diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 2184b106e..03f053f42 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -185,11 +185,11 @@ echo "api_key = '<jwt>'" > ~/.config/shuttle/config.toml
 > Note: The JWT will expire in 15 minutes, at which point you need to run the commands again.
 > If you have [`jq`](https://github.com/stedolan/jq/wiki/Installation) installed you can combine
 > the two above commands into the following:
-> ```bash
-> curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer test-key" localhost:8008/auth/key \
->     | jq -r '.token' \
->     | read token; echo "api_key='$token'" > ~/.config/shuttle/config.toml
-> ```
+```bash
+curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer test-key" localhost:8008/auth/key \
+    | jq -r '.token' \
+    | read token; echo "api_key='$token'" > ~/.config/shuttle/config.toml
+```
 
 Finally we need to comment out the admin layer in the deployer handlers. So in `deployer/handlers/mod.rs`,
 in the `make_router` function comment out this line: `.layer(AdminSecretLayer::new(admin_secret))`.
diff --git a/deployer/src/handlers/error.rs b/deployer/src/handlers/error.rs
index 6ded00b06..09bedcfce 100644
--- a/deployer/src/handlers/error.rs
+++ b/deployer/src/handlers/error.rs
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ pub enum Error {
         to: String,
         message: String,
     },
-    #[error("record could not be found")]
-    NotFound,
+    #[error("{0}, try running `cargo shuttle deploy`")]
+    NotFound(String),
     #[error("Custom error: {0}")]
     Custom(#[from] anyhow::Error),
 }
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ impl IntoResponse for Error {
         error!(error = &self as &dyn std::error::Error, "request error");
 
         let code = match self {
-            Error::NotFound => StatusCode::NOT_FOUND,
+            Error::NotFound(_) => StatusCode::NOT_FOUND,
             _ => StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
         };
 
diff --git a/deployer/src/handlers/mod.rs b/deployer/src/handlers/mod.rs
index c5fae49d2..2fd1fc692 100644
--- a/deployer/src/handlers/mod.rs
+++ b/deployer/src/handlers/mod.rs
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ async fn get_service(
 
         Ok(Json(response))
     } else {
-        Err(Error::NotFound)
+        Err(Error::NotFound("service not found".to_string()))
     }
 }
 
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ async fn get_service_resources(
 
         Ok(Json(resources))
     } else {
-        Err(Error::NotFound)
+        Err(Error::NotFound("service not found".to_string()))
     }
 }
 
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ async fn stop_service(
         if let Some(ref deployment) = running_deployment {
             deployment_manager.kill(deployment.id).await;
         } else {
-            return Err(Error::NotFound);
+            return Err(Error::NotFound("no running deployment found".to_string()));
         }
 
         let response = shuttle_common::models::service::Summary {
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ async fn stop_service(
 
         Ok(Json(response))
     } else {
-        Err(Error::NotFound)
+        Err(Error::NotFound("service not found".to_string()))
     }
 }
 
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ async fn get_deployments(
 
         Ok(Json(deployments))
     } else {
-        Err(Error::NotFound)
+        Err(Error::NotFound("service not found".to_string()))
     }
 }
 
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ async fn get_deployment(
     if let Some(deployment) = persistence.get_deployment(&deployment_id).await? {
         Ok(Json(deployment.into()))
     } else {
-        Err(Error::NotFound)
+        Err(Error::NotFound("deployment not found".to_string()))
     }
 }
 
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ async fn delete_deployment(
 
         Ok(Json(deployment.into()))
     } else {
-        Err(Error::NotFound)
+        Err(Error::NotFound("deployment not found".to_string()))
     }
 }
 
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ async fn get_logs(
                 .collect(),
         ))
     } else {
-        Err(Error::NotFound)
+        Err(Error::NotFound("deployment not found".to_string()))
     }
 }
 
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ async fn get_secrets(
 
         Ok(Json(keys))
     } else {
-        Err(Error::NotFound)
+        Err(Error::NotFound("service not found".to_string()))
     }
 }