diff --git a/api/utils/log.js b/api/utils/log.js
index 94aa25e9f10..02de7b71379 100644
--- a/api/utils/log.js
+++ b/api/utils/log.js
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 const pino = require('pino');
 
+// Optional pino-pretty import for human-readable console output
+let pinoPretty;
+try {
+    pinoPretty = require('pino-pretty');
+}
+catch (e) {
+    // pino-pretty not available, will use JSON output
+}
+
 // Optional OpenTelemetry imports
 let trace;
 let context;
@@ -207,7 +216,12 @@ class LogManager {
         this.#prefs = loadLoggingConfig();
         this.#prefs.default = this.#prefs.default || 'warn';
         this.#deflt = this.#prefs.default || 'error';
-        this.#prettyPrint = this.#prefs.prettyPrint || false;
+        // Output format determined by: explicit config > environment detection
+        // - prettyPrint: true  → always pretty (human-readable)
+        // - prettyPrint: false → always JSON (for log aggregation)
+        // - prettyPrint: unset → auto-detect (pretty in terminal/CI, JSON in Docker/PM2/pipes)
+        const isInteractive = process.stdout.isTTY || !!process.env.CI;
+        this.#prettyPrint = this.#prefs.prettyPrint ?? isInteractive;
 
         // Initialize OpenTelemetry metrics if available
         if (metrics) {
@@ -306,22 +320,19 @@ class LogManager {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Gets or creates the pretty transport singleton
-     * @returns {Object|null} The pretty transport or null
+     * Gets or creates the pretty stream singleton
+     * @returns {Object|null} The pretty stream or null
      */
     getPrettyTransport() {
-        if (!this.#prettyPrint) {
+        if (!this.#prettyPrint || !pinoPretty) {
             return null;
         }
 
         if (!this.#prettyTransport) {
-            this.#prettyTransport = pino.transport({
-                target: 'pino-pretty',
-                options: {
-                    colorize: true,
-                    translateTime: 'SYS:standard',
-                    ignore: 'pid,hostname'
-                }
+            this.#prettyTransport = pinoPretty({
+                colorize: true,
+                translateTime: 'SYS:HH:MM:ss.l',
+                ignore: 'pid,hostname'
             });
         }
         return this.#prettyTransport;
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 5d98d6c9f91..8e22b3566c5 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@
         "@types/underscore": "^1.13.0",
         "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^8.54.0",
         "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^8.54.0",
+        "debug": "^4.4.3",
         "docdash": "^2.0.1",
         "env-cmd": "^10.1.0",
         "eslint": "^8.56.0",
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@
         "typescript": "^5.8.2"
       },
       "engines": {
-        "node": "^22.0.0 || ^24.0.0"
+        "node": "^24.0.0"
       }
     },
     "api/utils/countly-request": {
@@ -6397,19 +6398,6 @@
         "acorn": "^6.0.0 || ^7.0.0 || ^8.0.0"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/agent-base": {
-      "version": "6.0.2",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/agent-base/-/agent-base-6.0.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-RZNwNclF7+MS/8bDg70amg32dyeZGZxiDuQmZxKLAlQjr3jGyLx+4Kkk58UO7D2QdgFIQCovuSuZESne6RG6XQ==",
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "optional": true,
-      "dependencies": {
-        "debug": "4"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">= 6.0.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/aggregate-error": {
       "version": "3.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/aggregate-error/-/aggregate-error-3.1.0.tgz",
@@ -9731,22 +9719,6 @@
         "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/ljharb"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/gaxios": {
-      "version": "5.1.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/gaxios/-/gaxios-5.1.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-95hVgBRgEIRQQQHIbnxBXeHbW4TqFk4ZDJW7wmVtvYar72FdhRIo1UGOLS2eRAKCPEdPBWu+M7+A33D9CdX9rA==",
-      "license": "Apache-2.0",
-      "optional": true,
-      "dependencies": {
-        "extend": "^3.0.2",
-        "https-proxy-agent": "^5.0.0",
-        "is-stream": "^2.0.0",
-        "node-fetch": "^2.6.9"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=12"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/gaze": {
       "version": "1.1.3",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/gaze/-/gaze-1.1.3.tgz",
@@ -11091,20 +11063,6 @@
         "node": ">=10.19.0"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/https-proxy-agent": {
-      "version": "5.0.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/https-proxy-agent/-/https-proxy-agent-5.0.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-dFcAjpTQFgoLMzC2VwU+C/CbS7uRL0lWmxDITmqm7C+7F0Odmj6s9l6alZc6AELXhrnggM2CeWSXHGOdX2YtwA==",
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "optional": true,
-      "dependencies": {
-        "agent-base": "6",
-        "debug": "4"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">= 6"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/human-interval": {
       "version": "2.0.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/human-interval/-/human-interval-2.0.1.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7bf83e0db1a..646eb28b9bd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
     "@types/underscore": "^1.13.0",
     "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^8.54.0",
     "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^8.54.0",
+    "debug": "^4.4.3",
     "docdash": "^2.0.1",
     "env-cmd": "^10.1.0",
     "eslint": "^8.56.0",
diff --git a/plugins/pluginManager.ts b/plugins/pluginManager.ts
index c964cf56641..ffc4099321a 100644
--- a/plugins/pluginManager.ts
+++ b/plugins/pluginManager.ts
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ const async: any = require('async');
 const _: any = require('underscore');
 const crypto: typeof import('crypto') = require('crypto');
 const BluebirdPromise: any = require('bluebird');
+const debug: any = require('debug');
 const log: LogModule = require('../api/utils/log.js');
 const logDbRead: Logger = log('db:read');
 const logDbWrite: Logger = log('db:write');
@@ -199,6 +200,7 @@ const exec: typeof cp.exec = cp.exec;
 const spawn: typeof cp.spawn = cp.spawn;
 const configextender: ConfigExtenderFn = require('../api/configextender');
 
+const d = debug('countly:pluginManager');
 // ============================================================
 // INTERNAL INTERFACES (used within this module only)
 // ============================================================
@@ -436,9 +438,9 @@ class PluginManager {
                 }
             }
             catch (ex: any) {
-                console.log('Skipping plugin ' + pluginNames[i] + ' as we could not load it because of errors.');
-                console.error(ex.stack);
-                console.log('Saving this plugin as disabled in db');
+                const errorLine = (ex.message || '').split('\n')[0];
+                console.log('Skipping plugin ' + pluginNames[i] + ': ' + errorLine);
+                d('Plugin %s load error:\n%s', pluginNames[i], ex.stack);
             }
         }
     }
@@ -1272,8 +1274,9 @@ class PluginManager {
                 }
             }
             catch (ex: any) {
-                console.log('skipping plugin because of errors:' + pluginNames[i]);
-                console.error(ex.stack);
+                const errorLine = (ex.message || '').split('\n')[0];
+                console.log('Skipping plugin ' + pluginNames[i] + ': ' + errorLine);
+                d('Plugin %s load error:\n%s', pluginNames[i], ex.stack);
             }
         }
     }