diff --git a/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main.go b/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main.go
index 6eb0b6340..2c88d203a 100644
--- a/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main.go
+++ b/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/osbuild/bootc-image-builder/bib/internal/buildconfig"
 	podman_container "github.com/osbuild/bootc-image-builder/bib/internal/container"
+	"github.com/osbuild/bootc-image-builder/bib/internal/osbuildprogress"
 	"github.com/osbuild/bootc-image-builder/bib/internal/setup"
 	"github.com/osbuild/bootc-image-builder/bib/internal/source"
 	"github.com/osbuild/bootc-image-builder/bib/internal/util"
@@ -381,6 +382,7 @@ func cmdBuild(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	osbuildStore, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("store")
 	outputDir, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("output")
 	targetArch, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("target-arch")
+	progress, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("progress")
 
 	logrus.Debug("Validating environment")
 	if err := setup.Validate(targetArch); err != nil {
@@ -463,7 +465,12 @@ func cmdBuild(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		osbuildEnv = append(osbuildEnv, envVars...)
 	}
 
-	_, err = osbuild.RunOSBuild(mf, osbuildStore, outputDir, exports, nil, osbuildEnv, false, os.Stderr)
+	switch progress {
+	case "text":
+		err = osbuildprogress.RunOSBuild(mf, osbuildStore, outputDir, exports, osbuildEnv)
+	default:
+		_, err = osbuild.RunOSBuild(mf, osbuildStore, outputDir, exports, nil, osbuildEnv, false, os.Stderr)
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot run osbuild: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -613,7 +620,8 @@ func run() error {
 	buildCmd.Flags().String("aws-region", "", "target region for AWS uploads (only for type=ami)")
 	buildCmd.Flags().String("chown", "", "chown the ouput directory to match the specified UID:GID")
 	buildCmd.Flags().String("output", ".", "artifact output directory")
-	buildCmd.Flags().String("progress", "text", "type of progress bar to use")
+	// XXX: make this a proper type
+	buildCmd.Flags().String("progress", "none", "type of progress bar to use")
 	buildCmd.Flags().String("store", "/store", "osbuild store for intermediate pipeline trees")
 
 	// flag rules
diff --git a/bib/internal/osbuildprogress/progress.go b/bib/internal/osbuildprogress/progress.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6988598c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bib/internal/osbuildprogress/progress.go
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+package osbuildprogress
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+)
+
+type OsbuildJsonProgress struct {
+	ID      string `json:"id"`
+	Context struct {
+		Origin   string `json:"origin"`
+		Pipeline struct {
+			Name  string `json:"name"`
+			Stage struct {
+				Name string `json:"name"`
+				ID   string `json:"id"`
+			} `json:"stage"`
+			ID string `json:"id"`
+		} `json:"pipeline"`
+	} `json:"context"`
+	Progress struct {
+		Name  string `json:"name"`
+		Total int    `json:"total"`
+		Done  int    `json:"done"`
+		// XXX: there are currently only two levels but it should be
+		// deeper nested in theory
+		SubProgress struct {
+			Name  string `json:"name"`
+			Total int    `json:"total"`
+			Done  int    `json:"done"`
+			// XXX: in theory this could be more nested but it's not
+
+		} `json:"progress"`
+	} `json:"progress"`
+
+	Message string `json:"message"`
+}
+
+func scanJsonSeq(r io.Reader, ch chan OsbuildJsonProgress) {
+	var progress OsbuildJsonProgress
+
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(r)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		// XXX: use a proper jsonseq reader?
+		line := scanner.Bytes()
+		line = bytes.Trim(line, "\x1e")
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(line, &progress); err != nil {
+			// XXX: provide an invalid lines chan
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "json decode err for line %q: %v\n", line, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		ch <- progress
+	}
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil && err != io.EOF {
+		// log error here
+	}
+}
+
+func AttachProgress(r io.Reader, w io.Writer) {
+	var progress OsbuildJsonProgress
+	spinner := []string{"|", "/", "-", "\\"}
+	i := 0
+
+	ch := make(chan OsbuildJsonProgress)
+	go scanJsonSeq(r, ch)
+
+	mainProgress := "unknown"
+	subProgress := ""
+	message := "-"
+
+	contextMap := map[string]string{}
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "\n")
+	for {
+		select {
+		case progress = <-ch:
+			id := progress.Context.Pipeline.ID
+			pipelineName := contextMap[id]
+			if pipelineName == "" {
+				pipelineName = progress.Context.Pipeline.Name
+				contextMap[id] = pipelineName
+			}
+			// XXX: use differentmap?
+			id = "stage-" + progress.Context.Pipeline.Stage.ID
+			stageName := contextMap[id]
+			if stageName == "" {
+				stageName = progress.Context.Pipeline.Stage.Name
+				contextMap[id] = stageName
+			}
+
+			if progress.Progress.Total > 0 {
+				mainProgress = fmt.Sprintf("step: %v [%v/%v]", pipelineName, progress.Progress.Done+1, progress.Progress.Total+1)
+			}
+			// XXX: use context instead of name here too
+			if progress.Progress.SubProgress.Total > 0 {
+				subProgress = fmt.Sprintf("%v [%v/%v]", stageName, progress.Progress.SubProgress.Done+1, progress.Progress.SubProgress.Total+1)
+			}
+
+			// todo: make message more structured in osbuild?
+			// message from the stages themselfs are very noisy
+			// best not to show to the user (only for failures)
+			if progress.Context.Origin == "osbuild.monitor" {
+				message = progress.Message
+			}
+			//message = strings.TrimSpace(strings.SplitN(progress.Message, "\n", 2)[0])
+			// todo: fix in osbuild?
+			/*
+				l := strings.SplitN(message, ":", 2)
+				if len(l) > 1 {
+					message = strings.TrimSpace(l[1])
+				}
+			*/
+			if len(message) > 60 {
+				message = message[:60] + "..."
+			}
+		case <-time.After(200 * time.Millisecond):
+			// nothing
+		}
+
+		// XXX: use real progressbar *or* use helper to get terminal
+		// size for proper length checks etc
+		//
+		// poor man progress, we need multiple progress bars and
+		// a message that keeps getting updated (or maybe not the
+		// message)
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "\x1b[2KBuilding [%s]\n", spinner[i])
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "\x1b[2Kstep   : %s\n", mainProgress)
+		if subProgress != "" {
+			fmt.Fprintf(w, "\x1b[2Kmodule : %s\n", strings.TrimPrefix(subProgress, "org.osbuild."))
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "\x1b[3Kmessage: %s\n", message)
+		if subProgress != "" {
+			fmt.Fprintf(w, "\x1b[%dA", 4)
+		} else {
+			fmt.Fprintf(w, "\x1b[%dA", 3)
+		}
+		// spin
+		i = (i + 1) % len(spinner)
+	}
+}
+
+// XXX: merge back into images/pkg/osbuild/osbuild-exec.go(?)
+func RunOSBuild(manifest []byte, store, outputDirectory string, exports, extraEnv []string) error {
+	cmd := exec.Command(
+		"osbuild",
+		"--store", store,
+		"--output-directory", outputDirectory,
+		"--monitor=JSONSeqMonitor",
+		"-",
+	)
+	cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), extraEnv...)
+	cmd.Stdin = bytes.NewBuffer(manifest)
+	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+
+	for _, export := range exports {
+		cmd.Args = append(cmd.Args, "--export", export)
+	}
+
+	stdout, err := cmd.StdoutPipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	go AttachProgress(stdout, os.Stdout)
+
+	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error starting osbuild: %v", err)
+	}
+	return cmd.Wait()
+}