diff --git a/api/api.go b/api/api.go
index cf2b9e8b..d420534c 100644
--- a/api/api.go
+++ b/api/api.go
@@ -124,6 +124,25 @@ const (
 	TypeTLSCert uint32 = 5
 )
 
+func TypeToString(t uint32) string {
+	switch t {
+	case TypeError:
+		return "Error"
+	case TypeAttest:
+		return "Attest"
+	case TypeVerify:
+		return "Verify"
+	case TypeMeasure:
+		return "Measure"
+	case TypeTLSSign:
+		return "TLSSign"
+	case TypeTLSCert:
+		return "TLSCert"
+	default:
+		return "Unknown"
+	}
+}
+
 // Converts Protobuf hashtype to crypto.SignerOpts
 func HashToSignerOpts(hashtype HashFunction, pssOpts *PSSOptions) (crypto.SignerOpts, error) {
 	var hash crypto.Hash
@@ -236,7 +255,7 @@ func Receive(conn net.Conn) ([]byte, uint32, error) {
 			payloadLen, MaxMsgLen)
 	}
 
-	log.Tracef("Decoded header. Expecting type %v, length %v", msgType, payloadLen)
+	log.Tracef("Decoded header. Type %v, length %v", TypeToString(msgType), payloadLen)
 
 	// Read payload
 	payload := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
@@ -297,7 +316,7 @@ func Send(conn net.Conn, payload []byte, t uint32) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could only send %v of %v bytes", n, len(buf))
 	}
 
-	log.Tracef("Sending payload type %v length %v", t, uint32(len(payload)))
+	log.Tracef("Sending payload type %v length %v", TypeToString(t), uint32(len(payload)))
 
 	n, err = conn.Write(payload)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/attestationreport/json.go b/attestationreport/json.go
index 18e53163..d8dcdf10 100644
--- a/attestationreport/json.go
+++ b/attestationreport/json.go
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ func (hws *hwSigner) SignPayload(payload []byte, alg jose.SignatureAlgorithm) ([
 	}
 	hashed := hasher.Sum(nil)
 
-	// sign payload
+	// Sign payload
 	switch alg {
 	case jose.ES256, jose.ES384, jose.ES512:
 		// Obtain signature
diff --git a/attestedtls/attestation.go b/attestedtls/attestation.go
index 982cd850..e122b099 100644
--- a/attestedtls/attestation.go
+++ b/attestedtls/attestation.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func attestDialer(conn *tls.Conn, chbindings []byte, cc CmcConfig) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to send skip client Attestation: %w", err)
 		}
-		log.Debug("Skipping client-side attestation")
+		log.Debug("Skipping client-side attestation: no attestation report generation required")
 	}
 
 	// Fetch attestation report from listener
@@ -96,10 +96,10 @@ func attestListener(conn *tls.Conn, chbindings []byte, cc CmcConfig) error {
 	// optional: attest server
 	if cc.Attest == Attest_Mutual || cc.Attest == Attest_Server {
 		// Obtain own attestation report from local cmcd
-		log.Trace("Attesting the Server")
+		log.Trace("Listener: Fetching attestation report from cmcd")
 		resp, err := cc.CmcApi.obtainAR(cc, chbindings)
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("could not obtain AR of Listener : %w", err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("could not obtain listener attestation report: %w", err)
 		}
 
