diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 15ab80216..d63ca88ab 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1023,6 +1023,7 @@ version = "0.0.1"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "clap",
+ "pacquet_executor",
  "pacquet_package_json",
  "pacquet_package_manager",
  "tempfile",
@@ -1031,6 +1032,13 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing-subscriber",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pacquet_executor"
+version = "0.0.1"
+dependencies = [
+ "thiserror",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pacquet_lockfile"
 version = "0.0.1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 6194492b0..9a5a80a69 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ pacquet_package_json = { path = "crates/package_json" }
 pacquet_lockfile = { path = "crates/lockfile" }
 pacquet_npmrc = { path = "crates/npmrc" }
 pacquet_package_manager = { path = "crates/package_manager" }
+pacquet_executor = { path = "crates/executor" }
 
 anyhow = { version = "1.0.71", features = ["backtrace"] }
 async-recursion = { version = "1.0.4" }
diff --git a/crates/cli/Cargo.toml b/crates/cli/Cargo.toml
index 98bbd3684..b37f1bf43 100644
--- a/crates/cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ path = "src/main.rs"
 [dependencies]
 pacquet_package_json = { workspace = true }
 pacquet_package_manager = { workspace = true }
+pacquet_executor = { workspace = true }
 
 anyhow = { workspace = true }
 clap = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/cli/README.md b/crates/cli/README.md
index 9395aaa8c..a13624b97 100644
--- a/crates/cli/README.md
+++ b/crates/cli/README.md
@@ -68,3 +68,13 @@
 ## `pacquet test`
 
 [pnpm documentation](https://pnpm.io/cli/test)
+
+## `pacquet start`
+
+[pnpm documentation](https://pnpm.io/cli/start)
+
+# Misc.
+
+## `pacquet init`
+
+[pnpm documentation](https://pnpm.io/cli/init)
diff --git a/crates/cli/src/commands.rs b/crates/cli/src/commands.rs
index b4aa1e6a9..fa19ca1fc 100644
--- a/crates/cli/src/commands.rs
+++ b/crates/cli/src/commands.rs
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ pub enum Subcommands {
     /// Runs a package's "test" script, if one was provided.
     Test,
     /// Runs a defined package script.
-    #[clap(name = "run")]
-    RunScript(RunScriptArgs),
+    Run(RunArgs),
+    /// Runs an arbitrary command specified in the package's start property of its scripts object.
+    Start,
 }
 
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ impl AddArgs {
 }
 
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
-pub struct RunScriptArgs {
+pub struct RunArgs {
     /// A pre-defined package script.
     pub command: String,
     /// You can use the --if-present flag to avoid exiting with a non-zero exit code when the
diff --git a/crates/cli/src/lib.rs b/crates/cli/src/lib.rs
index 1126b14be..860f33662 100644
--- a/crates/cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use std::env;
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use clap::Parser;
 use commands::{Cli, Subcommands};
+use pacquet_executor::execute_shell;
 use pacquet_package_json::PackageJson;
 use pacquet_package_manager::PackageManager;
 
