diff --git a/lib/metadataTypes/Automation.js b/lib/metadataTypes/Automation.js
index 05368355c..3dacf3934 100644
--- a/lib/metadataTypes/Automation.js
+++ b/lib/metadataTypes/Automation.js
@@ -144,11 +144,19 @@ class Automation extends MetadataType {
                                 }));
                             found++;
                         } else {
-                            throw new TypeError(JSON.stringify(notificationsResult));
+                            if (
+                                !notificationsResult ||
+                                typeof notificationsResult !== 'object' ||
+                                Object.keys(notificationsResult).length !== 1 ||
+                                !notificationsResult?.programId
+                            ) {
+                                throw new TypeError(JSON.stringify(notificationsResult));
+                            }
+                            // * if there are no automation notifications, the API returns a single object with the programId
                         }
                     } catch (ex) {
                         Util.logger.debug(
-                            ` ☇ skipping Notifications for Automation ${automationLegacy.key}: ${ex.message} ${ex.code}`
+                            ` ☇ issue retrieving Notifications for automation ${automationLegacy.key}: ${ex.message} ${ex.code}`
                         );
                         skipped++;
                     }
@@ -397,14 +405,22 @@ class Automation extends MetadataType {
                             activity.activityObjectId == null
                         ) {
                             Util.logger.debug(
-                                ` - skip parsing of activity due to missing activityObjectId: ${JSON.stringify(
-                                    activity
-                                )}`
+                                ` - skipping ${
+                                    metadata[this.definition.keyField]
+                                } activity ${stepNumber}.${
+                                    activity.displayOrder
+                                } due to missing activityObjectId: ${JSON.stringify(activity)}`
                             );
                             // empty if block
                         } else if (!this.definition.dependencies.includes(activity.r__type)) {
                             Util.logger.debug(
-                                ` - skip parsing because the type is not set up as a dependecy for ${this.definition.type}`
+                                ` - skipping ${
+                                    metadata[this.definition.keyField]
+                                } activity ${stepNumber}.${
+                                    activity.displayOrder
+                                } because the type ${
+                                    activity.r__type
+                                } is not set up as a dependency for ${this.definition.type}`
                             );
                         }
                         // / if managed by cache we can update references to support deployment
diff --git a/lib/util/util.js b/lib/util/util.js
index 315fcd1b1..68a1a41e6 100644
--- a/lib/util/util.js
+++ b/lib/util/util.js
@@ -266,6 +266,7 @@ const Util = {
                 filename: 'logs/' + logFileName + '.log',
                 level: 'debug', // log everything
                 format: winston.format.combine(
+                    winston.format.uncolorize(),
                     winston.format.timestamp({ format: 'HH:mm:ss.SSS' }),
                     winston.format.simple(),
                     winston.format.printf(
@@ -278,6 +279,7 @@ const Util = {
                 filename: 'logs/' + logFileName + '-errors.log',
                 level: 'error', // only log errors
                 format: winston.format.combine(
+                    winston.format.uncolorize(),
                     winston.format.timestamp({ format: 'HH:mm:ss.SSS' }),
                     winston.format.simple(),
                     winston.format.printf(