diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ac5a755..afb996d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1250,7 +1250,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "lumberjack"
-version = "0.3.1"
+version = "0.3.2"
 dependencies = [
  "arboard",
  "aws-config",
@@ -1259,6 +1259,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "ratatui",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "thiserror",
  "tokio",
 ]
 
@@ -1849,6 +1850,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror"
+version = "2.0.17"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f63587ca0f12b72a0600bcba1d40081f830876000bb46dd2337a3051618f4fc8"
+dependencies = [
+ "thiserror-impl",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror-impl"
+version = "2.0.17"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3ff15c8ecd7de3849db632e14d18d2571fa09dfc5ed93479bc4485c7a517c913"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "time"
 version = "0.3.44"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index e53d801..daa7564 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "lumberjack"
-version = "0.3.1"
+version = "0.3.2"
 edition = "2024"
 
 [dependencies]
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ serde_json = { version = "1.0.145", default-features = false, features = ["std"]
 tokio = {version="1.48.0", default-features = false, features = ["rt-multi-thread", "macros", "time"] }
 arboard = { version = "3.6.1", default-features = false }
 serde = {version = "1.0.228", default-features = false, features = ["derive"]}
+thiserror = "2.0.17"
 
 [profile.release]
 lto = true
diff --git a/src/aws/mod.rs b/src/aws/mod.rs
index 6bbb7c9..7ba2608 100644
--- a/src/aws/mod.rs
+++ b/src/aws/mod.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,31 @@ use aws_config::Region;
 use aws_config::meta::region::RegionProviderChain;
 use aws_sdk_cloudwatchlogs as cwl;
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+#[derive(Debug, Error)]
+pub enum AwsLogError {
+    #[error("Failed to create CloudWatch Logs client: {0}")]
+    ClientInit(String),
+
+    #[error("Failed to fetch log groups for region '{region}' and profile '{profile}': {source}")]
+    FetchLogGroups {
+        region: String,
+        profile: String,
+        #[source]
+        source: Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>,
+    },
+
+    #[error("Failed to fetch log events for group '{group}': {source}")]
+    FetchLogEvents {
+        group: String,
+        #[source]
+        source: Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>,
+    },
+
+    #[error("Invalid time filter '{value}': {reason}")]
+    TimeParse { value: String, reason: String },
+}
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 struct SimpleLogEvent<'a> {
@@ -9,18 +34,10 @@ struct SimpleLogEvent<'a> {
     message: &'a str,
 }
 
-pub async fn fetch_log_groups(region: &str, profile: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>, cwl::Error> {
-    let region_provider = RegionProviderChain::first_try(Some(Region::new(region.to_string())))
-        .or_default_provider()
-        .or_else(Region::new("eu-west-1"));
-
-    let cfg = aws_config::defaults(aws_config::BehaviorVersion::latest())
-        .region(region_provider)
-        .profile_name(profile)
-        .load()
-        .await;
-
-    let client = cwl::Client::new(&cfg);
+pub async fn fetch_log_groups(region: &str, profile: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>, AwsLogError> {
+    let client = build_cloudwatch_client(region, profile)
+        .await
+        .map_err(|e| AwsLogError::ClientInit(e.to_string()))?;
 
     let mut out = Vec::new();
     let mut next_token: Option<String> = None;
@@ -31,7 +48,11 @@ pub async fn fetch_log_groups(region: &str, profile: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>
             req = req.next_token(token);
         }
 
-        let resp = req.send().await?;
+        let resp = req.send().await.map_err(|e| AwsLogError::FetchLogGroups {
+            region: region.to_string(),
+            profile: profile.to_string(),
+            source: Box::new(e),
+        })?;
 
         for g in resp.log_groups() {
             if let Some(name) = g.log_group_name() {
@@ -56,27 +77,29 @@ pub async fn fetch_log_events(
     start: &str,
     end: &str,
     pattern: &str,
-) -> Result<(Vec<String>, Option<i64>), String> {
-    let cfg = aws_config::defaults(aws_config::BehaviorVersion::latest())
-        .region(Region::new(region.to_string()))
-        .profile_name(profile)
-        .load()
-        .await;
-
-    let client = cwl::Client::new(&cfg);
+) -> Result<(Vec<String>, Option<i64>), AwsLogError> {
+    let client = build_cloudwatch_client(region, profile)
+        .await
+        .map_err(|e| AwsLogError::ClientInit(e.to_string()))?;
 
     let now_ms = Utc::now().timestamp_millis();
     let start_ms = if start.trim().is_empty() {
         // default: last 15m
         now_ms - 15 * 60 * 1_000
     } else {
-        parse_relative_or_absolute_ms(start, now_ms)?
+        parse_relative_or_absolute_ms(start, now_ms).map_err(|reason| AwsLogError::TimeParse {
+            value: start.to_string(),
+            reason,
+        })?
     };
 
     let end_ms = if end.trim().is_empty() {
         now_ms
     } else {
-        parse_relative_or_absolute_ms(end, now_ms)?
+        parse_relative_or_absolute_ms(end, now_ms).map_err(|reason| AwsLogError::TimeParse {
+            value: end.to_string(),
+            reason,
+        })?
     };
 
     let mut out = Vec::new();
@@ -100,7 +123,10 @@ pub async fn fetch_log_events(
             req = req.next_token(tok);
         }
 
