diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index 50f8c7f..aad0d1b 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -46,11 +46,16 @@ inputs:
     description: GitHub token secret
     required: true
     default: ${{ github.token }}
+  debug:
+    description: Bash set -x debugging mode
+    required: false
 outputs:
   pr_url:
     description: 'Pull request URL'
   pr_number:
     description: 'Pull request number'
+  pr_created:
+    description: 'Boolean string indicating if a pull request was created from the action run'
   has_changed_files:
     description: 'Boolean string indicating whether any file has been changed'
 runs:
diff --git a/entrypoint.sh b/entrypoint.sh
index be87700..49e9786 100755
--- a/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/entrypoint.sh
@@ -3,30 +3,96 @@
 set -e
 set -o pipefail
 
+###################
+# Helper Functions
+reset_color="\\e[0m"
+color_red="\\e[31m"
+color_green="\\e[32m"
+color_yellow="\\e[33m"
+color_blue="\\e[36m"
+color_gray="\\e[37m"
+function echo_blue {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_blue}$(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_green {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_green}$(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_red {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_red}$(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_yellow {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_yellow}$(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_gray {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_gray}$(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_grey {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_gray}$(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_info {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_blue}ℹ $(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_error {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_red}✖ $(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_warning {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_yellow}✔ $(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_success {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_green}✔ $(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function echo_fail {
+  printf "%b\n" "${color_red}✖ $(printf "%s\n" "$*")${reset_color}"
+}
+function enable_debug {
+  if [[ "${INPUT_DEBUG}" == "true" ]]; then
+    echo_info "Enabling debug mode."
+    set -x
+  fi
+}
+function disable_debug {
+  if [[ "${INPUT_DEBUG}" == "true" ]]; then
+    set +x
+  fi
+}
+
+# Fix for the unsafe repo error: https://github.com/repo-sync/pull-request/issues/84
+git config --global --add safe.directory $(pwd)
+
+##############################
+echo "::group::Gather Inputs"
+
 if [[ -z "$GITHUB_TOKEN" ]]; then
   if [[ ! -z "$INPUT_GITHUB_TOKEN" ]]; then
     GITHUB_TOKEN="$INPUT_GITHUB_TOKEN"
+    echo "::add-mask::$INPUT_GITHUB_TOKEN"
+    echo_info "INPUT_GITHUB_TOKEN=$INPUT_GITHUB_TOKEN"
   else
-    echo "Set the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable."
+    echo_fail "Set the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable."
     exit 1
   fi
 fi
 
+# enable debug after token handling
+enable_debug
+
 if [[ ! -z "$INPUT_SOURCE_BRANCH" ]]; then
   SOURCE_BRANCH="$INPUT_SOURCE_BRANCH"
 elif [[ ! -z "$GITHUB_REF" ]]; then
   SOURCE_BRANCH=${GITHUB_REF/refs\/heads\//}  # Remove branch prefix
 else
-  echo "Set the INPUT_SOURCE_BRANCH environment variable or trigger from a branch."
+  echo_fail "Set the INPUT_SOURCE_BRANCH environment variable or trigger from a branch."
   exit 1
 fi
+echo_info "SOURCE_BRANCH=$SOURCE_BRANCH"
 
 DESTINATION_BRANCH="${INPUT_DESTINATION_BRANCH:-"master"}"
+echo_info "DESTINATION_BRANCH=$DESTINATION_BRANCH"
 
 # Determine repository url
 if [[ -z "$INPUT_DESTINATION_REPOSITORY" ]]; then
   # Try to query local repository's remote url if INPUT_DESTINATION_REPOSITORY is null
-  local_origin=$(git config --get remote.origin.url)
+  local_origin=$(git remote get-url origin)
 
   if [[ "$local_origin" == *.git ]]; then
     origin_no_suffix="${local_origin%.*}"
@@ -45,8 +111,15 @@ fi
 # Fallback to GITHUB_REPOSITORY if both INPUT_DESTINATION_REPOSITORY and CHECKOUT_REPOSITORY are unavailable
 DESTINATION_REPOSITORY="${INPUT_DESTINATION_REPOSITORY:-${CHECKOUT_REPOSITORY:-${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}}}"
 
