diff --git a/tests/smoke.py b/tests/smoke.py
index 9487839..d12a80d 100644
--- a/tests/smoke.py
+++ b/tests/smoke.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from rich.console import Console
 from rich.table import Table
 
-from wherobots.db import connect, connect_direct
+from wherobots.db import connect, connect_direct, errors
 from wherobots.db.constants import DEFAULT_ENDPOINT, DEFAULT_SESSION_TYPE
 from wherobots.db.connection import Connection
 from wherobots.db.region import Region
@@ -103,8 +103,12 @@ def execute(conn: Connection, sql: str) -> pandas.DataFrame:
             cursor.execute(sql)
             return cursor.fetchall()
 
-    with conn_func() as conn:
-        with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor() as pool:
-            futures = [pool.submit(execute, conn, s) for s in args.sql]
-            for future in concurrent.futures.as_completed(futures):
-                render(future.result())
+    try:
+        with conn_func() as conn:
+            with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor() as pool:
+                futures = [pool.submit(execute, conn, s) for s in args.sql]
+                for future in concurrent.futures.as_completed(futures):
+                    render(future.result())
+    except errors.Error as e:
+        sys.stderr.write(f"\n{e}\n")
+        sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/wherobots/db/driver.py b/wherobots/db/driver.py
index 9f3a6ab..4482e9c 100644
--- a/wherobots/db/driver.py
+++ b/wherobots/db/driver.py
@@ -116,7 +116,15 @@ def connect(
         )
         resp.raise_for_status()
     except requests.HTTPError as e:
-        raise InterfaceError("Failed to create SQL session!", e)
+        details = str(e)
+        try:
+            info = e.response.json()
+            errors = info.get("errors", [])
+            if errors and isinstance(errors, list):
+                details = f"{errors[0]['message']}: {errors[0]['details']}"
+        except requests.JSONDecodeError:
+            pass
+        raise InterfaceError(f"Failed to create SQL session: {details}") from e
 
     # At this point we've been redirected to /sql/session/{session_id}, which we'll need to keep polling until the
     # session is in READY state.