diff --git a/src/spark_cli/cli.py b/src/spark_cli/cli.py
index 5f32bd5d..1a0834c2 100644
--- a/src/spark_cli/cli.py
+++ b/src/spark_cli/cli.py
@@ -1941,7 +1941,14 @@ def save_json(path: Path, payload: Any) -> None:
 
 def load_module(path: Path) -> Module:
     manifest_path = path / "spark.toml"
-    manifest = tomllib.loads(manifest_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    try:
+        manifest = tomllib.loads(manifest_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        raise SystemExit(f"Module manifest not found: {manifest_path}")
+    except PermissionError:
+        raise SystemExit(f"Permission denied reading module manifest: {manifest_path}")
+    except tomllib.TOMLDecodeError as exc:
+        raise SystemExit(f"Invalid TOML in module manifest {manifest_path}: {exc}")
     name = str(manifest.get("module", {}).get("name") or path.name)
     return Module(name=name, path=path, manifest=manifest)