diff --git a/core/src/cli/cli.ts b/core/src/cli/cli.ts
index c968a57880..5a78991053 100644
--- a/core/src/cli/cli.ts
+++ b/core/src/cli/cli.ts
@@ -225,8 +225,6 @@ ${renderCommands(commands)}
     } = parsedOpts
 
     const parsedCliVars = parseCliVarFlags(cliVars)
-    const gardenLog = log.createLog({ name: "garden" })
-
     // Some commands may set their own logger type so we update the logger config here,
     // once we've resolved the command.
     const commandLoggerType = command.getTerminalWriterType({ opts: parsedOpts, args: parsedArgs })
@@ -240,10 +238,17 @@ ${renderCommands(commands)}
     const sessionId = uuidv4()
 
     return withSessionContext({ sessionId }, async () => {
+      const gardenLog = log.createLog({ name: "garden", showDuration: true })
+      // Log context for printing the start and finish of Garden initialization when not using the dev console
+      const gardenInitLog =
+        command.getFullName() !== "dev" ? log.createLog({ name: "garden", showDuration: true }) : null
+
       // Init Cloud API (if applicable)
       let cloudApi: CloudApi | undefined
 
-      gardenLog.info("Initializing...")
+      if (gardenInitLog) {
+        gardenInitLog.info("Initializing...")
+      }
       if (!command.noProject) {
         const config = await this.getProjectConfig(log, workingDir)
         const cloudDomain = getGardenCloudDomain(config?.domain)
@@ -281,6 +286,7 @@ ${renderCommands(commands)}
         commandInfo,
         environmentString: environmentName,
         log,
+        gardenInitLog: gardenInitLog || undefined,
         forceRefresh,
         variableOverrides: parsedCliVars,
         plugins: this.plugins,
diff --git a/core/src/commands/base.ts b/core/src/commands/base.ts
index 4dff372b10..a0956f3f26 100644
--- a/core/src/commands/base.ts
+++ b/core/src/commands/base.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import type { Garden } from "../garden.js"
 import type { Log } from "../logger/log-entry.js"
 import type { LoggerType, LoggerBase, LoggerConfigBase, LogLevel } from "../logger/logger.js"
 import { eventLogLevel } from "../logger/logger.js"
-import { printFooter } from "../logger/util.js"
+import { printEmoji, printFooter } from "../logger/util.js"
 import { getCloudDistributionName, getCloudLogSectionName } from "../util/cloud.js"
 import { getDurationMsec, getPackageVersion, userPrompt } from "../util/util.js"
 import { renderOptions, renderCommands, renderArguments, cliStyles, optionsWithAliasValues } from "../cli/helpers.js"
@@ -284,6 +284,7 @@ export abstract class Command<
         const log = overrideLogLevel ? garden.log.createLog({ fixLevel: overrideLogLevel }) : garden.log
 
         let cloudSession: CloudSession | undefined
+        let cloudLinkMsg: string | undefined
 
         // Session registration for the `dev` and `serve` commands is handled in the `serve` command's `action` method,
         // so we skip registering here to avoid duplication.
@@ -317,8 +318,10 @@ export abstract class Command<
             shortId: cloudSession.shortId,
           }).href
           const cloudLog = log.createLog({ name: getCloudLogSectionName(distroName) })
-
-          cloudLog.info(`View command results at: ${styles.link(commandResultUrl)}\n`)
+          cloudLinkMsg = `View command results at: \n\n${printEmoji("👉", log)}${styles.link(
+            commandResultUrl
+          )} ${printEmoji("👈", log)} \n`
+          cloudLog.info(cloudLinkMsg)
         }
 
         let analytics: AnalyticsHandler | undefined
@@ -430,6 +433,10 @@ export abstract class Command<
         // fire, which may be needed to e.g. capture monitors added in event handlers
         await waitForOutputFlush()
 
+        if (cloudLinkMsg) {
+          log.info("\n" + cloudLinkMsg)
+        }
+
         return result
       })
     )
diff --git a/core/src/commands/login.ts b/core/src/commands/login.ts
index e15acb33bd..abc6f5c5ba 100644
--- a/core/src/commands/login.ts
+++ b/core/src/commands/login.ts
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ export class LoginCommand extends Command<{}, Opts> {
       const cloudApi = await CloudApi.factory({ log, cloudDomain, skipLogging: true, globalConfigStore })
 
       if (cloudApi) {
-        log.info({ msg: `You're already logged in to ${cloudDomain}.` })
+        log.success({ msg: `You're already logged in to ${cloudDomain}.` })
         cloudApi.close()
         return {}
       }
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ export class LoginCommand extends Command<{}, Opts> {
     log.info({ msg: `Logging in to ${cloudDomain}...` })
     const tokenResponse = await login(log, cloudDomain, garden.events)
     await CloudApi.saveAuthToken(log, globalConfigStore, tokenResponse, cloudDomain)
-    log.info({ msg: `Successfully logged in to ${cloudDomain}.` })
+    log.success({ msg: `Successfully logged in to ${cloudDomain}.`, showDuration: false })
 
     return {}
   }
diff --git a/core/src/garden.ts b/core/src/garden.ts
index 2619af01af..e02203aace 100644
--- a/core/src/garden.ts
+++ b/core/src/garden.ts
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ import { configureNoOpExporter } from "./util/open-telemetry/tracing.js"
 import { detectModuleOverlap, makeOverlapErrors } from "./util/module-overlap.js"
 import { GotHttpError } from "./util/http.js"
 import { styles } from "./logger/styles.js"
+import { renderDuration } from "./logger/util.js"
 
 const defaultLocalAddress = "localhost"
 
