diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6250c413..0dcbf821 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -185,3 +185,7 @@ baselayer_doc_reqs:
 
 baselayer_html: | baselayer_doc_reqs
 	export SPHINXOPTS=-W; make -C doc html
+
+db: ## Connect to the database with psql
+db:
+	@PYTHONPATH=. python ./baselayer/tools/db_connect.py
diff --git a/app/handlers/base.py b/app/handlers/base.py
index 19352c66..35bb5e15 100644
--- a/app/handlers/base.py
+++ b/app/handlers/base.py
@@ -79,8 +79,16 @@ def write_error(self, status_code, exc_info=None):
         self.render("loginerror.html", app=cfg["app"], error_message=str(err))
 
     def log_exception(self, typ=None, value=None, tb=None):
-        if "Authentication Error:" in str(value):
-            log(value)
+        expected_exceptions = [
+            "Authentication Error:",
+            "User account expired",
+            "Credentials malformed",
+            "Method Not Allowed",
+            "Unauthorized"
+        ]
+        v_str = str(value)
+        if any(exception in v_str for exception in expected_exceptions):
+            log(f"Error response returned by [{self.request.path}]: [{v_str}]")
         else:
             app_log.error(
                 "Uncaught exception %s\n%r",
@@ -305,9 +313,6 @@ def error(self, message, data={}, status=400, extra={}):
         extra : dict
             Extra fields to be included in the response.
         """
-        if not (status == 404 and self.request.method == "HEAD"):
-            log(f"Error response returned by [{self.request.path}]: [{message}]")
-
         self.set_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
         self.set_status(status)
         self.write({"status": "error", "message": message, "data": data, **extra})
diff --git a/tools/db_connect.py b/tools/db_connect.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..46c15a88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/db_connect.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+import os
+import sys
+
+from baselayer.app.env import load_env
+
+env, cfg = load_env()
+db = cfg["database.database"]
+
+user = cfg["database.user"] or db
+host = cfg["database.host"]
+port = cfg["database.port"]
+password = cfg["database.password"]
+
+flags = f"-U {user}"
+
+if password:
+    psql_cmd = f'PGPASSWORD="{password}" {psql_cmd}'
+flags += " --no-password"
+
+if host:
+    flags += f" -h {host}"
+
+if port:
+    flags += f" -p {port}"
+
+cmd = f'psql {flags}'.split()
+return_code = os.spawnvpe(os.P_WAIT, cmd[0], cmd, os.environ)
+if return_code == 127:
+    sys.stderr.write(f'{cmd[0]}: command not found\n')
+
+sys.exit(return_code)