 		// Send own attestation report to dialer. This is done asynchronously to
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ func attestListener(conn *tls.Conn, chbindings []byte, cc CmcConfig) error {
 	// optional: Wait for attestation report from client
 	if cc.Attest == Attest_Mutual || cc.Attest == Attest_Client {
 		// Verify AR from dialer with own channel bindings
-		log.Trace("Verifying attestation report from dialer...")
+		log.Trace("Listener: Verifying attestation report from dialer...")
 		err = cc.CmcApi.verifyAR(chbindings, report, cc)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/attestedtls/libapi.go b/attestedtls/libapi.go
index 7fe5e3c8..95d00080 100644
--- a/attestedtls/libapi.go
+++ b/attestedtls/libapi.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func (a LibApi) obtainAR(cc CmcConfig, chbindings []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	log.Debug("Prover: Signing Attestation Report")
 	signedReport, err := generate.Sign(report, cc.Cmc.Drivers[0], cc.Cmc.Serializer)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.New("prover: failed to sign Attestion Report ")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("prover: failed to sign attestation reoprt: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	return signedReport, nil
diff --git a/attestedtls/socket.go b/attestedtls/socket.go
index d571a5be..bfa007f5 100644
--- a/attestedtls/socket.go
+++ b/attestedtls/socket.go
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ func init() {
 func (a SocketApi) obtainAR(cc CmcConfig, chbindings []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 
 	// Establish connection
-	log.Tracef("Contacting cmcd via %v on %v", cc.Network, cc.CmcAddr)
+	log.Tracef("Sending attestation request to cmcd via %v on %v", cc.Network, cc.CmcAddr)
 	conn, err := net.Dial(cc.Network, cc.CmcAddr)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error dialing: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error dialing cmcd: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	req := &api.AttestationRequest{
@@ -63,19 +63,30 @@ func (a SocketApi) obtainAR(cc CmcConfig, chbindings []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	// Send request
 	err = api.Send(conn, payload, api.TypeAttest)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to send request: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to send request to cmcd: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Read reply
-	payload, _, err = api.Receive(conn)
+	payload, mtype, err := api.Receive(conn)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("failed to receive: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to receive from cmcd: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if mtype == api.TypeError {
+		resp := new(api.SocketError)
+		err = cbor.Unmarshal(payload, resp)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal error response from cmcd: %w", err)
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("received error from cmcd: %v", resp.Msg)
+	} else if mtype != api.TypeAttest {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected response type %v from cmcd", api.TypeToString(mtype))
 	}
 
 	resp := new(api.AttestationResponse)
 	err = cbor.Unmarshal(payload, resp)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal body: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal cmcd attestation response body: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	return resp.AttestationReport, nil
@@ -85,7 +96,7 @@ func (a SocketApi) obtainAR(cc CmcConfig, chbindings []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 func (a SocketApi) verifyAR(chbindings, report []byte, cc CmcConfig) error {
 
 	// Establish connection
-	log.Tracef("Contacting cmcd via %v on %v", cc.Network, cc.CmcAddr)
+	log.Tracef("Sending verification request to cmcd via %v on %v", cc.Network, cc.CmcAddr)
 	conn, err := net.Dial(cc.Network, cc.CmcAddr)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error dialing: %w", err)
@@ -106,20 +117,31 @@ func (a SocketApi) verifyAR(chbindings, report []byte, cc CmcConfig) error {
 	// Perform Verify request
 	err = api.Send(conn, payload, api.TypeVerify)
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to send request: %w", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to send request to cmcd: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Read reply
-	payload, _, err = api.Receive(conn)
+	payload, mtype, err := api.Receive(conn)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("failed to receive: %v", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to receive from cmcd: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if mtype == api.TypeError {
+		resp := new(api.SocketError)
+		err = cbor.Unmarshal(payload, resp)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal error response from cmcd: %w", err)
+		}
+		return fmt.Errorf("received error from cmcd: %v", resp.Msg)
+	} else if mtype != api.TypeVerify {
+		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected response type %v from cmcd", api.TypeToString(mtype))
 	}
 
 	// Unmarshal verify response
 	var verifyResp api.VerificationResponse
 	err = cbor.Unmarshal(payload, &verifyResp)
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal response: %w", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal cmcd verify response: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Parse VerificationResult
@@ -180,11 +202,22 @@ func (a SocketApi) fetchSignature(cc CmcConfig, digest []byte, opts crypto.Signe
 	}
 
 	// Read reply
-	payload, _, err = api.Receive(conn)
+	payload, mtype, err := api.Receive(conn)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("failed to receive: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	if mtype == api.TypeError {
+		resp := new(api.SocketError)
+		err = cbor.Unmarshal(payload, resp)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal error response from cmcd: %w", err)
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("received error from cmcd: %v", resp.Msg)
+	} else if mtype != api.TypeTLSSign {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected response type %v from cmcd", api.TypeToString(mtype))
+	}
+
 	// Unmarshal sign response
 	var signResp api.TLSSignResponse
 	err = cbor.Unmarshal(payload, &signResp)
@@ -223,11 +256,22 @@ func (a SocketApi) fetchCerts(cc CmcConfig) ([][]byte, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Read reply
-	payload, _, err = api.Receive(conn)
+	payload, mtype, err := api.Receive(conn)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("failed to receive: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	if mtype == api.TypeError {
+		resp := new(api.SocketError)
+		err = cbor.Unmarshal(payload, resp)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal error response from cmcd: %w", err)
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("received error from cmcd: %v", resp.Msg)
+	} else if mtype != api.TypeTLSCert {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected response type %v from cmcd", api.TypeToString(mtype))
+	}
+
 	// Unmarshal cert response
 	var certResp api.TLSCertResponse
 	err = cbor.Unmarshal(payload, &certResp)