diff --git a/src/core/lock.rs b/src/core/lock.rs
index 056dad6..b666325 100644
--- a/src/core/lock.rs
+++ b/src/core/lock.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, AtomicU32, Ordering};
 use std::thread;
 use std::time::Duration;
-use tracing::{debug, error, info, warn};
+use tracing::{debug, error, warn};
 use uuid::Uuid;
 
 use super::db::create_connection;
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ impl AppLock {
                     "INSERT INTO app_locks (name, owner, acquired_at, heartbeat_at) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)",
                     (&self.name, &self.owner, now, now),
                 )?;
-                info!(owner = %self.owner, "Lock acquired (new)");
+                debug!(owner = %self.owner, "Lock acquired (new)");
             }
             Some((existing_owner, acquired_at, heartbeat_at)) => {
                 let is_stale = now - heartbeat_at > self.stale_lock_ms;
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ impl AppLock {
                         "UPDATE app_locks SET owner = ?, acquired_at = ?, heartbeat_at = ? WHERE name = ?",
                         (&self.owner, now, now, &self.name),
                     )?;
-                    info!(
+                    debug!(
                         owner = %self.owner,
                         previous_owner = %existing_owner,
                         was_stale = is_stale,
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ impl AppLock {
             "DELETE FROM app_locks WHERE name = ? AND owner = ?",
             (&self.name, &self.owner),
         ) {
-            Ok(_) => info!(owner = %self.owner, "Lock released"),
+            Ok(_) => debug!(owner = %self.owner, "Lock released"),
             Err(e) => error!(
                 owner = %self.owner,
                 error = %e,
diff --git a/src/core/logging.rs b/src/core/logging.rs
index 0759430..812a835 100644
--- a/src/core/logging.rs
+++ b/src/core/logging.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,45 @@
+use std::fmt;
 use std::fs;
 use std::path::Path;
 
 use tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter;
+use tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::{FormatEvent, FormatFields};
+use tracing_subscriber::registry::LookupSpan;
+
+/// Compact stderr formatter: `HH:MM:SS LEVEL  message key=value`
+///
+/// No span context, no full timestamps, no target — just the essentials.
+/// The JSON file log is unaffected (it uses its own layer).
+pub struct CompactHumanFormat;
+
+impl<S, N> FormatEvent<S, N> for CompactHumanFormat
+where
+    S: tracing::Subscriber + for<'a> LookupSpan<'a>,
+    N: for<'a> FormatFields<'a> + 'static,
+{
+    fn format_event(
+        &self,
+        ctx: &tracing_subscriber::fmt::FmtContext<'_, S, N>,
+        mut writer: tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::Writer<'_>,
+        event: &tracing::Event<'_>,
+    ) -> fmt::Result {
+        let now = chrono::Local::now();
+        let time = now.format("%H:%M:%S");
+
+        let level = *event.metadata().level();
+        let styled = match level {
+            tracing::Level::ERROR => console::style("ERROR").red().bold(),
+            tracing::Level::WARN => console::style(" WARN").yellow(),
+            tracing::Level::INFO => console::style(" INFO").green(),
+            tracing::Level::DEBUG => console::style("DEBUG").dim(),
+            tracing::Level::TRACE => console::style("TRACE").dim(),
+        };
+
+        write!(writer, "{time} {styled}  ")?;
+        ctx.format_fields(writer.by_ref(), event)?;
+        writeln!(writer)
+    }
+}
 
 pub fn build_stderr_filter(verbose: u8, quiet: bool) -> EnvFilter {
     if std::env::var("RUST_LOG").is_ok() {
diff --git a/src/ingestion/mod.rs b/src/ingestion/mod.rs
index a0c96c5..aa64675 100644
--- a/src/ingestion/mod.rs
+++ b/src/ingestion/mod.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,22 @@ pub use merge_requests::{
     ingest_merge_requests,
 };
 pub use mr_discussions::{IngestMrDiscussionsResult, ingest_mr_discussions};
+/// Format a set of named counters as a compact human-readable summary,
+/// filtering out zero values and joining with middle-dot separators.
+/// Returns `"nothing to update"` when all values are zero.
+pub(crate) fn nonzero_summary(pairs: &[(&str, usize)]) -> String {
+    let parts: Vec<String> = pairs
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|(_, v)| *v > 0)
+        .map(|(k, v)| format!("{v} {k}"))
+        .collect();
+    if parts.is_empty() {
+        "nothing to update".to_string()
+    } else {
+        parts.join(" \u{b7} ")
+    }
+}
+
 pub use orchestrator::{
     DrainResult, IngestMrProjectResult, IngestProjectResult, ProgressCallback, ProgressEvent,
     ingest_project_issues, ingest_project_issues_with_progress, ingest_project_merge_requests,