@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ provide a working environment for development.`,
 func appStart() {
 	app, err := platform.GetActiveApp("")
 	if err != nil {
-		util.Failed("Failed to start: %s", err)
+		util.Failed("Failed to GetActiveApp err: %v", err)
 	}
 
 	fmt.Printf("Starting environment for %s...\n", app.GetName())
package cmd

import (
	"fmt"
	"os"

	"github.com/drud/ddev/pkg/plugins/platform"
	"github.com/drud/ddev/pkg/util"
	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
)

// StartCmd represents the add command
var StartCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:     "start",
	Aliases: []string{"add"},
	Short:   "Start the local development environment for a site.",
	Long: `Start initializes and configures the web server and database containers to
provide a working environment for development.`,
	PreRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
		if len(args) > 0 {
			err := cmd.Usage()
			util.CheckErr(err)
			os.Exit(0)
		}

		dockerNetworkPreRun()
	},
	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
		appStart()
	},
}

func appStart() {
	app, err := platform.GetActiveApp("")
	if err != nil {
		util.Failed("Failed to start: %s", err)
	}

	fmt.Printf("Starting environment for %s...\n", app.GetName())

	err = app.Start()
	if err != nil {
		util.Failed("Failed to start %s: %v", app.GetName(), err)
	}

	util.Success("Successfully started %s", app.GetName())
	util.Success("Your application can be reached at: %s", app.URL())

}
func init() {
	RootCmd.AddCommand(StartCmd)
}

this error carries a bit more meaning for us, but less meaning for users. we also lose the context of what command produced the failure. I'd prefer to keep the original error message. If we need better identification of GetActiveApp errors, maybe we could address that in the error messages it returns?