diff --git a/dev/sg/ci/subcommands.go b/dev/sg/ci/subcommands.go
index 0b9b6481335..6db2c91b02d 100644
--- a/dev/sg/ci/subcommands.go
+++ b/dev/sg/ci/subcommands.go
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ var docsCommand = &cli.Command{
 	Usage: "Render reference documentation for build pipeline types",
 	Action: func(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 		cmd := exec.Command("go", "run", "./dev/ci/gen-pipeline.go", "-docs")
-		out, err := run.InRoot(cmd)
+		out, err := run.InRoot(cmd, run.InRootArgs{})
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/dev/sg/generates.go b/dev/sg/generates.go
index 0971e54c83b..341daf90e5f 100644
--- a/dev/sg/generates.go
+++ b/dev/sg/generates.go
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ var allGenerateTargets = generateTargets{
 }
 
 func generateBazelRunner(ctx context.Context, args []string) *generate.Report {
-	return generate.RunScript("bazel run //dev:write_all_generated")(ctx, args)
+	runnerFunc := generate.RunScript("bazel run //dev:write_all_generated", true)
+	return runnerFunc(ctx, args)
 }
 
 func generateGoRunner(ctx context.Context, args []string) *generate.Report {
diff --git a/dev/sg/internal/generate/generate.go b/dev/sg/internal/generate/generate.go
index 4d13faa8ee1..d2785661855 100644
--- a/dev/sg/internal/generate/generate.go
+++ b/dev/sg/internal/generate/generate.go
@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@ type Target struct {
 // RunScript runs the given script from the root of sourcegraph/sourcegraph.
 // If arguments are to be to passed down the script, they should be incorporated
 // in the script variable.
-func RunScript(command string) Runner {
+func RunScript(command string, extractBazelError bool) Runner {
 	return func(ctx context.Context, args []string) *Report {
 		start := time.Now()
-		out, err := run.BashInRoot(ctx, command, nil)
+		out, err := run.BashInRoot(ctx, command, run.BashInRootArgs{
+			ExtractBazelError: extractBazelError,
+		})
 		return &Report{
 			Output:   out,
 			Err:      err,
diff --git a/dev/sg/internal/migration/squash.go b/dev/sg/internal/migration/squash.go
index 550e5a59bf7..9aa7f62f9ab 100644
--- a/dev/sg/internal/migration/squash.go
+++ b/dev/sg/internal/migration/squash.go
@@ -327,13 +327,13 @@ func setupLocalDatabase(databaseName string) (_ func(error) error, err error) {
 
 	createLocalDatabase := func() error {
 		cmd := exec.Command("createdb", databaseName)
-		_, err := run.InRoot(cmd)
+		_, err := run.InRoot(cmd, run.InRootArgs{})
 		return err
 	}
 
 	dropLocalDatabase := func() error {
 		cmd := exec.Command("dropdb", databaseName)
-		_, err := run.InRoot(cmd)
+		_, err := run.InRoot(cmd, run.InRootArgs{})
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/dev/sg/internal/run/BUILD.bazel b/dev/sg/internal/run/BUILD.bazel
index 5c1e00a909c..a96ab47ea4e 100644
--- a/dev/sg/internal/run/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/dev/sg/internal/run/BUILD.bazel
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ go_library(
         "//dev/sg/interrupt",
         "//dev/sg/root",
         "//internal/download",
+        "//internal/lazyregexp",
         "//lib/errors",
         "//lib/output",
         "//lib/process",
diff --git a/dev/sg/internal/run/command.go b/dev/sg/internal/run/command.go
index cbc2076fae6..6657ff2217e 100644
--- a/dev/sg/internal/run/command.go
+++ b/dev/sg/internal/run/command.go
@@ -108,9 +108,11 @@ func (cmd Command) hasBashInstaller() bool {
 }
 
 func (cmd Command) bashInstall(ctx context.Context, parentEnv map[string]string) error {
-	output, err := BashInRoot(ctx, cmd.Install, makeEnv(parentEnv, cmd.Config.Env))
+	out, err := BashInRoot(ctx, cmd.Install, BashInRootArgs{
+		Env: makeEnv(parentEnv, cmd.Config.Env),
+	})
 	if err != nil {
-		return installErr{cmdName: cmd.Config.Name, output: output, originalErr: err}
+		return installErr{cmdName: cmd.Config.Name, output: out, originalErr: err}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/dev/sg/internal/run/helpers.go b/dev/sg/internal/run/helpers.go
index 659be119c99..0c59216df14 100644
--- a/dev/sg/internal/run/helpers.go
+++ b/dev/sg/internal/run/helpers.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/sourcegraph/sourcegraph/dev/sg/root"
+	"github.com/sourcegraph/sourcegraph/internal/lazyregexp"
 )
 
 func GitCmd(args ...string) (string, error) {
@@ -19,11 +20,11 @@ func GitCmd(args ...string) (string, error) {
 		// And also not any other, because they can mess up output, change defaults, .. which can do unexpected things.
 		"GIT_CONFIG=/dev/null")
 