-# Fix for the unsafe repo error: https://github.com/repo-sync/pull-request/issues/84
-git config --global --add safe.directory /github/workspace
+echo_gray "INPUT_DESTINATION_REPOSITORY=$INPUT_DESTINATION_REPOSITORY"
+echo_gray "CHECKOUT_REPOSITORY=$CHECKOUT_REPOSITORY"
+echo_gray "GITHUB_REPOSITORY=$GITHUB_REPOSITORY"
+echo_info "DESTINATION_REPOSITORY=$DESTINATION_REPOSITORY"
+
+echo "::endgroup::"
+
+##############################
+echo "::group::Configure git"
 
 # Github actions no longer auto set the username and GITHUB_TOKEN
 git remote set-url origin "https://x-access-token:$GITHUB_TOKEN@${GITHUB_SERVER_URL#https://}/$DESTINATION_REPOSITORY"
@@ -57,73 +130,131 @@ git fetch origin '+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*' --update-head-ok
 # Print out all branches
 git --no-pager branch -a -vv
 
+echo "::endgroup::"
+
+#########################################################
+echo "::group::Ensure pull-request contains differences"
+
 if [ "$(git rev-parse --revs-only "$SOURCE_BRANCH")" = "$(git rev-parse --revs-only "$DESTINATION_BRANCH")" ]; then
-  echo "Source and destination branches are the same."
+  echo_info "Source and destination branches are the same."
   exit 0
 fi
 
 # Do not proceed if there are no file differences, this avoids PRs with just a merge commit and no content
 LINES_CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only "$DESTINATION_BRANCH" "$SOURCE_BRANCH" -- | wc -l | awk '{print $1}')
 if [[ "$LINES_CHANGED" = "0" ]] && [[ ! "$INPUT_PR_ALLOW_EMPTY" ==  "true" ]]; then
-  echo "No file changes detected between source and destination branches."
+  echo_info "No file changes detected between source and destination branches."
   exit 0
 fi
 
+echo "::endgroup::"
 
+#############################################
+echo "::group::Assemble hub pr parameters"
 # Workaround for `hub` auth error https://github.com/github/hub/issues/2149#issuecomment-513214342
 export GITHUB_USER="$GITHUB_ACTOR"
 
-PR_ARG="$INPUT_PR_TITLE"
-if [[ ! -z "$PR_ARG" ]]; then
-  PR_ARG="-m \"$PR_ARG\""
+PR_ARG=(-b "$DESTINATION_BRANCH" -h "$SOURCE_BRANCH" --no-edit)
 
+if [[ ! -z "$INPUT_PR_TITLE" ]]; then
+  PR_ARG+=(-m "$INPUT_PR_TITLE")
   if [[ ! -z "$INPUT_PR_TEMPLATE" ]]; then
     sed -i 's/`/\\`/g; s/\$/\\\$/g' "$INPUT_PR_TEMPLATE"
-    PR_ARG="$PR_ARG -m \"$(echo -e "$(cat "$INPUT_PR_TEMPLATE")")\""
+    PR_ARG+=(-m "$(echo -e "$(cat "$INPUT_PR_TEMPLATE")")")
   elif [[ ! -z "$INPUT_PR_BODY" ]]; then
-    PR_ARG="$PR_ARG -m \"$INPUT_PR_BODY\""
+    PR_ARG+=(-m "$INPUT_PR_BODY")
   fi
 fi
 
 if [[ ! -z "$INPUT_PR_REVIEWER" ]]; then
-  PR_ARG="$PR_ARG -r \"$INPUT_PR_REVIEWER\""
+  PR_ARG+=(-r "$INPUT_PR_REVIEWER")
 fi
 