@@ -171,6 +172,11 @@ export interface GardenOpts {
   globalConfigStore?: GlobalConfigStore
   legacyBuildSync?: boolean
   log?: Log
+  /**
+   * Log context for logging the start and finish of the Garden class
+   * initialization with duration.
+   */
+  gardenInitLog?: Log
   monitors?: MonitorManager
   noEnterprise?: boolean
   persistent?: boolean
@@ -195,6 +201,7 @@ export interface GardenParams {
   globalConfigStore?: GlobalConfigStore
   localConfigStore?: LocalConfigStore
   log: Log
+  gardenInitLog?: Log
   moduleIncludePatterns?: string[]
   moduleExcludePatterns?: string[]
   monitors?: MonitorManager
@@ -226,6 +233,7 @@ interface GardenInstanceState {
 @Profile()
 export class Garden {
   public log: Log
+  private gardenInitLog?: Log
   private loadedPlugins?: GardenPluginSpec[]
   protected actionConfigs: ActionConfigMap
   protected moduleConfigs: ModuleConfigMap
@@ -303,6 +311,7 @@ export class Garden {
     this.namespace = params.namespace
     this.gardenDirPath = params.gardenDirPath
     this.log = params.log
+    this.gardenInitLog = params.gardenInitLog
     this.artifactsPath = params.artifactsPath
     this.vcsInfo = params.vcsInfo
     this.opts = params.opts
@@ -841,7 +850,7 @@ export class Garden {
         this.resolvedProviders[provider.name] = provider
       }
 
-      providerLog.success("Finished initializing providers")
+      providerLog.success("Finished resolving providers")
       if (someCached || allCached) {
         const msg = allCached ? "All" : "Some"
         providerLog.info(
@@ -850,9 +859,6 @@ export class Garden {
       }
 
       providerLog.silly(() => `Resolved providers: ${providers.map((p) => p.name).join(", ")}`)
-
-      // Print a new line after resolving providers
-      this.log.info("")
     })
 
     return keyBy(providers, "name")
@@ -1154,9 +1160,18 @@ export class Garden {
     // This event is internal only, not to be streamed
     this.events.emit("configGraph", { graph })
 
-    graphLog.success("Done")
-    // Print a new line after resolving graph
-    this.log.info("")
+    graphLog.success("Finished resolving graph")
+
+    // Log Garden class initialization exactly once with duration. This basically assumes that
+    // Garden is ready after the graph is resolved for the first time. May not be relevant
+    // for some commands.
+    if (this.gardenInitLog) {
+      // We set the duration "manually" instead of using `gardenInitLog.success()` so we can add a new line at the end.
+      this.gardenInitLog.info(
+        styles.success(`Finished initializing Garden ${renderDuration(this.gardenInitLog.getDuration(1))}\n`)
+      )
+      this.gardenInitLog = undefined
+    }
 
     return graph.toConfigGraph()
   }
@@ -1964,6 +1979,7 @@ export const resolveGardenParams = profileAsync(async function _resolveGardenPar
       dotIgnoreFile: config.dotIgnoreFile,
       proxy,
       log,
+      gardenInitLog: opts.gardenInitLog,
       moduleIncludePatterns: (config.scan || {}).include,
       username: _username,
       forceRefresh: opts.forceRefresh,
diff --git a/core/src/graph/actions.ts b/core/src/graph/actions.ts
index 6a4f2d86f7..c7fc0463e5 100644
--- a/core/src/graph/actions.ts
+++ b/core/src/graph/actions.ts
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ export async function resolveAction<T extends Action>({
 
   const results = await garden.processTasks({ tasks: [task], log, throwOnError: true })
 
