showRefManifest((referrerCmdOptions{
+		subject:        subject,
+		configFilePath: configFilePath,
+		storeName:      storeName,
+		digest:         digest,
+	}))
+
+	// TODO: make ratify cli more unit testable
+	// unit test should not need to resolve real image
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to resolve subject descriptor") {
+		t.Errorf("error expected")
+	}
+
+	// validate show blob returns error
+	err = showBlob((referrerCmdOptions{
+		subject:        subject,
+		configFilePath: configFilePath,
+		storeName:      storeName,
+		digest:         "invalid-digest",
+	}))
+
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "the digest of the subject is invalid") {
+		t.Errorf("error expected")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/ratify/cmd/discover.go b/cmd/ratify/cmd/discover.go
index 66d9d0921..858f12b52 100644
--- a/cmd/ratify/cmd/discover.go
+++ b/cmd/ratify/cmd/discover.go
@@ -96,10 +96,6 @@ func discover(opts discoverCmdOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if subRef.Digest == "" {
-		fmt.Println(taggedReferenceWarning)
-	}
-
 	cf, err := config.Load(opts.configFilePath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -109,6 +105,10 @@ func discover(opts discoverCmdOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if subRef.Digest == "" {
+		logger.GetLogger(context.Background(), logOpt).Warn(taggedReferenceWarning)
+	}
+
 	rootImage := treeprint.NewWithRoot(subRef.String())
 
 	stores, err := sf.CreateStoresFromConfig(cf.StoresConfig, config.GetDefaultPluginPath())
diff --git a/cmd/ratify/cmd/referrer.go b/cmd/ratify/cmd/referrer.go
index 67ebe2d9a..8921c5ede 100644
--- a/cmd/ratify/cmd/referrer.go
+++ b/cmd/ratify/cmd/referrer.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func NewCmdShowRefManifest(argv ...string) *cobra.Command {
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:     "show-manifest [OPTIONS]",
-		Short:   "show rference manifest at a digest",
+		Short:   "show reference manifest at a digest",
 		Example: eg,
 		Args:    cobra.NoArgs,
 		RunE: func(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
@@ -184,10 +184,6 @@ func showRefManifest(opts referrerCmdOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if subRef.Digest == "" {
-		fmt.Println(taggedReferenceWarning)
-	}
-
 	digest, err := utils.ParseDigest(opts.digest)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -198,6 +194,10 @@ func showRefManifest(opts referrerCmdOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if subRef.Digest == "" {
+		logger.GetLogger(context.Background(), logOpt).Warn(taggedReferenceWarning)
+	}
+
 	stores, err := sf.CreateStoresFromConfig(cf.StoresConfig, config.GetDefaultPluginPath())
 
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/ratify/cmd/verify.go b/cmd/ratify/cmd/verify.go
index 1e745e9c6..c189fa68b 100644
--- a/cmd/ratify/cmd/verify.go
+++ b/cmd/ratify/cmd/verify.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
-	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/ratify-project/ratify/config"
 	"github.com/ratify-project/ratify/internal/constants"
@@ -36,6 +35,10 @@ const (
 	verifyUse = "verify"
 )
 
+var logOpt = logger.Option{
+	ComponentType: logger.CommandLine,
+}
+
 type verifyCmdOptions struct {
 	configFilePath string
 	subject        string
@@ -65,12 +68,6 @@ func NewCmdVerify(_ ...string) *cobra.Command {
 	return cmd
 }
 
-func TestVerify(subject string) {
-	_ = verify((verifyCmdOptions{
-		subject: subject,
-	}))
-}
-
 func verify(opts verifyCmdOptions) error {
 	if opts.subject == "" {
 		return errors.New("subject parameter is required")
@@ -81,10 +78,6 @@ func verify(opts verifyCmdOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if subRef.Digest == "" {
-		fmt.Println(taggedReferenceWarning)
-	}
-
 	cf, err := config.Load(opts.configFilePath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -94,6 +87,10 @@ func verify(opts verifyCmdOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if subRef.Digest == "" {
+		logger.GetLogger(context.Background(), logOpt).Warn(taggedReferenceWarning)
+	}
+
 	stores, err := sf.CreateStoresFromConfig(cf.StoresConfig, config.GetDefaultPluginPath())
 
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/logger/logger.go b/internal/logger/logger.go
index 6721cd65e..ff050cef3 100644
--- a/internal/logger/logger.go
+++ b/internal/logger/logger.go
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ const (
 	Executor componentType = "executor"
 	// Server is the component type for the Ratify http server.
 	Server componentType = "server"
+	// CommandLine is the component type for the Ratify command line.
+	CommandLine componentType = "commandLine"
 	// ReferrerStore is the component type for the referrer store.
 	ReferrerStore componentType = "referrerStore"
 	// Cache is the component type for the cache.