diff --git a/cmd/dep/ensure.go b/cmd/dep/ensure.go
index 93bdac23e7..c23776c0a6 100644
--- a/cmd/dep/ensure.go
+++ b/cmd/dep/ensure.go
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"flag"
 	"go/build"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
@@ -252,7 +254,11 @@ func (cmd *ensureCommand) runDefault(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string, p *dep.Project
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		return errors.WithMessage(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, true), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor")
+		logger := ctx.Err
+		if !ctx.Verbose {
+			logger = log.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0)
+		}
+		return errors.WithMessage(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, true, logger), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor")
 	}
 
 	solution, err := solver.Solve()
@@ -269,7 +275,11 @@ func (cmd *ensureCommand) runDefault(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string, p *dep.Project
 		return sw.PrintPreparedActions(ctx.Out)
 	}
 
-	return errors.Wrap(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, false), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor")
+	logger := ctx.Err
+	if !ctx.Verbose {
+		logger = log.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0)
+	}
+	return errors.Wrap(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, false, logger), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor")
 }
 
 func (cmd *ensureCommand) runVendorOnly(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string, p *dep.Project, sm gps.SourceManager, params gps.SolveParameters) error {
@@ -289,10 +299,20 @@ func (cmd *ensureCommand) runVendorOnly(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string, p *dep.Proj
 
 	if cmd.dryRun {
 		ctx.Out.Printf("Would have populated vendor/ directory from %s", dep.LockName)
+		if ctx.Verbose {
+			err := sw.PrintPreparedActions(ctx.Err)
+			if err != nil {
+				return errors.WithMessage(err, "prepared actions")
+			}
+		}
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	return errors.WithMessage(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, true), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor")
+	logger := ctx.Err
+	if !ctx.Verbose {
+		logger = log.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0)
+	}
+	return errors.WithMessage(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, true, logger), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor")
 }
 
 func (cmd *ensureCommand) runUpdate(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string, p *dep.Project, sm gps.SourceManager, params gps.SolveParameters) error {
@@ -379,7 +399,11 @@ func (cmd *ensureCommand) runUpdate(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string, p *dep.Project,
 		return sw.PrintPreparedActions(ctx.Out)
 	}
 
-	return errors.Wrap(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, false), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor")
+	logger := ctx.Err
+	if !ctx.Verbose {
+		logger = log.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0)
+	}
+	return errors.Wrap(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, false, logger), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor")
 }
 
 func (cmd *ensureCommand) runAdd(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string, p *dep.Project, sm gps.SourceManager, params gps.SolveParameters) error {
@@ -610,7 +634,11 @@ func (cmd *ensureCommand) runAdd(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string, p *dep.Project, sm
 		return sw.PrintPreparedActions(ctx.Out)
 	}
 
-	if err := errors.Wrap(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, true), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor"); err != nil {
+	logger := ctx.Err
+	if !ctx.Verbose {
+		logger = log.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0)
+	}
+	if err := errors.Wrap(sw.Write(p.AbsRoot, sm, true, logger), "grouped write of manifest, lock and vendor"); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/dep/init.go b/cmd/dep/init.go
index 1afab53d66..65547733c3 100644
--- a/cmd/dep/init.go
+++ b/cmd/dep/init.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"flag"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"time"
@@ -201,7 +203,11 @@ func (cmd *initCommand) Run(ctx *dep.Ctx, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if err := sw.Write(root, sm, !cmd.noExamples); err != nil {
+	logger := ctx.Err
+	if !ctx.Verbose {
+		logger = log.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0)
+	}
+	if err := sw.Write(root, sm, !cmd.noExamples, logger); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "safe write of manifest and lock")
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/dep/prune.go b/cmd/dep/prune.go
index 5690dc4aae..94f057028e 100644
--- a/cmd/dep/prune.go
+++ b/cmd/dep/prune.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func pruneProject(p *dep.Project, sm gps.SourceManager, logger *log.Logger) erro
 	}
 	defer os.RemoveAll(td)
 
-	if err := gps.WriteDepTree(td, p.Lock, sm, true); err != nil {
+	if err := gps.WriteDepTree(td, p.Lock, sm, true, logger); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/gps/lock.go b/internal/gps/lock.go
index f221ad997b..661bf63dd2 100644
--- a/internal/gps/lock.go
+++ b/internal/gps/lock.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package gps
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
 	"sort"
 )
 
@@ -195,6 +196,11 @@ func (lp LockedProject) Packages() []string {
 	return lp.pkgs
 }
 
