t/lei-externals.t       | 4 ++++
 t/lei-import-http.t     | 2 ++
 t/lei-import-imap.t     | 1 +
 t/lei-mirror.t          | 7 ++++++-
 t/lei-p2q.t             | 1 +
 t/lei-q-kw.t            | 1 +
 t/lei-q-remote-import.t | 1 +
 t/lei-q-save.t          | 4 ++++
 t/lei-tag.t             | 8 +++++++-
 t/solver_git.t          | 7 +++++++

diff --git a/t/lei-externals.t b/t/lei-externals.t
index f148fa3c2b81a1859ac9bba5523f5aa8d24cf0c0..5e3c67bc638ed80ef6f9ff72cf82cc0354d24332 100644
--- a/t/lei-externals.t
+++ b/t/lei-externals.t
@@ -211,6 +211,8 @@ 				\'--stdin on pipe file works');
 		like($lei_out, qr/use boolean prefix/, '--stdin on pipe');
 	}
 	ok(!lei(qw(q -q --stdin s:use)), "--stdin and argv don't mix");
+	like($lei_err, qr/no query allowed.*--stdin/,
+		'--stdin conflict error message');
 
 	for my $fmt (qw(ldjson ndjson jsonl)) {
 		lei_ok('q', '-f', $fmt, 's:use boolean prefix');
@@ -250,6 +252,8 @@ 		is_deeply(\@res, [], "clobber w/o --augment $sfx");
 	}
 	ok(!lei('q', '-o', "$home/mbox", 's:nope'),
 			'fails if mbox format unspecified');
+	like($lei_err, qr/unable to determine mbox/, 'mbox-related message');
+
 	ok(!lei(qw(q --no-local s:see)), '--no-local');
 	is($? >> 8, 1, 'proper exit code');
 	like($lei_err, qr/no local or remote.+? to search/, 'no inbox');
diff --git a/t/lei-import-http.t b/t/lei-import-http.t
index 2104c778854c22c2793086fee266c229f89e9d22..e9eec1f7e895089658ef97b25bbf668beefa742b 100644
--- a/t/lei-import-http.t
+++ b/t/lei-import-http.t
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ test_lei({ tmpdir => $tmpdir }, sub {
 	my $url = "http://$host_port/t2";
 	for my $p (qw(bogus@x/t.mbox.gz bogus@x/raw ?q=noresultever)) {
 		ok(!lei('import', "$url/$p"), "/$p fails properly");
+		like($lei_err, qr/curl.*404/, 'got curl 404');
 	}
 	for my $p (qw(/ /T/ /t/ /t.atom)) {
 		ok(!lei('import', "$url/m\@example$p"), "/$p fails");
@@ -42,5 +43,6 @@ 			'imported search result') or diag explain($res);
 
 	ok(!lei(qw(import --mail-sync), "$url/x\@example.com/raw"),
 		'--mail-sync fails on HTTP');
+	like($lei_err, qr/--mail-sync/, 'error message notes --mail-sync');
 });
 done_testing;
diff --git a/t/lei-import-imap.t b/t/lei-import-imap.t
index 12f6fad0bd88a075f7dcd0a10ae57cff18436d8a..315567b3b8d4fea66bd2211e11cf377aaee603ea 100644
--- a/t/lei-import-imap.t
+++ b/t/lei-import-imap.t
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ 	lei_ok('import', $u, \'UIDVALIDITY match in URL');
 	$url = $u;
 	$u =~ s/;UIDVALIDITY=(\d+)\s*/;UIDVALIDITY=9$1/s;
 	ok(!lei('import', $u), 'UIDVALIDITY mismatch in URL rejected');
+	like($lei_err, qr/UIDVALIDITY mismatch/, 'mismatch noted');
 
 	lei_ok('inspect', $url);
 	my $inspect = json_utf8->decode($lei_out);
diff --git a/t/lei-mirror.t b/t/lei-mirror.t
index dfd35e1af5cae6a1866b64ae24d1c35d32c33575..80bc6ed5ab135f266addc9e63c9bbd2fc7e276de 100644
--- a/t/lei-mirror.t
+++ b/t/lei-mirror.t
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ 	like($lei_out, qr!\Q$t2\E!, 't2 added to ls-externals');
 
 	ok(!lei('add-external', $t2, '--mirror', "$http/t2/"),
 		'--mirror fails if reused') or diag "$lei_err.$lei_out = $?";
+	like($lei_err, qr/\Q$t2\E' already exists/, 'destination in error');
 
 	ok(!lei('add-external', "$home/t2\nnewline", '--mirror', "$http/t2/"),
 		'--mirror fails on newline');
@@ -37,13 +38,16 @@ 	like($lei_out, qr!\Q$t2\E!, 'still in ls-externals');
 	unlike($lei_out, qr!\Qnewline\E!, 'newline entry not added');
 
