diff --git a/dream-server/dream-cli b/dream-server/dream-cli
index 6e160f648..8e659b8c9 100755
--- a/dream-server/dream-cli
+++ b/dream-server/dream-cli
@@ -510,6 +510,60 @@ get_compose_flags() {
     fi
 }
 
+# Run `docker compose <args...>` with a compact summary on success and a
+# surfaced error banner on failure.
+#
+# Usage:  _compose_run_with_summary <verb> <compose_args...>
+#   <verb>           Human-readable gerund phrase, e.g. "Restarting all services"
+#   <compose_args>   Everything that goes after `docker compose`, including
+#                    any `-f` flags resolved by get_compose_flags.
+#
+# Behavior:
+#   - Runs `docker compose --progress quiet <compose_args>`, capturing
+#     stdout+stderr to a mktemp log file.
+#   - On success: prints "<verb> — done" and removes the log file.
+#   - On failure: prints an error banner, surfaces up to 20 lines matching
+#                 /error|unhealthy|failed|dependency/, preserves the full
+#                 log file for inspection, and returns the compose exit
+#                 code so the caller (under `set -e`) aborts with it.
+#
+# The summary grep pipeline can legitimately produce zero matches if the
+# failing compose output has no error-keyword hits. `upstream/main` today
+# runs under `set -e` only (no `pipefail`), so grep's exit 1 is absorbed
+# by the pipeline's final-stage exit and the function continues to the
+# log-path surface below. When pipefail is eventually adopted (sibling
+# nounset/exit-code audit change), grep's no-match or a SIGPIPE from
+# `head -20` on >20 matches would abort this function before the caller
+# sees the compose log path or the compose exit code. `|| warn "..."`
+# is the project-blessed form (per CLAUDE.md) for "tolerate this specific
+# non-match and log why the summary is empty" — it costs nothing today
+# and keeps the function correct under future pipefail.
+_compose_run_with_summary() {
+    local _verb="$1"; shift
+    log "${_verb}..."
+
+    local _compose_log
+    _compose_log=$(mktemp)
+
+    local _rc=0
+    docker compose --progress quiet "$@" >"$_compose_log" 2>&1 || _rc=$?
+
+    if (( _rc == 0 )); then
+        success "${_verb} — done"
+        rm -f "$_compose_log"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    log_error "${_verb} failed:"
+    grep -iE 'error|unhealthy|failed|dependency' "$_compose_log" \
+        | sed 's/^/  /' \
+        | head -20 \
+        || warn "(no error keywords matched in compose log)"
+    echo ""
+    log "Full compose output: $_compose_log"
+    return "$_rc"
+}
+
 #=============================================================================
 # Commands
 #=============================================================================
@@ -759,14 +813,10 @@ cmd_restart() {
     read -ra flags <<< "$flags_str"
 
     if [[ -z "$service" ]]; then
-        log "Restarting all services..."
-        docker compose "${flags[@]}" up -d
-        success "All services restarted"
+        _compose_run_with_summary "Restarting all services" "${flags[@]}" up -d
     else
         service=$(resolve_service "$service")
-        log "Restarting $service..."
-        docker compose "${flags[@]}" up -d "$service"
-        success "$service restarted"
+        _compose_run_with_summary "Restarting $service" "${flags[@]}" up -d "$service"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -782,14 +832,10 @@ cmd_stop() {
     read -ra flags <<< "$flags_str"
 
     if [[ -z "$service" ]]; then
-        log "Stopping all services..."
-        docker compose "${flags[@]}" down
-        success "All services stopped"
+        _compose_run_with_summary "Stopping all services" "${flags[@]}" down
     else
         service=$(resolve_service "$service")
-        log "Stopping $service..."
-        docker compose "${flags[@]}" stop "$service"
-        success "$service stopped"
+        _compose_run_with_summary "Stopping $service" "${flags[@]}" stop "$service"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -807,15 +853,11 @@ cmd_start() {
     read -ra flags <<< "$flags_str"
 
     if [[ -z "$service" ]]; then
-        log "Starting all services..."
-        docker compose "${flags[@]}" up -d
-        success "All services started"
+        _compose_run_with_summary "Starting all services" "${flags[@]}" up -d
     else
         service=$(resolve_service "$service")
         _run_hook "$service" "pre_start"
-        log "Starting $service..."
-        docker compose "${flags[@]}" up -d "$service"
-        success "$service started"
+        _compose_run_with_summary "Starting $service" "${flags[@]}" up -d "$service"
         _run_hook "$service" "post_start"
     fi
 }
@@ -1021,13 +1063,11 @@ cmd_update() {
         warn "dream-update.sh and dream-backup.sh not found; skipping pre-update snapshot."
     fi
 
-    log "Pulling latest images..."
-    if ! docker compose "${flags[@]}" pull; then
+    if ! _compose_run_with_summary "Pulling latest images" "${flags[@]}" pull; then
         error "Failed to pull latest images"
     fi
 
-    log "Recreating containers with new images..."
-    if ! docker compose "${flags[@]}" up -d --force-recreate; then
+    if ! _compose_run_with_summary "Recreating containers with new images" "${flags[@]}" up -d --force-recreate; then
         error "Failed to recreate containers. Run 'dream rollback' to restore previous state."
     fi
 
diff --git a/dream-server/lib/service-registry.sh b/dream-server/lib/service-registry.sh
index 71fd8049e..70a12715b 100755
--- a/dream-server/lib/service-registry.sh
+++ b/dream-server/lib/service-registry.sh
@@ -228,10 +228,21 @@ sr_resolve_ports() {
     fi
 }
 
-# Resolve a user-provided name to a compose service ID
+# Resolve a user-provided name to a compose service ID.
+#
+# Users copy container names (e.g. `dream-token-spy`) from `docker ps` and
+# expect them to work as arguments to `dream restart|stop|start|update`. The
+# registry loader names every container `dream-<sid>` (or the manifest's
+# explicit `container_name`, which by convention follows the same pattern),
+# so stripping a leading `dream-` recovers the alias key when the literal
+# input doesn't match an alias.
 sr_resolve() {
     sr_load
     local input="$1"
+    if [[ -z "${SERVICE_ALIASES[$input]:-}" && "$input" == dream-* ]]; then
+        local _stripped="${input#dream-}"
+        [[ -n "${SERVICE_ALIASES[$_stripped]:-}" ]] && input="$_stripped"
+    fi
     echo "${SERVICE_ALIASES[$input]:-$input}"
 }