diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 15b45410..be041995 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,10 +22,19 @@ import '@vue/repl/style.css'
 import { watchEffect } from 'vue'
 import { Repl, ReplStore } from '@vue/repl'
 
+// retrieve some configuration options from the URL
+const query = new URLSearchParams(location.search)
+
 const store = new ReplStore({
   // initialize repl with previously serialized state
   serializedState: location.hash.slice(1),
 
+  // starts on the output pane (mobile only) if the URL has a showOutput query
+  showOutput: query.has('showOutput'),
+  // starts on a different tab on the output pane if the URL has a outputMode query
+  // and default to the "preview" tab
+  outputMode: (query.get('outputMode') || 'preview')
+
   // specify the default URL to import Vue runtime from in the sandbox
   // default is the CDN link from unpkg.com with version matching Vue's version
   // from peerDependency
diff --git a/src/SplitPane.vue b/src/SplitPane.vue
index d8bfbfe9..274445ff 100644
--- a/src/SplitPane.vue
+++ b/src/SplitPane.vue
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <script setup lang="ts">
-import { ref, reactive, computed } from 'vue'
+import { ref, reactive, computed, inject } from 'vue'
+import { Store } from './store'
 
 const props = defineProps<{ layout?: string }>()
 const isVertical = computed(() => props.layout === 'vertical')
@@ -7,7 +8,8 @@ const isVertical = computed(() => props.layout === 'vertical')
 const container = ref()
 
 // mobile only
-const showOutput = ref(false)
+const store = inject('store') as Store
+const showOutput = ref(store.initialShowOutput)
 
 const state = reactive({
   dragging: false,
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 8c03d221..f1b1763e 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ export { default as Repl } from './Repl.vue'
 export { ReplStore, File } from './store'
 export { compileFile } from './transform'
 export type { Store, SFCOptions, StoreState } from './store'
+export type { OutputModes } from './output/types'
diff --git a/src/output/Output.vue b/src/output/Output.vue
index ef9b66e3..1d2392bb 100644
--- a/src/output/Output.vue
+++ b/src/output/Output.vue
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import Preview from './Preview.vue'
 import CodeMirror from '../codemirror/CodeMirror.vue'
 import { Store } from '../store'
 import { inject, ref, computed } from 'vue'
+import type { OutputModes } from './types'
 
 const props = defineProps<{
   showCompileOutput?: boolean
@@ -15,8 +16,11 @@ const modes = computed(() =>
     : (['preview'] as const)
 )
 
-type Modes = typeof modes.value[number]
-const mode = ref<Modes>('preview')
+const mode = ref<OutputModes>(
+  (modes.value as readonly string[]).includes(store.initialOutputMode)
+    ? store.initialOutputMode as OutputModes
+    : 'preview'
+)
 </script>
 
 <template>
diff --git a/src/output/types.ts b/src/output/types.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b0cfaaf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/output/types.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export type OutputModes = 'preview' | 'js' | 'css' | 'ssr'
diff --git a/src/store.ts b/src/store.ts
index 5869aa70..9e1e6874 100644
--- a/src/store.ts
+++ b/src/store.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   SFCAsyncStyleCompileOptions,
   SFCTemplateCompileOptions
 } from 'vue/compiler-sfc'
+import { OutputModes } from './output/types'
 
 const defaultMainFile = 'App.vue'
 
@@ -66,15 +67,22 @@ export class ReplStore implements Store {
   state: StoreState
   compiler = defaultCompiler
   options?: SFCOptions
+  initialShowOutput: boolean
+  initialOutputMode: OutputModes | string
 
   private defaultVueRuntimeURL: string
   private pendingCompiler: Promise<any> | null = null
 
   constructor({
     serializedState = '',
-    defaultVueRuntimeURL = `https://unpkg.com/@vue/runtime-dom@${version}/dist/runtime-dom.esm-browser.js`
+    defaultVueRuntimeURL = `https://unpkg.com/@vue/runtime-dom@${version}/dist/runtime-dom.esm-browser.js`,
+    showOutput = false,
+    outputMode = 'preview'
   }: {
     serializedState?: string
+    showOutput?: boolean
+    // loose type to allow getting from the URL without inducing a typing error
+    outputMode?: OutputModes | string
     defaultVueRuntimeURL?: string
   } = {}) {
     let files: StoreState['files'] = {}
@@ -91,6 +99,8 @@ export class ReplStore implements Store {
     }
 
     this.defaultVueRuntimeURL = defaultVueRuntimeURL
+    this.initialShowOutput = showOutput
+    this.initialOutputMode = outputMode
 
     let mainFile = defaultMainFile
     if (!files[mainFile]) {
diff --git a/test/main.ts b/test/main.ts
index 107b0762..a97cc1e8 100644
--- a/test/main.ts
+++ b/test/main.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,11 @@ import { Repl, ReplStore } from '../src'
 
 const App = {
   setup() {
+    const query = new URLSearchParams(location.search)
     const store = new ReplStore({
       serializedState: location.hash.slice(1),
+      showOutput: query.has('so'),
+      outputMode: query.get('om') || 'preview',
       defaultVueRuntimeURL: import.meta.env.PROD
         ? undefined
         : `${location.origin}/src/vue-dev-proxy`