diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 0dc2f1a2..ff1e43e2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jobs:
       # only. Keeping the environment small is what makes this job fast
       # enough to run on every push.
       - name: Install test dependencies
-        run: pip install pytest gdstk numpy pandas pydantic docopt
+        run: pip install pytest gdstk numpy pandas pydantic docopt 'prettyprinttree>=1.36.4,<2' 'cmd2<3'
 
       # The heavier DRC/LVS workflows run the gdsfactory backend (Python
       # 3.10, gdsfactory 7.7), so gdstk currently has no CI coverage at all.
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c927da31..caf211cb 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -31,8 +31,14 @@
         # `ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'docopt'` and the deck
         # never runs.
         "docopt",
-        "prettyprint",
-        "prettyprinttree",
+        # `PortTree.print()` passes `default_orientation`, which PrettyPrintTree
+        # removed in 2.0, so an unconstrained install raises TypeError. 1.36.x
+        # keeps the argument but does not constrain its own `cmd2` dependency,
+        # and cmd2 4.x moved `cmd2.ansi`, which makes `PrettyPrint` unimportable
+        # — `port_utils` then silently falls back to its no-op shim. Both bounds
+        # are needed for the printer to actually produce output.
+        "prettyprinttree>=1.36.4,<2",
+        "cmd2<3",
         "gdstk",
         "svgutils",
         "nltk",
diff --git a/tests/test_port_tree.py b/tests/test_port_tree.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..73c56ce4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_port_tree.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
+
+
+class PortTreeTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_print_writes_the_port_hierarchy(self) -> None:
+        from glayout.backend import Component
+        from glayout.util.port_utils import PortTree
+
+        component = Component("demo")
+        component.add_port(
+            name="device_gate_N",
+            center=(0, 0),
+            width=1,
+            orientation=90,
+            layer=(1, 0),
+        )
+
+        with TemporaryDirectory() as directory:
+            output = Path(directory) / "ports.txt"
+            PortTree(component).print(savetofile=True, outfile_name=str(output))
+
+            self.assertTrue(output.is_file())
+            text = output.read_text()
+            self.assertIn("demo", text)
+            self.assertIn("device", text)
+            self.assertIn("gate", text)
+            self.assertIn("N", text)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()