diff --git a/bin/counterfact.js b/bin/counterfact.js
index c88895a4..acfcbb75 100755
--- a/bin/counterfact.js
+++ b/bin/counterfact.js
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ program
   .option(
     "--prefix <string>",
     "base path from which routes will be served (e.g. /api/v1)",
+    "",
   )
   .action(main)
   // eslint-disable-next-line sonar/process-argv
diff --git a/src/server/koa-middleware.ts b/src/server/koa-middleware.ts
index c503d6dd..238218d6 100644
--- a/src/server/koa-middleware.ts
+++ b/src/server/koa-middleware.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { IncomingHttpHeaders } from "node:http";
 
+import createDebug from "debug";
 import type Koa from "koa";
 import koaProxy from "koa-proxy";
 
@@ -7,6 +8,8 @@ import type { Config } from "./config.js";
 import type { Dispatcher } from "./dispatcher.js";
 import type { HttpMethods } from "./registry.js";
 
+const debug = createDebug("counterfact:server:create-koa-app");
+
 const HTTP_STATUS_CODE_OK = 200;
 
 function addCors(ctx: Koa.ExtendableContext, headers?: IncomingHttpHeaders) {
@@ -58,6 +61,9 @@ export function koaMiddleware(
   return async function middleware(ctx, next) {
     const { proxyEnabled, proxyUrl, routePrefix } = config;
 
+    debug("middleware running for path: %s", ctx.request.path);
+    debug("routePrefix: %s", routePrefix);
+
     if (!ctx.request.path.startsWith(routePrefix)) {
       // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-return
       return await next();
diff --git a/src/server/page-middleware.ts b/src/server/page-middleware.ts
index 769f3a44..2c2e3c10 100644
--- a/src/server/page-middleware.ts
+++ b/src/server/page-middleware.ts
@@ -26,11 +26,12 @@ export function pageMiddleware(
       .join(__dirname, `../client/${templateName}.html.hbs`)
       .replaceAll("\\", "/");
 
-    debug("pathToHandlebarsTemplate: %s", pathToHandlebarsTemplate);
-
     const render = Handlebars.compile(await readFile(pathToHandlebarsTemplate));
 
     if (ctx.URL.pathname === pathname) {
+      debug("rendering page: %s", pathname);
+      debug("locals: %o", locals);
+
       ctx.body = render(locals);
 
       return;