-        let resp = req.send().await.map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+        let resp = req.send().await.map_err(|e| AwsLogError::FetchLogEvents {
+            group: log_group.to_string(),
+            source: Box::new(e),
+        })?;
 
         for ev in resp.events() {
             let ts = ev.timestamp().unwrap_or(0);
@@ -280,6 +306,20 @@ fn normalize_filter_pattern(raw: &str) -> String {
     }
 }
 
+async fn build_cloudwatch_client(region: &str, profile: &str) -> Result<cwl::Client, AwsLogError> {
+    let region_provider = RegionProviderChain::first_try(Some(Region::new(region.to_string())))
+        .or_default_provider()
+        .or_else(Region::new("eu-west-1"));
+
+    let cfg = aws_config::defaults(aws_config::BehaviorVersion::latest())
+        .region(region_provider)
+        .profile_name(profile)
+        .load()
+        .await;
+
+    Ok(cwl::Client::new(&cfg))
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -557,6 +597,27 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(dt.day(), 1);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_relative_time_rejects_missing_number() {
+        let now_ms = Utc::now().timestamp_millis();
+        let err = parse_relative_or_absolute_ms("-", now_ms).expect_err("'-' should be invalid");
+        assert!(
+            err.contains("missing number"),
+            "expected 'missing number' in error, got: {err}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_relative_time_rejects_invalid_unit() {
+        let now_ms = Utc::now().timestamp_millis();
+        let err =
+            parse_relative_or_absolute_ms("-5x", now_ms).expect_err("'-5x' should be invalid");
+        assert!(
+            err.contains("Invalid relative time unit"),
+            "expected unit error, got: {err}"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn parse_relative_time_falls_back_to_absolute() {
         let input = "2025-12-11T10:00:00Z";
@@ -569,4 +630,43 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(dt.day(), 11);
         assert_eq!(dt.hour(), 10);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn aws_log_error_timeparse_includes_value_and_reason() {
+        let err = AwsLogError::TimeParse {
+            value: "-5x".to_string(),
+            reason: "Invalid relative time unit in '-5x'. Use one of: s, m, h, d".to_string(),
+        };
+
+        let msg = format!("{err}");
+        assert!(
+            msg.contains("-5x") && msg.contains("Invalid relative time unit"),
+            "expected value and reason in AwsLogError::TimeParse display, got: {msg}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn normalize_filter_pattern_leaves_explicit_expressions_unchanged() {
+        let input = r#"{ $.routing_id = 123 && $.task = "foo" }"#;
+        let out = normalize_filter_pattern(input);
+        assert_eq!(out, input);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn normalize_filter_pattern_builds_shorthand_expression() {
+        let input = r#"routing_id=123 task="batch-attendances""#;
+        let out = normalize_filter_pattern(input);
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            r#"{ $.routing_id = 123 && $.task = "batch-attendances" }"#
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn normalize_filter_pattern_bails_out_on_mixed_tokens() {
+        let input = "routing_id=123 weird-token";
+        let out = normalize_filter_pattern(input);
+        // Should fall back to the original string when it can't interpret tokens
+        assert_eq!(out, input);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 1051331..2af0915 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -28,8 +28,14 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
 
     let groups = match rt.block_on(fetch_log_groups(&region, &profile)) {
         Ok(g) if !g.is_empty() => g,
-        Ok(_) => vec!["(no log groups found)".to_string()],
-        Err(e) => vec![format!("(error fetching log groups: {e})")],
+        Ok(_) => vec![format!(
+            "(no log groups found in region {} for profile {})",
+            region, profile
+        )],
+        Err(e) => {
+            eprintln!("Error fetching log groups: {e}");
+            vec![format!("(error fetching log groups: {e})")]
+        }
     };
 
     let (search_tx, search_rx) = std::sync::mpsc::channel::<String>();
@@ -85,5 +91,5 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     let app_result = app.run(&mut terminal);
 
     ratatui::restore();
-    app_result.map_err(|e| e.into())
+    app_result.map_err(Into::into)
 }