diff --git a/cmd/devstream/apply.go b/cmd/devstream/apply.go
index 367404720..79511ed6e 100644
--- a/cmd/devstream/apply.go
+++ b/cmd/devstream/apply.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
@@ -23,6 +24,9 @@ func applyCMDFunc(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	log.Info("Apply started.")
 	if err := pluginengine.Apply(configFilePath, continueDirectly); err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("Apply failed => %s.", err)
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "config not valid") {
+			log.Info("It seems your config file is not valid. Please check the official documentation https://docs.devstream.io, or use the \"dtm show config\" command to get an example.")
+		}
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 	log.Success("Apply finished.")
diff --git a/internal/pkg/configmanager/configmanager.go b/internal/pkg/configmanager/configmanager.go
index 22c4e3770..b1e750dc2 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/configmanager/configmanager.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/configmanager/configmanager.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package configmanager
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // Manager is used to load the config file from the ConfigFilePath and finally get the Config object.
@@ -61,15 +62,26 @@ func (m *Manager) getConfigFromFileWithGlobalVars() (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get variables from config file. Error: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	missingVariableErrorMsg := "map has no entry for key "
+
 	// 2. tools with global variables rendered
 	tools, err := r.getToolsWithVars(vars)
 	if err != nil {
+		keyNotFoundIndex := strings.Index(err.Error(), missingVariableErrorMsg)
+		if keyNotFoundIndex != -1 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to process variables in the tools section. Missing variable definition: %s", err.Error()[keyNotFoundIndex+len(missingVariableErrorMsg):])
+		}
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get tools from config file. Error: %w", err)
+
 	}
 
 	// 3. apps tools with global variables rendered
 	appTools, err := r.getAppToolsWithVars(vars)
 	if err != nil {
+		keyNotFoundIndex := strings.Index(err.Error(), "map has no entry for key ")
+		if keyNotFoundIndex != -1 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to process variables in the apps section. Missing variable definition: %s", err.Error()[keyNotFoundIndex+len(missingVariableErrorMsg):])
+		}
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get apps from config file. Error: %w", err)
 	}
 	// all tools from apps should depend on the original tools,
diff --git a/internal/pkg/configmanager/rawconfig.go b/internal/pkg/configmanager/rawconfig.go
index 491970630..b2464deaf 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/configmanager/rawconfig.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/configmanager/rawconfig.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func newRawConfigFromConfigBytes(fileText []byte) (*rawConfig, error) {
 
 // validate will check config data is valid
 func (c *rawConfig) validate() error {
-	errorFmt := "configmanager can't found valid [%s], please check your config file"
+	errorFmt := "config not valid; check the [%s] section of your config file"
 	if (len(c.config)) == 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf(errorFmt, "config")
 	}
diff --git a/internal/pkg/configmanager/rawconfig_test.go b/internal/pkg/configmanager/rawconfig_test.go
index a2c413a12..e1bec38be 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/configmanager/rawconfig_test.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/configmanager/rawconfig_test.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ var _ = Describe("rawConfig struct", func() {
 			It("should return error", func() {
 				e := r.validate()
 				Expect(e).Error().Should(HaveOccurred())
-				Expect(e.Error()).Should(Equal("configmanager can't found valid [config], please check your config file"))
+				Expect(e.Error()).Should(Equal("config not valid; check the [config] section of your config file"))
 			})
 		})
 		When("apps and tools is not exist", func() {
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ var _ = Describe("rawConfig struct", func() {
 			It("should return error", func() {
 				e := r.validate()
 				Expect(e).Error().Should(HaveOccurred())
-				Expect(e.Error()).Should(Equal("configmanager can't found valid [tools and apps], please check your config file"))
+				Expect(e.Error()).Should(Equal("config not valid; check the [tools and apps] section of your config file"))
 			})
 		})
 	})