diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a2f58b2f08..976bbd3fac 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 /parts/
 /stage/
 /prime/
+.vscode/
+env/
 
 
 **.snap
@@ -20,4 +22,4 @@ k8s_*.txt
 /docs/tools/.sphinx/warnings.txt
 /docs/tools/.sphinx/.wordlist.dic
 /docs/tools/.sphinx/.doctrees/
-/docs/tools/.sphinx/node_modules
\ No newline at end of file
+/docs/tools/.sphinx/node_modules
diff --git a/src/k8s/cmd/k8s/k8s_status.go b/src/k8s/cmd/k8s/k8s_status.go
index e5ffdec5bd..3fcdc752cc 100644
--- a/src/k8s/cmd/k8s/k8s_status.go
+++ b/src/k8s/cmd/k8s/k8s_status.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func newStatusCmd(env cmdutil.ExecutionEnvironment) *cobra.Command {
 			cobra.OnFinalize(cancel)
 
 			if _, err := client.NodeStatus(cmd.Context()); err != nil {
-				cmd.PrintErrln("Error: The node is not part of a Kubernetes cluster. You can bootstrap a new cluster with:\n\n  sudo k8s bootstrap")
+				cmd.PrintErrf("Error: The node is not part of a Kubernetes cluster. You can bootstrap a new cluster with:\n\n  sudo k8s bootstrap: original error: %v\n", err)
 				env.Exit(1)
 				return
 			}
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/impl/k8sd.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/impl/k8sd.go
index 8751ddefdd..5ed59be668 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/impl/k8sd.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/impl/k8sd.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package impl
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
 	apiv1 "github.com/canonical/k8s/api/v1"
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ func GetClusterMembers(ctx context.Context, s *state.State) ([]apiv1.NodeStatus,
 // GetLocalNodeStatus retrieves the status of the local node, including its roles within the cluster.
 // Unlike "GetClusterMembers" this also works on a worker node.
 func GetLocalNodeStatus(ctx context.Context, s *state.State, snap snap.Snap) (apiv1.NodeStatus, error) {
+	return apiv1.NodeStatus{}, errors.New("something went wrong")
 	// Determine cluster role.
 	clusterRole := apiv1.ClusterRoleUnknown
 	isWorker, err := snaputil.IsWorker(snap)
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/node.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/node.go
index bc9664f5f2..eb6ea1c03c 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/node.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/node.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ func (e *Endpoints) getNodeStatus(s *state.State, r *http.Request) response.Resp
 
 	status, err := impl.GetLocalNodeStatus(r.Context(), s, snap)
 	if err != nil {
-		response.InternalError(err)
+		return response.InternalError(err)
 	}
 
 	result := apiv1.GetNodeStatusResponse{