diff --git a/squawk-vscode/README.md b/squawk-vscode/README.md
index 6b6ccf2c..968c028c 100644
--- a/squawk-vscode/README.md
+++ b/squawk-vscode/README.md
@@ -6,10 +6,6 @@ Surface SQL related lint errors directly in VSCode.
 
 ## Install
 
-Install via the [VSCode marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=sbdchd.squawk).
-
-## Install
-
 ### From online marketplace
 
 Open the [online marketplace listing](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=sbdchd.squawk) for Squawk and click "Install". Follow the prompts to open VSCode and install Squawk.
@@ -26,6 +22,15 @@ Download the extension package from the [latest Github release](https://github.c
 
 With `vsce` installed from NPM (`npm install -g @vscode/vsce`), clone [this repo](https://github.com/sbdchd/vscode-squawk) and run `vsce package`. Install the resulting package with `code --install-extension squawk-*.vsix`
 
+## Settings
+
+```json
+{
+  // enable tracing logs
+  "squawk.trace.server": "verbose"
+}
+```
+
 ## Dev
 
 Make sure you're on a vscode version >= the one defined in the `package.json`,
diff --git a/squawk-vscode/eslint.config.mjs b/squawk-vscode/eslint.config.mjs
index 6cac8cfe..b3f2abeb 100644
--- a/squawk-vscode/eslint.config.mjs
+++ b/squawk-vscode/eslint.config.mjs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ export default tseslint.config(
     plugins: {},
     rules: {
       "no-console": "error",
+      "quotes": ["error", "double", { "avoidEscape": true }],
       "@typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars": [
         "error",
         {
diff --git a/squawk-vscode/src/extension.ts b/squawk-vscode/src/extension.ts
index d8c688ae..1eb1148c 100644
--- a/squawk-vscode/src/extension.ts
+++ b/squawk-vscode/src/extension.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,65 @@ import {
   StateChangeEvent,
 } from "vscode-languageclient/node"
 
+// via rust-analyzer
+// https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-analyzer/blob/f14bf95931f17ae1830a77d6f0dff38cabb401da/editors/code/src/util.ts#L157C1-L157C1
+class LazyOutputChannel implements vscode.OutputChannel {
+  constructor(name: string) {
+    this.name = name
+  }
+
+  name: string
+  _channel: vscode.OutputChannel | undefined
+
+  get channel(): vscode.OutputChannel {
+    if (!this._channel) {
+      this._channel = vscode.window.createOutputChannel(this.name)
+    }
+    return this._channel
+  }
+
+  append(value: string): void {
+    this.channel.append(value)
+  }
+
+  appendLine(value: string): void {
+    this.channel.appendLine(value)
+  }
+
+  replace(value: string): void {
+    this.channel.replace(value)
+  }
+
+  clear(): void {
+    if (this._channel) {
+      this._channel.clear()
+    }
+  }
+
+  show(
+    columnOrPreserveFocus?: vscode.ViewColumn | boolean,
+    preserveFocus?: boolean,
+  ): void {
+    if (typeof columnOrPreserveFocus === "boolean") {
+      this.channel.show(columnOrPreserveFocus)
+    } else {
+      this.channel.show(columnOrPreserveFocus, preserveFocus)
+    }
+  }
+
+  hide(): void {
+    if (this._channel) {
+      this._channel.hide()
+    }
+  }
+
+  dispose(): void {
+    if (this._channel) {
+      this._channel.dispose()
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 let client: LanguageClient | undefined
 let log: Pick<
   vscode.LogOutputChannel,
@@ -144,7 +203,7 @@ function updateStatusBarItem(statusBarItem: vscode.StatusBarItem) {
   switch (client.state) {
     case State.Stopped:
       statusText = "Stopped"
-      icon = "$(error) "
+      icon = "$(stop-circle) "
       backgroundColor = new vscode.ThemeColor("statusBarItem.warningBackground")
       break
     case State.Starting:
@@ -207,6 +266,7 @@ async function startServer(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
   const serverOptions: ServerOptions = serverExecutable
   const clientOptions: LanguageClientOptions = {
     documentSelector: [{ language: "sql" }, { language: "postgres" }],
+    traceOutputChannel: new LazyOutputChannel("Squawk Trace"),
     outputChannel: vscode.window.createOutputChannel("Squawk Language Server"),
   }
   client = new LanguageClient(
@@ -228,7 +288,7 @@ async function startServer(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
     await client.start()
     log.info("server started successfully")
   } catch (error) {
-    log.error(`Failed to start server:`, error)
+    log.error("Failed to start server:", error)
     vscode.window.showErrorMessage(`Failed to start server: ${String(error)}`)
   }
 }
@@ -307,10 +367,12 @@ class SyntaxTreeProvider implements vscode.TextDocumentContentProvider {
     try {
       const document = this._activeEditor?.document
       if (!document) {
-        return "Error: no active editor found"
+        vscode.window.showErrorMessage("Error: no active editor found")
+        return ""
       }
       if (!client) {
-        return "Error: no client found"
+        vscode.window.showErrorMessage("Error: no client found")
+        return ""
       }
       const uri = document.uri.toString()
       log.info(`Requesting syntax tree for: ${uri}`)
@@ -320,8 +382,11 @@ class SyntaxTreeProvider implements vscode.TextDocumentContentProvider {
       log.info("Syntax tree received")
       return response
     } catch (error) {
-      log.error(`Failed to get syntax tree:`, error)
-      return `Error: Failed to get syntax tree: ${String(error)}`
+      log.error("Failed to get syntax tree:", error)
+      vscode.window.showErrorMessage(
+        `Failed to get syntax tree:\n${String(error)}`,
+      )
+      return ""
     }
   }
 }
@@ -378,10 +443,12 @@ class TokensProvider implements vscode.TextDocumentContentProvider {
     try {
       const document = this._activeEditor?.document
       if (!document) {
-        return "Error: no active editor found"
+        vscode.window.showErrorMessage("Error: no active editor found")
+        return ""
       }
       if (!client) {
-        return "Error: no client found"
+        vscode.window.showErrorMessage("Error: no client found")
+        return ""
       }
       const uri = document.uri.toString()
       log.info(`Requesting tokens for: ${uri}`)
@@ -391,8 +458,11 @@ class TokensProvider implements vscode.TextDocumentContentProvider {
       log.info("Tokens received")
       return response
     } catch (error) {
-      log.error(`Failed to get tokens:`, error)
-      return `Error: Failed to get tokens: ${String(error)}`
+      log.error("Failed to get tokens:", error)
+      vscode.window.showErrorMessage(
+        `Error: Failed to get tokens:\n${String(error)}`,
+      )
+      return ""
     }
   }
 }