diff --git a/pkg/cli/cli.go b/pkg/cli/cli.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e7fa26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cli/cli.go
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+)
+
+var config = InitializeConfig()
+var store = InitializeStore()
+
+func Fatal(format string, args ...any) {
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, format, args...)
+	os.Exit(1)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cli/cmd.go b/pkg/cli/cmd.go
index 1d9e874..0b98deb 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/cmd.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/cmd.go
@@ -7,22 +7,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
-var config = LoadConfig()
-var store, storeError = InitializeStore()
-
-func checkStore() {
-	if storeError != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error establishing connection to store: %v\n", storeError)
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-}
-
 var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "lm",
 	Short: "Interact with Large Language Models",
 	Long:  `lm is a CLI tool to interact with OpenAI's GPT 3.5 and GPT 4.`,
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-		checkStore()
 		// execute `lm ls` by default
 	},
 }
@@ -83,13 +72,13 @@ var newCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		messageContents, err := InputFromEditor("# What would you like to say?", "message.*.md")
 		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error receiving message input: %v\n", err)
-			os.Exit(1)
+			Fatal("Failed to get input: %v\n", err)
+			return
 		}
 
 		if messageContents == "" {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "No message was provided.\n")
-			os.Exit(1)
+			Fatal("No message was provided.\n")
+			return
 		}
 
 		fmt.Printf("> %s\n", messageContents)
@@ -103,8 +92,8 @@ var newCmd = &cobra.Command{
 
 		err = CreateChatCompletionStream("You are a helpful assistant.", messages, os.Stdout)
 		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "An error occured: %v\n", err)
-			os.Exit(1)
+			Fatal("%v\n", err)
+			return
 		}
 
 		fmt.Println()
@@ -125,8 +114,8 @@ var promptCmd = &cobra.Command{
 
 		err := CreateChatCompletionStream("You are a helpful assistant.", messages, os.Stdout)
 		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "An error occured: %v\n", err)
-			os.Exit(1)
+			Fatal("%v\n", err)
+			return
 		}
 
 		fmt.Println()
diff --git a/pkg/cli/config.go b/pkg/cli/config.go
index 21c3ca7..fb9e5b8 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/config.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/config.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func getConfigDir() string {
 	return configDir
 }
 
-func LoadConfig() *Config {
+func InitializeConfig() *Config {
 	configFile := filepath.Join(getConfigDir(), "config.yaml")
 
 	configBytes, err := os.ReadFile(configFile)
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ func LoadConfig() *Config {
 
 		file, err := os.Create(configFile)
 		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Could not open config file for writing: %v", err)
-			os.Exit(1)
+			Fatal("Could not open config file for writing: %v", err)
+			return nil
 		}
 
 		fmt.Printf("Writing default configuration to: %s\n", configFile)
@@ -50,12 +50,12 @@ func LoadConfig() *Config {
 
 		_, err = file.Write(bytes)
 		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Could not save default configuratoin: %v", err)
-			os.Exit(1)
+			Fatal("Could not save default configuratoin: %v", err)
+			return nil
 		}
 	} else if err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Could not read config file: %v", err)
-		os.Exit(1)
+		Fatal("Could not read config file: %v", err)
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	config := &Config{}
diff --git a/pkg/cli/store.go b/pkg/cli/store.go
index 500da1e..038c2e6 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/store.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/store.go
@@ -44,11 +44,12 @@ func getDataDir() string {
 	return dataDir
 }
 
-func InitializeStore() (*Store, error) {
+func InitializeStore() *Store {
 	databaseFile := filepath.Join(getDataDir(), "conversations.db")
 	db, err := gorm.Open(sqlite.Open(databaseFile), &gorm.Config{})
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		Fatal("Error establishing connection to store: %v\n", err)
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	models := []any{
@@ -59,15 +60,13 @@ func InitializeStore() (*Store, error) {
 	for _, x := range(models) {
 		err := db.AutoMigrate(x)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+			Fatal("Could not perform database migrations: %v\n", err)
+			return nil
 		}
 	}
 
-	_sqids, _ := sqids.New(sqids.Options{
-		MinLength: 4,
-	})
-
-	return &Store{db: db, sqids: _sqids}, nil
+	_sqids, _ := sqids.New(sqids.Options{MinLength: 4})
+	return &Store{db, _sqids}
 }
 
 func (s *Store) SaveConversation(conversation *Conversation) error {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/util.go b/pkg/cli/util.go
index 641449b..34b3de3 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/util.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/util.go
@@ -5,11 +5,12 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 )
 
-// InputFromEditor retrieves user input by opening an editor on a temporary
-// file. Once the editor closes, the contents of the temporary file are
-// returned. If the contents exactly match the placeholder (no edits to the
-// file were made), then an empty string is returned.
-// Example patten: message.*.md
+// InputFromEditor retrieves user input by opening an editor (one specified by
+// $EDITOR or 'vim' if $EDITOR is not set) on a temporary file. Once the editor
+// closes, the contents of the file are read and the file is deleted. If the
+// contents of the file exactly match the value of placeholder (no edits to the
+// file were made), then an empty string is returned. Otherwise, the contents
+// are returned. Example patten: message.*.md
 func InputFromEditor(placeholder string, pattern string) (string, error) {
 	msgFile, _ := os.CreateTemp("/tmp", pattern)
 	defer os.Remove(msgFile.Name())