diff --git a/src/pkg/cli/compose.go b/src/pkg/cli/compose.go
index 609bae76e..caa499e77 100644
--- a/src/pkg/cli/compose.go
+++ b/src/pkg/cli/compose.go
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ func NormalizeServiceName(s string) string {
 }
 
 func warnf(format string, args ...interface{}) {
-	logrus.Warnf(format, args...)
+	// By default, the logrus StandardLogger writes to os.Stderr
+	logrus.Warnf(term.MarkDown(term.Stderr, format), args...)
 	term.HadWarnings = true
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pkg/cli/compose_validation.go b/src/pkg/cli/compose_validation.go
index 0e7a8d1ee..43d0f6f22 100644
--- a/src/pkg/cli/compose_validation.go
+++ b/src/pkg/cli/compose_validation.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func validateProject(project *compose.Project) error {
 			warnf("unsupported compose directive: read_only")
 		}
 		if svccfg.Restart == "" {
-			warnf("missing compose directive: restart; assuming 'unless-stopped' (add 'restart' to silence)")
+			warnf("missing compose directive: `restart`; assuming 'unless-stopped' (add 'restart' to silence)")
 		} else if svccfg.Restart != "always" && svccfg.Restart != "unless-stopped" {
 			warnf("unsupported compose directive: restart; assuming 'unless-stopped' (add 'restart' to silence)")
 		}
diff --git a/src/pkg/quota/quota.go b/src/pkg/quota/quota.go
index 9b8bd1186..671f1c260 100644
--- a/src/pkg/quota/quota.go
+++ b/src/pkg/quota/quota.go
@@ -20,19 +20,19 @@ type Quotas struct {
 
 func (q Quotas) Validate(service *defangv1.Service) error {
 	if service.Name == "" {
-		return errors.New("service name is required") // CodeInvalidArgument
+		return errors.New("service `name:` is required") // CodeInvalidArgument
 	}
 
 	if service.Build != nil {
 		if service.Build.Context == "" {
-			return errors.New("build.context is required") // CodeInvalidArgument
+			return errors.New("build `context:` is required") // CodeInvalidArgument
 		}
 		if service.Build.ShmSize > q.ShmSizeMiB || service.Build.ShmSize < 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("build.shm_size exceeds quota (max %v MiB)", q.ShmSizeMiB) // CodeInvalidArgument
+			return fmt.Errorf("build `shm_size:` exceeds quota (max %v MiB)", q.ShmSizeMiB) // CodeInvalidArgument
 		}
 	} else {
 		if service.Image == "" {
-			return errors.New("missing image or build") // CodeInvalidArgument
+			return errors.New("each service must have either `image:` or `build:`") // CodeInvalidArgument
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func (q Quotas) Validate(service *defangv1.Service) error {
 				return fmt.Errorf("ingress port requires a CMD healthcheck")
 			}
 		default:
-			return fmt.Errorf("unsupported healthcheck: %v", service.Healthcheck.Test)
+			return fmt.Errorf("unsupported `healthcheck:` %v", service.Healthcheck.Test)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/pkg/quota/quota_test.go b/src/pkg/quota/quota_test.go
index 1a094ca2a..238bb025f 100644
--- a/src/pkg/quota/quota_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/quota/quota_test.go
@@ -15,22 +15,22 @@ func TestValidate(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:    "empty service",
 			service: &defangv1.Service{},
-			wantErr: "service name is required",
+			wantErr: "service `name:` is required",
 		},
 		{
 			name:    "no image, no build",
 			service: &defangv1.Service{Name: "test"},
-			wantErr: "missing image or build",
+			wantErr: "each service must have either `image:` or `build:`",
 		},
 		{
 			name:    "empty build",
 			service: &defangv1.Service{Name: "test", Build: &defangv1.Build{}},
-			wantErr: "build.context is required",
+			wantErr: "build `context:` is required",
 		},
 		{
 			name:    "shm size exceeds quota",
 			service: &defangv1.Service{Name: "test", Build: &defangv1.Build{Context: ".", ShmSize: 30721}},
-			wantErr: "build.shm_size exceeds quota (max 30720 MiB)",
+			wantErr: "build `shm_size:` exceeds quota (max 30720 MiB)",
 		},
 		{
 			name:    "port 0 out of range",
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func TestValidate(t *testing.T) {
 					Test: []string{"BLAH"},
 				},
 			},
-			wantErr: "unsupported healthcheck: [BLAH]",
+			wantErr: "unsupported `healthcheck:` [BLAH]",
 		},
 		{
 			name: "too many replicas",
diff --git a/src/pkg/term/colorizer.go b/src/pkg/term/colorizer.go
index f18d45ec8..029e7eaee 100644
--- a/src/pkg/term/colorizer.go
+++ b/src/pkg/term/colorizer.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package term
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"regexp"
 
 	"github.com/muesli/termenv"
 	"golang.org/x/term"
@@ -43,6 +44,19 @@ func ForceColor(color bool) {
 	}
 }
 
+var backticksRegex = regexp.MustCompile("`([^`]+)`")
+
+func markdown(msg string) string {
+	return backticksRegex.ReplaceAllString(msg, termenv.CSI+"7m$1"+termenv.CSI+"27m")
+}
+
+func MarkDown(w *termenv.Output, msg string) string {
+	if !DoColor(w) {
+		return msg
+	}
+	return markdown(msg)
+}
+
 func output(w *termenv.Output, c Color, msg string) (int, error) {
 	if len(msg) == 0 {
 		return 0, nil
@@ -50,6 +64,7 @@ func output(w *termenv.Output, c Color, msg string) (int, error) {
 	if DoColor(w) {
 		w.WriteString(termenv.CSI + c.Sequence(false) + "m")
 		defer w.Reset()
+		msg = markdown(msg)
 	}
 	return w.WriteString(msg)
 }