diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index d5be4666..fa73ee07 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ services:
       - "8000:8000"
     volumes:
       - ./data/ingest:/data/ingest
+    # Use a TTY so colors are preserved in the log output
+    tty: true
 
   web:
     image: ghcr.io/microbiomedata/nmdc-server/client:main
diff --git a/nmdc_server/app.py b/nmdc_server/app.py
index ffa216be..67e77477 100644
--- a/nmdc_server/app.py
+++ b/nmdc_server/app.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 from nmdc_server import __version__, api, auth, errors
 from nmdc_server.config import settings
+from nmdc_server.database import after_cursor_execute, before_cursor_execute, listen
 from nmdc_server.static_files import generate_submission_schema_files, initialize_static_directory
 
 
@@ -35,6 +36,12 @@ def attach_sentry(app: FastAPI):
 
 
 def create_app(env: typing.Mapping[str, str]) -> FastAPI:
+    if settings.print_sql:
+        from sqlalchemy.engine import Engine
+
+        listen(Engine, "before_cursor_execute", before_cursor_execute)
+        listen(Engine, "after_cursor_execute", after_cursor_execute)
+
     def generate_and_mount_static_files():
         static_path = initialize_static_directory(remove_existing=True)
         generate_submission_schema_files(directory=static_path)
diff --git a/nmdc_server/cli.py b/nmdc_server/cli.py
index dde3c609..d1d5180e 100644
--- a/nmdc_server/cli.py
+++ b/nmdc_server/cli.py
@@ -238,6 +238,10 @@ def shell(print_sql: bool, script: Optional[Path]):
         exec_lines.append("settings.print_sql = True")
         print("SQL debugging is ON")
 
+    exec_lines.append("import os")
+    exec_lines.append("from nmdc_server.app import create_app")
+    exec_lines.append("app = create_app(env=os.environ.copy())")
+
     c = Config()
     c.InteractiveShellApp.exec_lines = exec_lines
     c.InteractiveShellApp.extensions = ["autoreload"]
diff --git a/nmdc_server/database.py b/nmdc_server/database.py
index 33156d4a..250284b8 100644
--- a/nmdc_server/database.py
+++ b/nmdc_server/database.py
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
+import sys
+import time
+import traceback
+
+import click
+import sqlparse
 from debug_toolbar.panels.sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemyPanel as BasePanel
+from pygments import highlight
+from pygments.formatters import TerminalFormatter
+from pygments.lexers import SqlLexer
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
 from sqlalchemy.event import listen
 from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
@@ -9,9 +18,63 @@
 from nmdc_server.multiomics import MultiomicsValue
 from nmdc_server.utils import json_serializer
 
+
+def pretty_format_sql(sql, params=None):
+    """
+    Interpolate SQL with params and add formatting and syntax highlighting.
+    """
+    if params and isinstance(params, dict):
+        sql = sql % {k: repr(v) for k, v in params.items()}
+    elif params:
+        raise Exception("Failed to format SQL for debug logging")
+
+    sql = sqlparse.format(
+        sql,
+        reindent=True,
+        keyword_case="upper",
+        wrap_after=80,
+        strip_whitespace=True,
+    )
+
+    return highlight(sql, SqlLexer(), TerminalFormatter())
+
+
+def before_cursor_execute(conn, cursor, statement, parameters, context, executemany):
+    conn.info.setdefault("query_start_time", []).append(time.time())
+
+
+def after_cursor_execute(conn, cursor, statement, parameters, context, executemany):
+    total = time.time() - conn.info["query_start_time"].pop()
+
+    stack = traceback.extract_stack()
+
+    caller = None
+    for frame in reversed(stack[:-1]):  # skip the current frame
+        # ignore frames that come from sqlalchemy directly
+        if "sqlalchemy" not in frame.filename:
+            caller = frame
+            break
+
+    if not executemany:
+        parameters = [parameters]
+
+    for parameter_set in parameters:
+        formatted_sql = pretty_format_sql(statement, parameter_set)
+        click.echo(formatted_sql, file=sys.stderr, nl=False)
+
+        if caller:
+            click.secho(
+                f"Source: {caller.filename}:{caller.lineno}",
+                fg="yellow",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
+        # This is technically the execution time for all of the queries in this commit. So for bulk
+        # operations, this will be the total execution time for the entire operation.
+        click.secho("Execution time: {:.3f}s\n".format(total), fg="red", bold=True, file=sys.stderr)
+
+
 _engine_kwargs = {
     "json_serializer": json_serializer,
-    "echo": settings.print_sql,
     "pool_size": settings.db_pool_size,
     "max_overflow": settings.db_pool_max_overflow,
 }
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 5d15e4cd..5e7fc3ab 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "sparqlslurper==0.5.1",
     "sparqlwrapper==2.0.0",
     "sqlalchemy<2",
+    "sqlparse==0.5.3",
     "stack-data==0.6.3",
     "starlette==0.38.6",
     "tomli==2.0.2",