diff --git a/src/dstack/_internal/cli/commands/server.py b/src/dstack/_internal/cli/commands/server.py
index 2ec526769..ddc622220 100644
--- a/src/dstack/_internal/cli/commands/server.py
+++ b/src/dstack/_internal/cli/commands/server.py
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ def _register(self):
             "-l",
             "--log-level",
             type=str,
-            help="Logging level for hub. Defaults to ERROR.",
-            default=os.getenv("DSTACK_SERVER_LOG_LEVEL", "ERROR"),
+            help="Server logging level. Defaults to WARNING.",
+            default=os.getenv("DSTACK_SERVER_LOG_LEVEL", "WARNING"),
         )
         self._parser.add_argument("--token", type=str, help="The admin user token")
 
diff --git a/src/dstack/_internal/server/routers/repos.py b/src/dstack/_internal/server/routers/repos.py
index a3ab9f032..61f979a79 100644
--- a/src/dstack/_internal/server/routers/repos.py
+++ b/src/dstack/_internal/server/routers/repos.py
@@ -81,7 +81,10 @@ async def upload_code(
     user_project: Tuple[UserModel, ProjectModel] = Depends(ProjectMember()),
 ):
     if request_size_exceeded(request, limit=2 * 2**20):
-        raise ServerClientError("Repo diff size exceeds the limit of 2MB")
+        raise ServerClientError(
+            "Repo diff size exceeds the limit of 2MB. "
+            "Use .gitignore to exclude large files from the repo."
+        )
     _, project = user_project
     await repos.upload_code(
         session=session,
diff --git a/src/dstack/api/_public/repos.py b/src/dstack/api/_public/repos.py
index 925596b26..fe9794b1f 100644
--- a/src/dstack/api/_public/repos.py
+++ b/src/dstack/api/_public/repos.py
@@ -108,7 +108,9 @@ def load(
             logger.debug("Loading repo config")
             repo_config = config.get_repo_config(repo_dir)
             if repo_config is None:
-                raise ConfigurationError(f"The repo is not initialized")
+                raise ConfigurationError(
+                    f"The repo is not initialized. Run `dstack init` to initialize the repo."
+                )
             repo = load_repo(repo_config)
         else:
             logger.debug("Initializing repo")