+func (lp LockedProject) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s@%s with packages: %v",
+		lp.Ident().errString(), lp.Version(), lp.pkgs)
+}
+
 type safeLock struct {
 	h []byte
 	p []LockedProject
diff --git a/internal/gps/lock_test.go b/internal/gps/lock_test.go
index 8b6ef6f99e..a985b40b01 100644
--- a/internal/gps/lock_test.go
+++ b/internal/gps/lock_test.go
@@ -128,3 +128,54 @@ func TestLocksAreEq(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("should fail when individual lp were not eq")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestLockedProjectsString(t *testing.T) {
+	tt := []struct {
+		name string
+		lp   LockedProject
+		want string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "full info",
+			lp:   NewLockedProject(mkPI("github.com/sdboyer/gps"), NewVersion("v0.10.0"), []string{"gps"}),
+			want: "github.com/sdboyer/gps@v0.10.0 with packages: [gps]",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "empty package list",
+			lp:   NewLockedProject(mkPI("github.com/sdboyer/gps"), NewVersion("v0.10.0"), []string{}),
+			want: "github.com/sdboyer/gps@v0.10.0 with packages: []",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nil package",
+			lp:   NewLockedProject(mkPI("github.com/sdboyer/gps"), NewVersion("v0.10.0"), nil),
+			want: "github.com/sdboyer/gps@v0.10.0 with packages: []",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "with source",
+			lp: NewLockedProject(
+				ProjectIdentifier{ProjectRoot: "github.com/sdboyer/gps", Source: "github.com/another/repo"},
+				NewVersion("v0.10.0"), []string{"."}),
+			want: "github.com/sdboyer/gps (from github.com/another/repo)@v0.10.0 with packages: [.]",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "version pair",
+			lp:   NewLockedProject(mkPI("github.com/sdboyer/gps"), NewVersion("v0.10.0").Pair("278a227dfc3d595a33a77ff3f841fd8ca1bc8cd0"), []string{"gps"}),
+			want: "github.com/sdboyer/gps@v0.10.0 with packages: [gps]",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "revision only",
+			lp:   NewLockedProject(mkPI("github.com/sdboyer/gps"), Revision("278a227dfc3d595a33a77ff3f841fd8ca1bc8cd0"), []string{"gps"}),
+			want: "github.com/sdboyer/gps@278a227dfc3d595a33a77ff3f841fd8ca1bc8cd0 with packages: [gps]",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range tt {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			s := tc.lp.String()
+			if tc.want != s {
+				t.Fatalf("want %s, got %s", tc.want, s)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/internal/gps/result.go b/internal/gps/result.go
index 504b02368b..3e3f982947 100644
--- a/internal/gps/result.go
+++ b/internal/gps/result.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package gps
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 )
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ type solution struct {
 // It requires a SourceManager to do the work, and takes a flag indicating
 // whether or not to strip vendor directories contained in the exported
 // dependencies.
-func WriteDepTree(basedir string, l Lock, sm SourceManager, sv bool) error {
+func WriteDepTree(basedir string, l Lock, sm SourceManager, sv bool, logger *log.Logger) error {
 	if l == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("must provide non-nil Lock to WriteDepTree")
 	}
@@ -65,10 +66,11 @@ func WriteDepTree(basedir string, l Lock, sm SourceManager, sv bool) error {
 	for _, p := range l.Projects() {
 		to := filepath.FromSlash(filepath.Join(basedir, string(p.Ident().ProjectRoot)))
 
+		logger.Printf("Writing out %s@%s", p.Ident().errString(), p.Version())
 		err = sm.ExportProject(p.Ident(), p.Version(), to)
 		if err != nil {
 			removeAll(basedir)
-			return fmt.Errorf("error while exporting %s: %s", p.Ident().ProjectRoot, err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("error while exporting %s@%s: %s", p.Ident().errString(), p.Version(), err)
 		}
 		if sv {
 			filepath.Walk(to, stripVendor)
diff --git a/internal/gps/result_test.go b/internal/gps/result_test.go
index cc96a8e2cb..0385d48270 100644
--- a/internal/gps/result_test.go
+++ b/internal/gps/result_test.go
@@ -6,12 +6,15 @@ package gps
 
 import (
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 )
 
+var discardLogger = log.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0)
+
 var basicResult solution
 
 func pi(n string) ProjectIdentifier {
@@ -90,12 +93,12 @@ func testWriteDepTree(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// nil lock/result should err immediately
-	err = WriteDepTree(tmp, nil, sm, true)
+	err = WriteDepTree(tmp, nil, sm, true, discardLogger)
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Errorf("Should error if nil lock is passed to WriteDepTree")
 	}
 
