diff --git a/core/Taskfile.yaml b/core/Taskfile.yaml
index a48b49f6..4d3ce5a0 100644
--- a/core/Taskfile.yaml
+++ b/core/Taskfile.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ tasks:
   dev:
     deps: [generate]
     cmds:
-      - go run ./cmd/ {{.CLI_ARGS}} -debug -logger=pretty
+      - go run ./cmd/ {{.CLI_ARGS}} -logger=pretty -level=debug
     env:
       CGO_ENABLED: "1"
 
diff --git a/core/cmd/config.go b/core/cmd/config.go
index 7bd7361a..a85dc618 100644
--- a/core/cmd/config.go
+++ b/core/cmd/config.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ type ServerConfig struct {
 
 	// Logging settings
 	Logger string `env:"LOGGER"`
+	Level  string `env:"LOGGER_LEVEL"`
 
 	// Timeout settings
 	TimeoutRead  time.Duration
@@ -47,7 +48,8 @@ const (
 	DefaultDuckDBHost = "./duckdb.dev.db"
 
 	// Logging constants.
-	DefaultLogger = "json"
+	DefaultLogger      = "json"
+	DefaultLoggerLevel = "info"
 )
 
 // NewServerConfig creates a new server config.
@@ -56,6 +58,7 @@ func NewServerConfig() (*ServerConfig, error) {
 		Port:                 DefaultPort,
 		CacheCleanupInterval: DefaultCacheCleanupInterval,
 		Logger:               DefaultLogger,
+		Level:                DefaultLoggerLevel,
 		TimeoutRead:          DefaultTimeoutRead,
 		TimeoutWrite:         DefaultTimeoutWrite,
 		TimeoutIdle:          DefaultTimeoutIdle,
diff --git a/core/cmd/start.go b/core/cmd/start.go
index c9d851a1..135da65d 100644
--- a/core/cmd/start.go
+++ b/core/cmd/start.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 type StartCommand struct {
-	Debug       bool
 	Server      ServerConfig
 	AppDB       AppDBConfig
 	AnalyticsDB AnalyticsDBConfig
@@ -55,9 +54,9 @@ func NewStartCommand() (*StartCommand, error) {
 
 // ParseFlags parses the command line flags for the start command.
 func (s *StartCommand) ParseFlags(args []string) error {
-	fs := flag.NewFlagSet("start", flag.ContinueOnError)
-	fs.BoolVar(&s.Debug, "debug", false, "Enable verbose debug logging")
+	fs := flag.NewFlagSet("start", flag.ExitOnError)
 	fs.StringVar(&s.Server.Logger, "logger", DefaultLogger, "Logger format (json, pretty)")
+	fs.StringVar(&s.Server.Level, "level", DefaultLoggerLevel, "Logger level (debug, info, warn, error)")
 	fs.Int64Var(&s.Server.Port, "port", DefaultPort, "Port to listen on")
 
 	// Parse flags
@@ -71,7 +70,10 @@ func (s *StartCommand) ParseFlags(args []string) error {
 
 // Run executes the start command.
 func (s *StartCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
-	ctx = util.SetupLogger(ctx, s.Debug, s.Server.Logger)
+	ctx, err := util.SetupLogger(ctx, s.Server.Logger, s.Server.Level)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to setup logger")
+	}
 	log := zerolog.Ctx(ctx)
 	log.Info().Msg(GetVersion())
 
diff --git a/core/util/logger.go b/core/util/logger.go
index 2bb30e66..6916e7a5 100644
--- a/core/util/logger.go
+++ b/core/util/logger.go
@@ -2,25 +2,40 @@ package util
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
 )
 
 // SetupLogger sets the default logger.
-func SetupLogger(ctx context.Context, isDebug bool, logger string) context.Context {
+func SetupLogger(ctx context.Context, logger string, level string) (context.Context, error) {
 	log := zerolog.New(os.Stderr).With().Timestamp().Logger()
 
-	if logger == "pretty" {
+	switch logger {
+	case "json":
+		// Do nothing
+	case "pretty":
 		log = log.Output(zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stderr})
-	} else {
-		zerolog.TimeFieldFormat = zerolog.TimeFormatUnix
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid logger type \"%s\"", logger)
 	}
 
-	if isDebug {
+	switch level {
+	case "debug":
 		log = log.Level(zerolog.DebugLevel)
-		log.Debug().Msg("Debug logging enabled")
+		log.Debug().Msg("Logging level set to debug")
+	case "info":
+		log = log.Level(zerolog.InfoLevel)
+	case "warn":
+		log = log.Level(zerolog.WarnLevel)
+		log.Info().Msg("Logging level set to warn")
+	case "error":
+		log = log.Level(zerolog.ErrorLevel)
+		log.Info().Msg("Logging level set to error")
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid log level \"%s\"", level)
 	}
 
-	return log.WithContext(ctx)
+	return log.WithContext(ctx), nil
 }