diff --git a/pkg-r/DESCRIPTION b/pkg-r/DESCRIPTION
index e8bd4104..ec391e9a 100644
--- a/pkg-r/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/pkg-r/DESCRIPTION
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ Depends:
     R (>= 4.1.0)
 Imports:
     bslib,
+    cli,
     DBI,
     duckdb,
     ellmer (>= 0.3.0),
diff --git a/pkg-r/R/QueryChat.R b/pkg-r/R/QueryChat.R
index 349f6301..274ebba4 100644
--- a/pkg-r/R/QueryChat.R
+++ b/pkg-r/R/QueryChat.R
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ QueryChat <- R6::R6Class(
 
       # Validate table name
       if (!grepl("^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*$", table_name)) {
-        rlang::abort(
+        cli::cli_abort(
           "Table name must begin with a letter and contain only letters, numbers, and underscores"
         )
       }
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ QueryChat <- R6::R6Class(
 
       if (cleanup) {
         shiny::onStop(function() {
-          message("Closing data source...")
+          cli::cli_inform("Closing data source...")
           self$cleanup()
         })
       }
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ QueryChat <- R6::R6Class(
       session = shiny::getDefaultReactiveDomain()
     ) {
       if (is.null(session)) {
-        rlang::abort(
+        cli::cli_abort(
           "$server() must be called within a Shiny server function."
         )
       }
diff --git a/pkg-r/R/data_source.R b/pkg-r/R/data_source.R
index e8129ab6..4f8e6633 100644
--- a/pkg-r/R/data_source.R
+++ b/pkg-r/R/data_source.R
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ as_querychat_data_source.data.frame <- function(x, table_name, ...) {
     length(table_name) == 1 &&
     grepl("^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*$", table_name, perl = TRUE)
   if (!is_table_name_ok) {
-    rlang::abort(
+    cli::cli_abort(
       "`table_name` argument must be a string containing alphanumeric characters and underscores, starting with a letter."
     )
   }
@@ -45,18 +45,16 @@ as_querychat_data_source.DBIConnection <- function(x, table_name, ...) {
     # Character string - keep as is
   } else {
     # Invalid input
-    rlang::abort(
+    cli::cli_abort(
       "`table_name` must be a single character string or a DBI::Id object"
     )
   }
 
   # Check if table exists
   if (!DBI::dbExistsTable(x, table_name)) {
-    rlang::abort(paste0(
-      "Table ",
-      DBI::dbQuoteIdentifier(x, table_name),
-      " not found in database. If you're using a table in a catalog or schema, pass a DBI::Id",
-      " object to `table_name`"
+    cli::cli_abort(c(
+      "Table {DBI::dbQuoteIdentifier(x, table_name)} not found in database.",
+      "i" = "If you're using a table in a catalog or schema, pass a DBI::Id object to `table_name`"
     ))
   }
 
diff --git a/pkg-r/R/querychat_module.R b/pkg-r/R/querychat_module.R
index 7496fedb..4b2ed09f 100644
--- a/pkg-r/R/querychat_module.R
+++ b/pkg-r/R/querychat_module.R
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ mod_server <- function(
       greeting_content <- if (!is.null(greeting) && any(nzchar(greeting))) {
         greeting
       } else {
-        rlang::warn(c(
+        cli::cli_warn(c(
           "No greeting provided to `QueryChat()`. Using the LLM `client` to generate one now.",
           "i" = "For faster startup, lower cost, and determinism, consider providing a greeting to `QueryChat()` and `$generate_greeting()` to generate one beforehand."
         ))
diff --git a/pkg-r/R/utils-ellmer.R b/pkg-r/R/utils-ellmer.R
index 51002f8d..518c08f5 100644
--- a/pkg-r/R/utils-ellmer.R
+++ b/pkg-r/R/utils-ellmer.R
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ as_querychat_client <- function(client = NULL) {
   }
 
   if (!inherits(client, "Chat")) {
-    rlang::abort(
-      "`client` must be an {ellmer} Chat object or a function that returns one.",
+    cli::cli_abort(
+      "`client` must be an {ellmer} Chat object or a function that returns one."
     )
   }