diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7b0978f..bd7c501 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,7 +5,14 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
-# [0.3.0] - 2024-14-03
+# [0.4.0] - 2025-04-05
+
+### Changed
+
+-   `-loglevel` flag is now of type string. It accepts any one of trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal or panic.
+    -   It defaults to warn.
+
+# [0.3.0] - 2025-14-03
 
 ### Added
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fd5435a..0bb8b5a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,6 +56,28 @@ You may set an environment variable `GIGNORE_TEMPLATE_DIR` to avoid passing the
 
 If a template is requested but not found in the custom directory then the gitignoreio registry will act as a fallback.
 
+## Logging
+
+The `-loglevel` flag allows you to control the verbosity of the application's logging output. 
+
+Acceptable values for this flag are:
+
+- `trace`
+- `debug`
+- `info`
+- `warn`
+- `error`
+- `fatal`
+- `panic`
+
+For example, to set the log level to `debug`, you can use:
+
+```
+vbantxt -s=streamname -log-level=debug "bus[0].eq.on=1 bus[1].gain=-12.8"
+```
+
+The default log level is `warn` if the flag is not specified.
+
 ## Special Thanks
 
 [gitignore.io][gitignoreio] For providing such a useful .gitignore service
diff --git a/cmd/gignore/main.go b/cmd/gignore/main.go
index a04999f..8d4a752 100644
--- a/cmd/gignore/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gignore/main.go
@@ -5,12 +5,17 @@ package main
 import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
-	"slices"
+	"os"
 
 	"github.com/onyx-and-iris/gignore"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
+func exit(err error) {
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: %s\n", err)
+	os.Exit(1)
+}
+
 func main() {
 	flag.Usage = func() {
 		w := flag.CommandLine.Output()
@@ -30,7 +35,7 @@ func main() {
 	var (
 		list        bool
 		templateDir string
-		loglevel    int
+		loglevel    string
 	)
 
 	flag.BoolVar(&list, "list", false, "list available templates")
@@ -41,19 +46,22 @@ func main() {
 		getEnv("GIGNORE_TEMPLATE_DIR", "gitignoreio"),
 		"directory containing .gitignore templates",
 	)
-	flag.IntVar(&loglevel, "loglevel", int(log.WarnLevel), "log level")
-	flag.IntVar(&loglevel, "l", int(log.WarnLevel), "log level (shorthand)")
+	flag.StringVar(&loglevel, "loglevel", "warn", "log level")
+	flag.StringVar(&loglevel, "l", "warn", "log level (shorthand)")
+
 	flag.Parse()
 
-	if slices.Contains(log.AllLevels, log.Level(loglevel)) {
-		log.SetLevel(log.Level(loglevel))
+	level, err := log.ParseLevel(loglevel)
+	if err != nil {
+		exit(fmt.Errorf("invalid log level: %s", loglevel))
 	}
+	log.SetLevel(level)
 
 	client := gignore.New(gignore.WithTemplateDirectory(templateDir))
 
 	if list {
 		if err := listTemplates(client); err != nil {
-			log.Fatalf("failed to list templates: %v", err)
+			exit(fmt.Errorf("failed to list templates: %v", err))
 		}
 		return
 	}
@@ -67,7 +75,7 @@ func main() {
 	for _, arg := range args {
 		err := client.Create(arg)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatalf("failed to create .gitignore file: %v", err)
+			exit(fmt.Errorf("failed to create .gitignore file: %v", err))
 		}
 		fmt.Printf("√ created %s .gitignore file\n", arg)
 	}