@@ -25,27 +26,60 @@ async fn run_commands(cli: Cli) -> Result<()> {
     match &cli.subcommand {
         Subcommands::Init => {
             // init command throws an error if package.json file exist.
-            PackageJson::init(&package_json_path)?;
+            PackageJson::init(&package_json_path).with_context(|| {
+                format!("Failed to initialize package.json at path {:?}", &package_json_path)
+            })?;
         }
         Subcommands::Add(args) => {
-            let mut package_manager = PackageManager::new(package_json_path)?;
+            let mut package_manager =
+                PackageManager::new(&package_json_path).with_context(|| {
+                    format!("Failed to read package.json at path {:?}", &package_json_path)
+                })?;
             // TODO if a package already exists in another dependency group, we don't remove
             // the existing entry.
             package_manager
                 .add(&args.package, args.get_dependency_group(), args.save_exact)
-                .await?;
+                .await
+                .with_context(|| format!("Failed to add package {}", &args.package))?;
         }
         Subcommands::Install(args) => {
-            let mut package_manager = PackageManager::new(package_json_path)?;
-            package_manager.install(args.dev, !args.no_optional).await?;
+            let mut package_manager =
+                PackageManager::new(&package_json_path).with_context(|| {
+                    format!("Failed to read package.json at path {:?}", &package_json_path)
+                })?;
+            package_manager.install(args.dev, !args.no_optional).await.with_context(|| {
+                format!("Failed to install packages on {:?}", package_json_path)
+            })?;
         }
         Subcommands::Test => {
-            PackageJson::from_path(&package_json_path)?.execute_command("test", false)?;
+            let package_json = PackageJson::from_path(&package_json_path).with_context(|| {
+                format!("Failed to read package.json at path {:?}", &package_json_path)
+            })?;
+            if let Some(script) = package_json.get_script("test", false)? {
+                execute_shell(script)?;
+            }
         }
-        Subcommands::RunScript(args) => {
-            let command = &args.command;
-            PackageJson::from_path(&package_json_path)?
-                .execute_command(command, args.if_present)?;
+        Subcommands::Run(args) => {
+            let package_json = PackageJson::from_path(&package_json_path).with_context(|| {
+                format!("Failed to read package.json at path {:?}", &package_json_path)
+            })?;
+            if let Some(script) = package_json.get_script(&args.command, args.if_present)? {
+                execute_shell(script)?;
+            }
+        }
+        Subcommands::Start => {
+            // Runs an arbitrary command specified in the package's start property of its scripts
+            // object. If no start property is specified on the scripts object, it will attempt to
+            // run node server.js as a default, failing if neither are present.
+            // The intended usage of the property is to specify a command that starts your program.
+            let package_json = PackageJson::from_path(&package_json_path).with_context(|| {
+                format!("Failed to read package.json at path {:?}", &package_json_path)
+            })?;
+            if let Some(script) = package_json.get_script("start", true)? {
+                execute_shell(script)?;
+            } else {
+                execute_shell("node server.js")?;
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -67,7 +101,6 @@ mod tests {
         env::set_current_dir(parent_folder.path()).unwrap();
         let cli = Cli::parse_from(["", "init"]);
         run_commands(cli).await.unwrap();
-
         assert!(parent_folder.path().join("package.json").exists());
         env::set_current_dir(&current_directory).unwrap();
     }
diff --git a/crates/executor/Cargo.toml b/crates/executor/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..add7459bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/executor/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+[package]
+name = "pacquet_executor"
+version = "0.0.1"
+publish = false
+authors.workspace = true
+description.workspace = true
+edition.workspace = true
+homepage.workspace = true
+keywords.workspace = true
+license.workspace = true
+repository.workspace = true
+
+[dependencies]
+thiserror = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/executor/src/lib.rs b/crates/executor/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1636d6176
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/executor/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+use std::process::Command;
+
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+#[derive(Error, Debug)]
+#[non_exhaustive]
+pub enum ExecutorError {
+    #[error("io error")]
+    Io(#[from] std::io::Error),
+}
+
+pub fn execute_shell(command: &str) -> Result<(), ExecutorError> {
+    let mut cmd = Command::new(command).spawn()?;
+
+    cmd.wait()?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/crates/lockfile/src/lib.rs b/crates/lockfile/src/lib.rs
index 18639691c..54e446113 100644
--- a/crates/lockfile/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/lockfile/src/lib.rs
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ use crate::package::LockfilePackage;
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 #[non_exhaustive]
 pub enum LockfileError {
-    #[error("filesystem error: `{0}`")]
+    #[error("filesystem error")]
     FileSystem(#[from] std::io::Error),
-    #[error("serialization error: `{0}")]
+    #[error("serialization error")]
     Serialization(#[from] serde_yaml::Error),
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/package_json/src/error.rs b/crates/package_json/src/error.rs
index 846a073d4..f100b7aa6 100644
--- a/crates/package_json/src/error.rs
+++ b/crates/package_json/src/error.rs
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ use thiserror::Error;
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 #[non_exhaustive]
 pub enum PackageJsonError {
-    #[error("serialization failed: {0}")]
+    #[error("serialization failed with {0}")]
     Serialization(#[from] serde_json::Error),
-    #[error("io error: `{0}`")]
+    #[error("io error")]
     Io(#[from] std::io::Error),
     #[error("package.json file already exists")]
     AlreadyExist,
diff --git a/crates/package_json/src/lib.rs b/crates/package_json/src/lib.rs
index 6dca47357..963d5c40f 100644
--- a/crates/package_json/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/package_json/src/lib.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ use std::{
     fs,
     io::{Read, Write},
     path::PathBuf,
-    process::{Command, Stdio},
 };
 
