diff --git a/src/pystatsv1/console.py b/src/pystatsv1/console.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c36c81f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pystatsv1/console.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+"""Console helpers.
+
+PyStatsV1 aims to be beginner-friendly across Windows/macOS/Linux.
+Some Windows terminals still default to non-UTF-8 encodings (e.g., cp1252),
+so **runtime console output should stay ASCII-only by default**.
+
+These helpers provide consistent, ASCII-safe status prefixes for scripts.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import Final
+
+OK_TAG: Final[str] = "[OK]"
+WARN_TAG: Final[str] = "[WARN]"
+FAIL_TAG: Final[str] = "NOT OK"
+
+
+def status_ok(message: str = "") -> str:
+    """Return an ASCII-safe OK status line.
+
+    Prefer using this in scripts instead of emoji markers, e.g.:
+
+        print(status_ok("Wrote outputs/..."))
+    """
+
+    if not message:
+        return OK_TAG
+    return f"{OK_TAG} {message}"
+
+
+def status_warn(message: str = "") -> str:
+    """Return an ASCII-safe WARN status line."""
+
+    if not message:
+        return WARN_TAG
+    return f"{WARN_TAG} {message}"
+
+
+def status_fail(message: str = "") -> str:
+    """Return an ASCII-safe FAIL status line."""
+
+    if not message:
+        return FAIL_TAG
+    return f"{FAIL_TAG} {message}"
diff --git a/tests/test_console_status.py b/tests/test_console_status.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8de4542
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_console_status.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+
+def test_status_helpers_are_ascii() -> None:
+    from pystatsv1.console import status_fail, status_ok, status_warn
+
+    assert status_ok("hello").isascii()
+    assert status_warn("hello").isascii()
+    assert status_fail("hello").isascii()
+
+
+def test_status_helpers_prefixes() -> None:
+    from pystatsv1.console import status_fail, status_ok, status_warn
+
+    assert status_ok("Done").startswith("[OK] ")
+    assert status_warn("Heads up").startswith("[WARN] ")
+    assert status_fail("Nope").startswith("NOT OK ")