diff --git a/internal/cli/errors.go b/internal/cli/errors.go
index 8900832..bdd2984 100644
--- a/internal/cli/errors.go
+++ b/internal/cli/errors.go
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ func FormatError(err error, resource string, id string) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("rate limited. Wait a moment and try again")
 		case connect.CodeInvalidArgument:
 			return fmt.Errorf("invalid request: %s", connectErr.Message())
+		case connect.CodeFailedPrecondition:
+			if connectErr.Message() == "" {
+				return errors.New("request conflicts with the current state of the resource")
+			}
+			return errors.New(connectErr.Message())
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/cli/errors_test.go b/internal/cli/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..343b773
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cli/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+package cli_test
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"connectrpc.com/connect"
+
+	output "github.com/openstatusHQ/cli/internal/cli"
+)
+
+func Test_FormatError(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		err      error
+		resource string
+		id       string
+		want     string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "failed precondition shows server message",
+			err:  connect.NewError(connect.CodeFailedPrecondition, errors.New("incident is closed")),
+			want: "incident is closed",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "failed precondition without message",
+			err:  connect.NewError(connect.CodeFailedPrecondition, errors.New("")),
+			want: "request conflicts with the current state of the resource",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "unauthenticated",
+			err:  connect.NewError(connect.CodeUnauthenticated, errors.New("nope")),
+			want: "authentication failed",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "permission denied",
+			err:  connect.NewError(connect.CodePermissionDenied, errors.New("nope")),
+			want: "permission denied",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "not found with id",
+			err:      connect.NewError(connect.CodeNotFound, errors.New("missing")),
+			resource: "incident",
+			id:       "42",
+			want:     "incident 42 not found. Run 'openstatus incident list' to see available incidents",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "not found without id",
+			err:      connect.NewError(connect.CodeNotFound, errors.New("missing")),
+			resource: "incident",
+			want:     "incident not found",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "rate limited",
+			err:  connect.NewError(connect.CodeResourceExhausted, errors.New("slow down")),
+			want: "rate limited",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "invalid argument",
+			err:  connect.NewError(connect.CodeInvalidArgument, errors.New("title is required")),
+			want: "invalid request: title is required",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "plain error passes through",
+			err:  errors.New("boom"),
+			want: "boom",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+			got := output.FormatError(tt.err, tt.resource, tt.id)
+			if got == nil || !strings.Contains(got.Error(), tt.want) {
+				t.Errorf("FormatError() = %v, want it to contain %q", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+	t.Run("nil error", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+		if err := output.FormatError(nil, "incident", ""); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("expected nil, got %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+}