diff --git a/src/commands/onboard-helpers.ts b/src/commands/onboard-helpers.ts
index 258ff1575..024be2646 100644
--- a/src/commands/onboard-helpers.ts
+++ b/src/commands/onboard-helpers.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import crypto from "node:crypto";
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import path from "node:path";
+import { inspect } from "node:util";
 
 import { cancel, isCancel } from "@clack/prompts";
 
@@ -196,7 +197,14 @@ export async function probeGatewayReachable(params: {
 }
 
 function summarizeError(err: unknown): string {
-  const raw = String(err ?? "unknown error");
+  let raw = "unknown error";
+  if (err instanceof Error) {
+    raw = err.message || raw;
+  } else if (typeof err === "string") {
+    raw = err || raw;
+  } else if (err !== undefined) {
+    raw = inspect(err, { depth: 2 });
+  }
   const line =
     raw
       .split("\n")
diff --git a/src/commands/onboard-providers.ts b/src/commands/onboard-providers.ts
index 43c63b44e..93cdd3a97 100644
--- a/src/commands/onboard-providers.ts
+++ b/src/commands/onboard-providers.ts
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ function setRoutingAllowFrom(cfg: ClawdisConfig, allowFrom?: string[]) {
   return {
     ...cfg,
     routing: {
-      ...(cfg.routing ?? {}),
+      ...cfg.routing,
       allowFrom,
     },
   };
diff --git a/src/imessage/client.ts b/src/imessage/client.ts
index 6a89f8c5b..efcdae28f 100644
--- a/src/imessage/client.ts
+++ b/src/imessage/client.ts
@@ -168,8 +168,9 @@ export class IMessageRpcClient {
     let parsed: IMessageRpcResponse<unknown>;
     try {
       parsed = JSON.parse(line) as IMessageRpcResponse<unknown>;
-    } catch (_err) {
-      this.runtime?.error?.(`imsg rpc: failed to parse ${line}`);
+    } catch (err) {
+      const detail = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+      this.runtime?.error?.(`imsg rpc: failed to parse ${line}: ${detail}`);
       return;
     }