-	err = WriteDepTree(tmp, r, sm, true)
+	err = WriteDepTree(tmp, r, sm, true, discardLogger)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("Unexpected error while creating vendor tree: %s", err)
 	}
@@ -143,7 +146,7 @@ func BenchmarkCreateVendorTree(b *testing.B) {
 			// ease manual inspection
 			os.RemoveAll(exp)
 			b.StartTimer()
-			err = WriteDepTree(exp, r, sm, true)
+			err = WriteDepTree(exp, r, sm, true, discardLogger)
 			b.StopTimer()
 			if err != nil {
 				b.Errorf("unexpected error after %v iterations: %s", i, err)
diff --git a/txn_writer.go b/txn_writer.go
index aeb8134168..8327c9d7db 100644
--- a/txn_writer.go
+++ b/txn_writer.go
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ func (sw SafeWriter) validate(root string, sm gps.SourceManager) error {
 // operations succeeded. It also does its best to roll back if any moves fail.
 // This mostly guarantees that dep cannot exit with a partial write that would
 // leave an undefined state on disk.
-func (sw *SafeWriter) Write(root string, sm gps.SourceManager, examples bool) error {
+func (sw *SafeWriter) Write(root string, sm gps.SourceManager, examples bool, logger *log.Logger) error {
 	err := sw.validate(root, sm)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ func (sw *SafeWriter) Write(root string, sm gps.SourceManager, examples bool) er
 	}
 
 	if sw.writeVendor {
-		err = gps.WriteDepTree(filepath.Join(td, "vendor"), sw.lock, sm, true)
+		err = gps.WriteDepTree(filepath.Join(td, "vendor"), sw.lock, sm, true, logger)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "error while writing out vendor tree")
 		}
@@ -449,13 +449,7 @@ func (sw *SafeWriter) PrintPreparedActions(output *log.Logger) error {
 	if sw.writeVendor {
 		output.Println("Would have written the following projects to the vendor directory:")
 		for _, project := range sw.lock.Projects() {
-			prj := project.Ident()
-			rev, _, _ := gps.VersionComponentStrings(project.Version())
-			if prj.Source == "" {
-				output.Printf("%s@%s\n", prj.ProjectRoot, rev)
-			} else {
-				output.Printf("%s -> %s@%s\n", prj.ProjectRoot, prj.Source, rev)
-			}
+			output.Println(project)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/txn_writer_test.go b/txn_writer_test.go
index ad550cd92d..2178954704 100644
--- a/txn_writer_test.go
+++ b/txn_writer_test.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_BadInput_MissingRoot(t *testing.T) {
 	defer pc.Release()
 
 	sw, _ := NewSafeWriter(nil, nil, nil, VendorOnChanged)
-	err := sw.Write("", pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write("", pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("should have errored without a root path, but did not")
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_BadInput_MissingSourceManager(t *testing.T) {
 	pc.Load()
 
 	sw, _ := NewSafeWriter(nil, nil, pc.Project.Lock, VendorAlways)
-	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, nil, true)
+	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, nil, true, discardLogger)
 
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("should have errored without a source manager when forceVendor is true, but did not")
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_BadInput_NonexistentRoot(t *testing.T) {
 	sw, _ := NewSafeWriter(nil, nil, nil, VendorOnChanged)
 
 	missingroot := filepath.Join(pc.Project.AbsRoot, "nonexistent")
-	err := sw.Write(missingroot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(missingroot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("should have errored with nonexistent dir for root path, but did not")
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_BadInput_RootIsFile(t *testing.T) {
 	sw, _ := NewSafeWriter(nil, nil, nil, VendorOnChanged)
 
 	fileroot := pc.CopyFile("fileroot", "txn_writer/badinput_fileroot")
-	err := sw.Write(fileroot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(fileroot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("should have errored when root path is a file, but did not")
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_Manifest(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Write changes
-	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_ManifestAndUnmodifiedLock(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Write changes
-	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_ManifestAndUnmodifiedLockWithForceVendor(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Write changes
-	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_ModifiedLock(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Write changes
-	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_ModifiedLockSkipVendor(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Write changes
-	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_ForceVendorWhenVendorAlreadyExists(t *testing.T) {
 	pc.Load()
 
 	sw, _ := NewSafeWriter(nil, pc.Project.Lock, pc.Project.Lock, VendorAlways)
-	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify prepared actions
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_ForceVendorWhenVendorAlreadyExists(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("Expected the payload to contain the vendor directory ")
 	}
 
-	err = sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err = sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_NewLock(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Write changes
-	err = sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err = sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_NewLockSkipVendor(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Write changes
-	err = sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err = sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ func TestSafeWriter_VendorDotGitPreservedWithForceVendor(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("Expected the payload to contain the vendor directory")
 	}
 
-	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true)
+	err := sw.Write(pc.Project.AbsRoot, pc.SourceManager, true, discardLogger)
 	h.Must(errors.Wrap(err, "SafeWriter.Write failed"))
 
 	// Verify file system changes