 	ok(!lei('add-external', "$t2-fail", '-Lmedium'), '--mirror v2');
+	like($lei_err, qr/not a directory/, 'non-directory noted');
 	ok(!-d "$t2-fail", 'destination not created on failure');
 	lei_ok('ls-external');
 	unlike($lei_out, qr!\Q$t2-fail\E!, 'not added to ls-external');
 
 	my %phail = (
 		HTTPS => 'https://public-inbox.org/' . 'phail',
-		ONION => 'http://7fh6tueqddpjyxjmgtdiueylzoqt6pt7hec3pukyptlmohoowvhde4yd.onion/' . 'phail,'
+		ONION =>
+'http://7fh6tueqddpjyxjmgtdiueylzoqt6pt7hec3pukyptlmohoowvhde4yd.onion/' .
+'phail,'
 	);
 	for my $t (qw(HTTPS ONION)) {
 	SKIP: {
@@ -56,6 +60,7 @@ 			$url, $dir), '--mirror non-existent v2');
 		is($? >> 8, 22, 'curl 404');
 		ok(!-d $dir, 'directory not created');
 		unlike($lei_err, qr/# mirrored/, 'no success message');
+		like($lei_err, qr/curl.*404/, "curl 404 shown for $k");
 	} # SKIP
 	} # for
 });
diff --git a/t/lei-p2q.t b/t/lei-p2q.t
index 58506f944a208ad58501cd2f2724c8b5e6fcb7d5..495d81de78a5cce12aafc8c35b60c2b843982f7a 100644
--- a/t/lei-p2q.t
+++ b/t/lei-p2q.t
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 test_lei(sub {
 	ok(!lei(qw(p2q this-better-cause-format-patch-to-fail)),
 		'p2q fails on bogus arg');
+	like($lei_err, qr/format-patch.*failed/, 'notes format-patch failure');
 	lei_ok(qw(p2q -w dfpost t/data/0001.patch));
 	is($lei_out, "dfpost:6e006fd73b1d\n", 'pathname') or diag $lei_err;
 	open my $fh, '+<', 't/data/0001.patch' or xbail "open: $!";
diff --git a/t/lei-q-kw.t b/t/lei-q-kw.t
index 528751b4742e19eacd590535417baa0138aa6bc2..2e6be1f0dcf71ecd19a9c5fc202958778f38e34e 100644
--- a/t/lei-q-kw.t
+++ b/t/lei-q-kw.t
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ 	# cat(1) since lei() may not execve for FD_CLOEXEC to work
 	my $cat = popen_rd(['cat', $o]);
 	ok(!lei(qw(q --import-before bogus -o), "mboxrd:$o"),
 		'--import-before fails on non-seekable output');
+	like($lei_err, qr/not seekable/, 'unseekable noted in error');
 	is(do { local $/; <$cat> }, '', 'no output on FIFO');
 	close $cat;
 	$cat = popen_rd(['cat', $o]);
diff --git a/t/lei-q-remote-import.t b/t/lei-q-remote-import.t
index 7db684d941a4b24097d312c73abb6a47848b8304..aaf56e2732de8b7a9a78e120f9e666fad02af552 100644
--- a/t/lei-q-remote-import.t
+++ b/t/lei-q-remote-import.t
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ 	lei_ok(@cmd, '--lock=none');
 	ok(-f $o && -s _, '--lock=none respected') or diag $lei_err;
 	unlink $o or xbail("unlink $o $! cwd=".Cwd::getcwd());
 	ok(!lei(@cmd, '--lock=dotlock,timeout=0.000001'), 'dotlock fails');
+	like($lei_err, qr/dotlock timeout/, 'timeout noted');
 	ok(-f $o && !-s _, 'nothing output on lock failure');
 	unlink "$o.lock" or BAIL_OUT $!;
 	lei_ok(@cmd, '--lock=dotlock,timeout=0.000001',
diff --git a/t/lei-q-save.t b/t/lei-q-save.t
index 6c5920883a7cbae9481c982a2f611b1772834ca0..b1ca4e92ab656ea1ff6792d05b57bf870e895814 100644
--- a/t/lei-q-save.t
+++ b/t/lei-q-save.t
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ 	lei_ok([qw(up mbcl2)], undef, { -C => $home, %$lei_opt });
 	ok(-s "$home/mbcl2" > $size, 'size increased after up');
 
 	ok(!lei(qw(up -q), $home), 'up fails w/o --save');
+	like($lei_err, qr/--save was not used/, 'error noted --save');
 
 	lei_ok qw(ls-search); my @d = split(/\n/, $lei_out);
 	lei_ok qw(ls-search -z); my @z = split(/\0/, $lei_out);
@@ -115,6 +116,8 @@
 	lei_ok(qw(up --all=local));
 