 if [[ ! -z "$INPUT_PR_ASSIGNEE" ]]; then
-  PR_ARG="$PR_ARG -a \"$INPUT_PR_ASSIGNEE\""
+  PR_ARG+=(-a "$INPUT_PR_ASSIGNEE")
 fi
 
 if [[ ! -z "$INPUT_PR_LABEL" ]]; then
-  PR_ARG="$PR_ARG -l \"$INPUT_PR_LABEL\""
+  PR_ARG+=(-l "$INPUT_PR_LABEL")
 fi
 
 if [[ ! -z "$INPUT_PR_MILESTONE" ]]; then
-  PR_ARG="$PR_ARG -M \"$INPUT_PR_MILESTONE\""
+  PR_ARG+=(-M "$INPUT_PR_MILESTONE")
 fi
 
 if [[ "$INPUT_PR_DRAFT" ==  "true" ]]; then
-  PR_ARG="$PR_ARG -d"
+  PR_ARG+=(-d)
 fi
 
-COMMAND="GITHUB_TOKEN=\"$GITHUB_TOKEN\" hub pull-request \
-  -b $DESTINATION_BRANCH \
-  -h $SOURCE_BRANCH \
-  --no-edit \
-  $PR_ARG \
-  || true"
+echo_info "${PR_ARG[@]}"
+echo "::endgroup::"
 
-echo "$COMMAND"
+##########################################################################
+echo "::group::Create pull request $SOURCE_BRANCH -> $DESTINATION_BRANCH"
 
-PR_URL=$(sh -c "$COMMAND")
-if [[ "$?" != "0" ]]; then
-  exit 1
+COMMAND="hub pull-request "${PR_ARG[@]}" 2> /tmp/pull-request.stderr.log || true"
+echo_info "$COMMAND"
+
+PR_URL=$(hub pull-request "${PR_ARG[@]}" 2> /tmp/pull-request.stderr.log || true)
+STD_ERROR="$(cat /tmp/pull-request.stderr.log || true)"
+echo_error "STD_ERROR=$STD_ERROR"
+
+echo "::endgroup::"
+
+
+################################################
+echo "::group::Retrieving pull request details"
+
+PR_CREATED="true"
+# determine success / failure
+# since various things can go wrong such as bad user input or non-existant branches, there is a need to handle outputs to determine if the pr was successfully created or not.
+if [[ -z "$PR_URL" ]]; then
+  PR_CREATED="false"
+  if echo "$STD_ERROR" | grep -q "already exists"; then
+    echo_yellow "Pull request already exists. This is the stderr output:"
+    echo_yellow "$STD_ERROR"
+  else
+    echo_fail "Pull request command failed. This is the stderr output:"
+    echo_red "$STD_ERROR"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+else
+  echo_success "Pull request was successfully created"
+  echo_success "PR_URL=$PR_URL"
+fi
+
+# attempt to obtain the pull-request details - pr already exists.
+if [[ -z "$PR_URL" ]]; then
+  PR_URL=$(\
+    hub pr list -h $SOURCE_BRANCH -b $DESTINATION_BRANCH -f %U \
+    2>"./get-pull-request.stderr.log" || true \
+  )
+  STD_ERROR="$(cat "./get-pull-request.stderr.log" || true)"
+
+  if [[ -z "$PR_URL" ]]; then
+      echo_fail "Pull Request Already Exists, but was unable to retrieve url. This is the stderr output:"
+      echo_red "$STD_ERROR"
+  else
+    echo_success "Pull request details successfully obtained"
+    echo_success "PR_URL=${PR_URL}"
+  fi
 fi
 
-echo ${PR_URL}
+echo "::endgroup::"
+
+############################
+echo "::group::Set outputs"
+
 echo "pr_url=${PR_URL}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 echo "pr_number=${PR_URL##*/}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+echo "pr_created=${PR_CREATED}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
 if [[ "$LINES_CHANGED" = "0" ]]; then
   echo "has_changed_files=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 else
   echo "has_changed_files=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 fi
+
+cat $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+echo "::endgroup::"