-  log.info(`Done!`)
+  log.success({ msg: `Done`, showDuration: false })
 
   return <Resolved<T>>(<unknown>results.results.getResult(task)!.result!.outputs.resolvedAction)
 }
diff --git a/core/src/monitors/port-forward.ts b/core/src/monitors/port-forward.ts
index 1891533cd2..cf60999563 100644
--- a/core/src/monitors/port-forward.ts
+++ b/core/src/monitors/port-forward.ts
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ export class PortForwardMonitor extends Monitor {
       this.log.info(
         styles.primary(
           `Port forward: ` +
-            styles.underline(proxy.localUrl) +
+            styles.link(proxy.localUrl) +
             ` → ${targetHost}:${proxy.spec.targetPort}` +
             (proxy.spec.name ? ` (${proxy.spec.name})` : "")
         )
diff --git a/core/src/mutagen.ts b/core/src/mutagen.ts
index 6b193905a5..11655e93a1 100644
--- a/core/src/mutagen.ts
+++ b/core/src/mutagen.ts
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ export class Mutagen {
       }
 
       const syncCount = session.successfulCycles || 0
-      const description = `from ${sourceDescription} to ${targetDescription}`
+      const description = `from ${styles.highlight(sourceDescription)} to ${styles.highlight(targetDescription)}`
       const isInitialSync = activeSync.lastSyncCount === 0
 
       // Mutagen resets the sync count to zero after resuming from a sync paused
diff --git a/core/src/tasks/base.ts b/core/src/tasks/base.ts
index 3ab825be24..c3a2f2d16f 100644
--- a/core/src/tasks/base.ts
+++ b/core/src/tasks/base.ts
@@ -395,26 +395,26 @@ function displayState(state: ActionState): string {
 const actionLogStrings = {
   Build: {
     ready: "built",
-    notReady: "will be built",
-    force: "rebuild",
+    notReady: `will be ${styles.highlight("built")}`,
+    force: `will ${styles.highlight("force rebuild")}`,
     running: "Building",
   },
   Deploy: {
     ready: "deployed",
-    notReady: "will be deployed",
-    force: "redeploy",
+    notReady: `will be ${styles.highlight("deployed")}`,
+    force: `will ${styles.highlight("force redeploy")}`,
     running: "Deploying",
   },
   Test: {
     ready: "run",
-    notReady: "test will be run",
-    force: "rerun test",
+    notReady: `test will be ${styles.highlight("run")}`,
+    force: `will ${styles.highlight("force rerun test")}`,
     running: "Testing",
   },
   Run: {
     ready: "run",
-    notReady: "will be run",
-    force: "rerun",
+    notReady: `will be ${styles.highlight("run")}`,
+    force: `will ${styles.highlight("force rerun")}`,
     running: "Running",
   },
 }
@@ -480,10 +480,10 @@ export function logAndEmitGetStatusEvents<
       if (result.state === "ready" && !willRerun) {
         log.success({ msg: `Already ${logStrings.ready}`, showDuration: false })
       } else if (result.state === "ready" && willRerun) {
-        log.warn(`${styledName} is already ${logStrings.ready}, will force ${logStrings.force}`)
+        log.info(`${styledName} is already ${styles.highlight(logStrings.ready)}, ${logStrings.force}`)
       } else {
-        const stateStr = result.detail?.state || displayState(result.state)
-        log.warn(`Status is '${stateStr}', ${styledName} ${logStrings.notReady}`)
+        const stateStr = styles.highlight(result.detail?.state || displayState(result.state))
+        log.info(`Status is '${stateStr}', ${styledName} ${logStrings.notReady}`)
       }
 
       // Then an event with the results if the status was successfully retrieved...
diff --git a/core/src/tasks/resolve-provider.ts b/core/src/tasks/resolve-provider.ts
index 612183ae70..8e1bc2306f 100644
--- a/core/src/tasks/resolve-provider.ts
+++ b/core/src/tasks/resolve-provider.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import { stableStringify } from "../util/string.js"
 import { OtelTraced } from "../util/open-telemetry/decorators.js"
 import { LogLevel } from "../logger/logger.js"
 import type { Log } from "../logger/log-entry.js"
+import { styles } from "../logger/styles.js"
 
 /**
  * Returns a provider log context with the provider name set.
@@ -41,8 +42,8 @@ import type { Log } from "../logger/log-entry.js"
  * resolved per se. A bit hacky but this is just a cosmetic change.
  */
 function getProviderLog(providerName: string, log: Log) {
-  const verboseLogProviders = ["templated", "container"]
-  const fixLevel = verboseLogProviders.includes(providerName) ? LogLevel.verbose : undefined
+  const debugLogProviders = ["templated", "container"]
+  const fixLevel = debugLogProviders.includes(providerName) ? LogLevel.debug : undefined
   return log.createLog({ name: providerName, fixLevel })
 }
 
@@ -413,8 +414,10 @@ export class ResolveProviderTask extends BaseTask<Provider> {
     let status = await handler!({ ctx, log: providerLog })
 
     if (this.forceInit || !status.ready) {
-      const statusMsg = status.ready ? "Ready, will force re-init" : "Not ready, will init"
-      providerLog.warn(statusMsg)
+      const statusMsg = status.ready
+        ? `${styles.highlight("Ready")}, will ${styles.highlight("force re-initialize")}`
+        : `${styles.highlight("Not ready")}, will initialize`
+      providerLog.info(statusMsg)
       // TODO: avoid calling the handler manually
       const prepareHandler = await actions.provider["getPluginHandler"]({
         handlerType: "prepareEnvironment",