 	ok(!lei(qw(forget-search), "$home/bogus"), 'bogus forget');
+	like($lei_err, qr/--save was not used/, 'error noted --save');
+
 	lei_ok qw(_complete lei forget-search);
 	like($lei_out, qr/mbrd-aug/, 'forget-search completion');
 	lei_ok(qw(forget-search -v), "$home/mbrd-aug");
@@ -124,6 +127,7 @@ 	lei_ok qw(_complete lei forget-search);
 	unlike($lei_out, qr/mbrd-aug/,
 		'forget-search completion cleared after forget');
 	ok(!lei('up', "$home/mbrd-aug"), 'lei up fails after forget');
+	like($lei_err, qr/--save was not used/, 'error noted --save');
 
 	# dedupe=mid
 	my $o = "$home/dd-mid";
diff --git a/t/lei-tag.t b/t/lei-tag.t
index 5cb6d9ce0ac8942016477b46eb19862408c1f380..44e4659fc2262db3b76420c85eae9d3f3210d28f 100644
--- a/t/lei-tag.t
+++ b/t/lei-tag.t
@@ -32,8 +32,14 @@ 	$check_kw->(['flagged'], L => ['urgent']);
 	lei_ok(qw(ls-label)); is($lei_out, "urgent\n", 'label found');
 	ok(!lei(qw(tag -F eml t/utf8.eml +kw:seeen)), 'bad kw rejected');
 	like($lei_err, qr/`seeen' is not one of/, 'got helpful error');
+
 	ok(!lei(qw(tag -F eml t/utf8.eml +k:seen)), 'bad prefix rejected');
+	like($lei_err, qr/Unable to handle.*\Q+k:seen\E/, 'bad prefix noted');
+
 	ok(!lei(qw(tag -F eml t/utf8.eml)), 'no keywords');
+	like($lei_err, qr/no keywords or labels specified/,
+		'lack of kw/L noted');
+
 	my $mb = "$ENV{HOME}/mb";
 	my $md = "$ENV{HOME}/md";
 	lei_ok(qw(q m:testmessage@example.com -o), "mboxrd:$mb");
@@ -78,7 +84,7 @@ 			msg => 'external-only message');
 	lei_ok(qw(ls-label));
 	is($lei_out, "nope\nqp\nurgent\n", 'ls-label shows qp');
 
-	lei_ok qw(tag -F eml t/utf8.eml +L:INBOX +L:x); diag $lei_err;
+	lei_ok qw(tag -F eml t/utf8.eml +L:INBOX +L:x);
 	lei_ok qw(q m:testmessage@example.com);
 	$check_kw->([qw(answered seen)], L => [qw(INBOX nope urgent x)]);
 	lei_ok(qw(ls-label));
diff --git a/t/solver_git.t b/t/solver_git.t
index fe1aff0bb2a06e6b655ea521a2c59632481ef3d6..f5cc592c6a60822f641028c2c01df0718376c0ab 100644
--- a/t/solver_git.t
+++ b/t/solver_git.t
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ 		\'--mail works for existing oid');
 	is($lei_out, $patch2->as_string, 'blob matches');
 	ok(!lei('blob', '--mail', '69df7d5', '-I', $ibx->{inboxdir}),
 		"--mail won't run solver");
+	like($lei_err, qr/\b69df7d5\b/, 'OID in error by git(1)');
 
 	lei_ok('blob', '69df7d5', '-I', $ibx->{inboxdir});
 	is(git_sha(1, \$lei_out)->hexdigest, $expect, 'blob contents output');
@@ -51,6 +52,8 @@ 	lei_ok(qw(blob --no-mail 69df7d5 -I), $ibx->{inboxdir});
 	is($lei_out, $prev, '--no-mail works');
 	ok(!lei(qw(blob -I), $ibx->{inboxdir}, $non_existent),
 			'non-existent blob fails');
+	my $abbrev = substr($non_existent, 0, 7);
+	like($lei_err, qr/could not find $abbrev/, 'failed abbreviation noted');
 	SKIP: {
 		skip '/.git exists', 1 if -e '/.git';
 		lei_ok(qw(-C / blob 69df7d5 -I), $ibx->{inboxdir},
@@ -59,9 +62,13 @@ 		is($lei_out, $prev, '--git-dir works');
 
 		ok(!lei(qw(-C / blob --no-cwd 69df7d5 -I), $ibx->{inboxdir}),
 			'--no-cwd works');
+		like($lei_err, qr/no --git-dir to try/,
+			'lack of --git-dir noted');
 
 		ok(!lei(qw(-C / blob -I), $ibx->{inboxdir}, $non_existent),
 			'non-existent blob fails');
+		like($lei_err, qr/no --git-dir to try/,
+			'lack of --git-dir noted');
 	}
 
 	# fallbacks