 use serde_json::{json, Map, Value};
@@ -148,35 +147,20 @@ impl PackageJson {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    pub fn execute_command(&self, command: &str, if_present: bool) -> Result<(), PackageJsonError> {
-        match self
-            .value
-            .get("scripts")
-            .unwrap_or(&Value::default())
-            .get(command)
-            .unwrap_or(&Value::default())
-            .as_str()
-        {
-            Some(command) => {
-                let mut cmd = Command::new(command)
-                    .stdout(Stdio::inherit())
-                    .stderr(Stdio::inherit())
-                    .stdin(Stdio::inherit())
-                    .spawn()
-                    .unwrap();
-
-                cmd.wait().unwrap();
-
-                Ok(())
-            }
-            None => {
-                if if_present {
-                    Ok(())
-                } else {
-                    Err(PackageJsonError::NoScript(command.to_string()))
+    pub fn get_script(
+        &self,
+        command: &str,
+        if_present: bool,
+    ) -> Result<Option<&str>, PackageJsonError> {
+        if let Some(scripts) = self.value.get("scripts") {
+            if let Some(script) = scripts.get(command) {
+                if let Some(script_str) = script.as_str() {
+                    return Ok(Some(script_str));
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        if if_present { Ok(None) } else { Err(PackageJsonError::NoScript(command.to_string())) }
     }
 }
 
@@ -243,7 +227,7 @@ mod tests {
         let dir = tempdir().unwrap();
         let tmp = dir.path().join("package.json");
         let package_json = PackageJson::create_if_needed(&tmp).unwrap();
-        package_json.execute_command("test", false).expect_err("test command should not exist");
+        package_json.get_script("test", false).expect_err("test command should not exist");
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -258,11 +242,9 @@ mod tests {
         let tmp = NamedTempFile::new().unwrap();
         write!(tmp.as_file(), "{}", data).unwrap();
         let package_json = PackageJson::create_if_needed(&tmp.path().to_path_buf()).unwrap();
-        package_json.execute_command("test", false).unwrap();
-        package_json
-            .execute_command("invalid", false)
-            .expect_err("invalid command should not exist");
-        package_json.execute_command("invalid", true).unwrap();
+        package_json.get_script("test", false).unwrap();
+        package_json.get_script("invalid", false).expect_err("invalid command should not exist");
+        package_json.get_script("invalid", true).unwrap();
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/crates/package_manager/src/lib.rs b/crates/package_manager/src/lib.rs
index 05137f19a..bcf250c85 100644
--- a/crates/package_manager/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/package_manager/src/lib.rs
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ pub mod install;
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 #[non_exhaustive]
 pub enum PackageManagerError {
-    #[error("tarball error: {0}")]
+    #[error("tarball error")]
     Tarball(#[from] pacquet_tarball::TarballError),
-    #[error("package.json error: {0}")]
+    #[error("package.json error")]
     PackageJson(#[from] pacquet_package_json::error::PackageJsonError),
-    #[error("registry error: {0}")]
+    #[error("registry error")]
     Registry(#[from] pacquet_registry::RegistryError),
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/registry/src/lib.rs b/crates/registry/src/lib.rs
index 208262423..ae10a851a 100644
--- a/crates/registry/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/registry/src/lib.rs
@@ -11,19 +11,19 @@ use crate::package::{Package, PackageVersion};
 pub enum RegistryError {
     #[error("missing latest tag on {0}")]
     MissingLatestTag(String),
-    #[error("missing version {0} on package {0}")]
+    #[error("missing version {0} on package {1}")]
     MissingVersionRelease(String, String),
     #[error("network error while fetching {0}")]
     Network(#[from] reqwest::Error),
-    #[error("network middleware error")]
+    #[error("network middleware error with {0}")]
     NetworkMiddleware(#[from] reqwest_middleware::Error),
-    #[error("io error {0}")]
+    #[error("io error with {0}")]
     Io(#[from] std::io::Error),
-    #[error("serialization failed: {0}")]
+    #[error("serialization failed")]
     Serialization(String),
-    #[error("tarball error: {0}")]
+    #[error("tarball error with {0}")]
     Tarball(#[from] pacquet_tarball::TarballError),
-    #[error("package.json error: {0}")]
+    #[error("package.json error")]
     PackageJson(#[from] pacquet_package_json::error::PackageJsonError),
 }