diff --git a/appview/pages/templates/user/login.html b/appview/pages/templates/user/login.html
index 547ecfe3..283e0fe5 100644
--- a/appview/pages/templates/user/login.html
+++ b/appview/pages/templates/user/login.html
@@ -11,23 +11,40 @@
             <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/tw.css" type="text/css" />
             <title>login</title>
         </head>
-        <body>
-            <main class="content">
-                <h1>login</h1>
-                <form method="POST" action="/login">
+        <body class="flex items-center justify-center min-h-screen">
+            <main class="max-w-64">
+                <h1 class="text-center text-2xl font-semibold">tangled.sh</h1>
+                <form class="w-full" hx-post="/login" hx-swap="none" hx-disabled-elt="this">
+                  <div class="flex flex-col">
                     <label for="handle">handle</label>
-                    <input type="text" id="handle" name="handle" required />
+                    <input 
+                      type="text"
+                      id="handle"
+                      name="handle"
+                      required
+                      class="bg-gray-100 rounded p-1"
+                      />
+                  </div>
 
+                  <div class="flex flex-col mt-2">
                     <label for="app_password">app password</label>
                     <input
-                        type="password"
-                        id="app_password"
-                        name="app_password"
-                        required
-                    />
+                      type="password"
+                      id="app_password"
+                      name="app_password"
+                      required
+                      class="bg-gray-100 rounded p-1"
+                      />
+                  </div>
 
-                    <button class="btn my-2" type="submit">login</button>
+                  <button
+                      class="btn w-full my-2 mt-6"
+                      type="submit"
+                      id="login-button">
+                      <span>login</span>
+                  </button>
                 </form>
+                <p id="login-msg" class="error w-full"></p>
             </main>
         </body>
     </html>
diff --git a/appview/state/state.go b/appview/state/state.go
index 6d449a81..267201e9 100644
--- a/appview/state/state.go
+++ b/appview/state/state.go
@@ -77,29 +77,25 @@ func (s *State) Login(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		}
 		return
 	case http.MethodPost:
-		handle := r.FormValue("handle")
+		handle := strings.TrimPrefix(r.FormValue("handle"), "@")
 		appPassword := r.FormValue("app_password")
 
-		fmt.Println("handle", handle)
-		fmt.Println("app_password", appPassword)
-
 		resolved, err := s.resolver.ResolveIdent(ctx, handle)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Printf("resolving identity: %s", err)
-			http.Redirect(w, r, "/login", http.StatusSeeOther)
+			s.pages.Notice(w, "login-msg", fmt.Sprintf("\"%s\" is an invalid handle.", handle))
 			return
 		}
 
 		atSession, err := s.auth.CreateInitialSession(ctx, resolved, appPassword)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Printf("creating initial session: %s", err)
+			s.pages.Notice(w, "login-msg", "Invalid handle or password.")
 			return
 		}
 		sessionish := auth.CreateSessionWrapper{ServerCreateSession_Output: atSession}
 
 		err = s.auth.StoreSession(r, w, &sessionish, resolved.PDSEndpoint())
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Printf("storing session: %s", err)
+			s.pages.Notice(w, "login-msg", "Failed to login, try again later.")
 			return
 		}
 
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 2ef89880..9c4756e1 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -67,7 +67,10 @@
       air-watcher = name:
         pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "run"
         ''
-          ${pkgs.air}/bin/air -c /dev/null -build.cmd "cp ${htmx-src} appview/pages/static/htmx.min.js && ${pkgs.tailwindcss}/bin/tailwindcss -i input.css -o ./appview/pages/static/tw.css && ${pkgs.go}/bin/go build -o ./out/${name}.out ./cmd/${name}/main.go" -build.bin "./out/${name}.out"
+          ${pkgs.air}/bin/air -c /dev/null \
+          -build.cmd "cp -f ${htmx-src} appview/pages/static/htmx.min.js && ${pkgs.tailwindcss}/bin/tailwindcss -i input.css -o ./appview/pages/static/tw.css && ${pkgs.go}/bin/go build -o ./out/${name}.out ./cmd/${name}/main.go" \
+          -build.bin "./out/${name}.out" \
+          -build.include_ext "go,html,css"
         '';
     in {
       watch-appview = {