diff --git a/codeflash/code_utils/env_utils.py b/codeflash/code_utils/env_utils.py
index 08b1fc0da..4200edb7d 100644
--- a/codeflash/code_utils/env_utils.py
+++ b/codeflash/code_utils/env_utils.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 import json
 import os
+import shlex
+import shutil
 import tempfile
 from functools import lru_cache
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -14,21 +16,41 @@
 
 
 def check_formatter_installed(formatter_cmds: list[str], exit_on_failure: bool = True) -> bool:  # noqa
-    return_code = True
-    if formatter_cmds[0] == "disabled":
-        return return_code
+    if not formatter_cmds or formatter_cmds[0] == "disabled":
+        return True
+
+    first_cmd = formatter_cmds[0]
+    cmd_tokens = shlex.split(first_cmd) if isinstance(first_cmd, str) else [first_cmd]
+
+    if not cmd_tokens:
+        return True
+
+    exe_name = cmd_tokens[0]
+    command_str = " ".join(formatter_cmds).replace(" $file", "")
+
+    if shutil.which(exe_name) is None:
+        logger.error(
+            f"Could not find formatter: {command_str}\n"
+            f"Please install it or update 'formatter-cmds' in your codeflash configuration"
+        )
+        return False
+
     tmp_code = """print("hello world")"""
-    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
-        tmp_file = Path(tmpdir) / "test_codeflash_formatter.py"
-        tmp_file.write_text(tmp_code, encoding="utf-8")
-        try:
-            format_code(formatter_cmds, tmp_file, print_status=False, exit_on_failure=exit_on_failure)
-        except Exception:
-            exit_with_message(
-                "⚠️ Codeflash requires a code formatter to be installed in your environment, but none was found. Please install a supported formatter, verify the formatter-cmds in your codeflash pyproject.toml config and try again.",
-                error_on_exit=True,
-            )
-        return return_code
+    try:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+            tmp_file = Path(tmpdir) / "test_codeflash_formatter.py"
+            tmp_file.write_text(tmp_code, encoding="utf-8")
+            format_code(formatter_cmds, tmp_file, print_status=False, exit_on_failure=False)
+            return True
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        logger.error(
+            f"Could not find formatter: {command_str}\n"
+            f"Please install it or update 'formatter-cmds' in your codeflash configuration"
+        )
+        return False
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error(f"Formatter failed to run: {command_str}\nError: {e}")
+        return False
 
 
 @lru_cache(maxsize=1)
diff --git a/codeflash/code_utils/formatter.py b/codeflash/code_utils/formatter.py
index 67fd45e17..498a8078b 100644
--- a/codeflash/code_utils/formatter.py
+++ b/codeflash/code_utils/formatter.py
@@ -76,12 +76,9 @@ def apply_formatter_cmds(
                 logger.error(f"Failed to format code with {' '.join(formatter_cmd_list)}")
         except FileNotFoundError as e:
             from rich.panel import Panel
-            from rich.text import Text
 
-            panel = Panel(
-                Text.from_markup(f"⚠️  Formatter command not found: {' '.join(formatter_cmd_list)}", style="bold red"),
-                expand=False,
-            )
+            command_str = " ".join(str(part) for part in formatter_cmd_list)
+            panel = Panel(f"⚠️  Formatter command not found: {command_str}", expand=False, border_style="yellow")
             console.print(panel)
             if exit_on_failure:
                 raise e from None
diff --git a/codeflash/main.py b/codeflash/main.py
index 2cb241afd..31afd0305 100644
--- a/codeflash/main.py
+++ b/codeflash/main.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from codeflash.cli_cmds.cli import parse_args, process_pyproject_config
 from codeflash.cli_cmds.cmd_init import CODEFLASH_LOGO, ask_run_end_to_end_test
 from codeflash.cli_cmds.console import paneled_text
+from codeflash.code_utils import env_utils
 from codeflash.code_utils.checkpoint import ask_should_use_checkpoint_get_functions
 from codeflash.code_utils.config_parser import parse_config_file
 from codeflash.code_utils.version_check import check_for_newer_minor_version
@@ -39,6 +40,8 @@ def main() -> None:
         ask_run_end_to_end_test(args)
     else:
         args = process_pyproject_config(args)
+        if not env_utils.check_formatter_installed(args.formatter_cmds):
+            return
         args.previous_checkpoint_functions = ask_should_use_checkpoint_get_functions(args)
         init_sentry(not args.disable_telemetry, exclude_errors=True)
         posthog_cf.initialize_posthog(not args.disable_telemetry)
diff --git a/codeflash/optimization/optimizer.py b/codeflash/optimization/optimizer.py
index c0e0b014b..38b7f0d37 100644
--- a/codeflash/optimization/optimizer.py
+++ b/codeflash/optimization/optimizer.py
@@ -260,8 +260,6 @@ def run(self) -> None:
         console.rule()
         if not env_utils.ensure_codeflash_api_key():
             return
-        if not env_utils.check_formatter_installed(self.args.formatter_cmds):
-            return
         if self.args.no_draft and is_pr_draft():
             logger.warning("PR is in draft mode, skipping optimization")
             return