-	return InRoot(cmd)
+	return InRoot(cmd, InRootArgs{})
 }
 
 func DockerCmd(args ...string) (string, error) {
-	return InRoot(exec.Command("docker", args...))
+	return InRoot(exec.Command("docker", args...), InRootArgs{})
 }
 
 type errorWithoutOutputer interface {
@@ -37,7 +38,8 @@ type cmdInRootErr struct {
 }
 
 func (e cmdInRootErr) Error() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("'%s' failed: err = %q, output = %q", strings.Join(e.args, " "), e.err.Error(), e.output)
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`'%s' failed: err = "%s", output = "%s"`, strings.Join(e.args, " "), e.err.Error(), e.output)
+
 }
 
 func (e cmdInRootErr) ErrorWithoutOutput() string {
@@ -46,7 +48,11 @@ func (e cmdInRootErr) ErrorWithoutOutput() string {
 
 func (e cmdInRootErr) Unwrap() error { return e.err }
 
-func InRoot(cmd *exec.Cmd) (string, error) {
+type InRootArgs struct {
+	ExtractBazelError bool
+}
+
+func InRoot(cmd *exec.Cmd, args InRootArgs) (string, error) {
 	repoRoot, err := root.RepositoryRoot()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
@@ -55,12 +61,33 @@ func InRoot(cmd *exec.Cmd) (string, error) {
 	cmd.Dir = repoRoot
 	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
-		return string(out), cmdInRootErr{err: err, args: cmd.Args, output: string(out)}
+		output := string(out)
+		if args.ExtractBazelError {
+			// this is still experimental and currently only works for bazel errors
+			output = bazelErrorExtractor(out)
+		}
+		return string(out), cmdInRootErr{err: err, args: cmd.Args, output: output}
 	}
 
 	return string(out), nil
 }
 
+// `(?m)` enables multiline mode, `^` matches the start of each line
+var errorRegex = lazyregexp.New(`(?m)^ERROR:.*$`)
+
+func bazelErrorExtractor(input []byte) string {
+	// Find all matches
+	matches := errorRegex.FindAll(input, -1)
+
+	// Convert [][]byte to string
+	var errorLines string
+	for _, match := range matches {
+		errorLines += string(match) + "\n"
+	}
+
+	return errorLines
+}
+
 func SplitOutputInRoot(cmd *exec.Cmd, stdout, stderr io.Writer) error {
 	cmd.Stdout = stdout
 	cmd.Stderr = stderr
@@ -72,10 +99,17 @@ func SplitOutputInRoot(cmd *exec.Cmd, stdout, stderr io.Writer) error {
 	return cmd.Run()
 }
 
-func BashInRoot(ctx context.Context, cmd string, env []string) (string, error) {
+type BashInRootArgs struct {
+	Env               []string
+	ExtractBazelError bool
+}
+
+func BashInRoot(ctx context.Context, cmd string, args BashInRootArgs) (string, error) {
 	c := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "bash", "-c", cmd)
-	c.Env = env
-	return InRoot(c)
+	c.Env = args.Env
+	return InRoot(c, InRootArgs{
+		ExtractBazelError: args.ExtractBazelError,
+	})
 }
 
 func TrimResult(s string, err error) (string, error) {
diff --git a/dev/sg/sg_doctor.go b/dev/sg/sg_doctor.go
index 29638c9fd40..6708b5667c1 100644
--- a/dev/sg/sg_doctor.go
+++ b/dev/sg/sg_doctor.go
@@ -103,7 +103,9 @@ func (d *diagnosticRunner) Run(ctx context.Context) DiagnosticReport {
 	for group, diagnostics := range d.diagnostics.Diagnostic {
 		d.reporter.WriteLine(output.Emojif("💊", "Running %s diagnostics", group))
 		for _, diagnostic := range diagnostics {
-			out, err := run.BashInRoot(ctx, diagnostic.Cmd, env)
+			out, err := run.BashInRoot(ctx, diagnostic.Cmd, run.BashInRootArgs{
+				Env: env,
+			})
 			diag := diagnostic
 			report.Add(group, &DiagnosticResult{
 				&diag,
diff --git a/dev/sg/sg_version.go b/dev/sg/sg_version.go
index 787eca75a25..a01240eab04 100644
--- a/dev/sg/sg_version.go
+++ b/dev/sg/sg_version.go
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ func changelogExec(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 
 	gitLog := exec.Command("git", append(logArgs, "--", "./dev/sg")...)
 	gitLog.Env = os.Environ()
-	out, err := run.InRoot(gitLog)
+	out, err := run.InRoot(gitLog, run.InRootArgs{})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/lazyregexp/lazyre.go b/internal/lazyregexp/lazyre.go
index dc55d78f1aa..370a5078f75 100644
--- a/internal/lazyregexp/lazyre.go
+++ b/internal/lazyregexp/lazyre.go
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ func (r *Regexp) FindAllIndex(b []byte, n int) [][]int {
 	return r.Re().FindAllIndex(b, n)
 }
 
+func (r *Regexp) FindAll(b []byte, n int) [][]byte {
+	return r.Re().FindAll(b, n)
+}
+
 func (r *Regexp) Match(b []byte) bool {
 	return r.Re().Match(b)
 }