diff --git a/cli/app.go b/cli/app.go
index 42f4c0675..411231415 100644
--- a/cli/app.go
+++ b/cli/app.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package cli
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"path"
 	"sort"
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ on your $PATH.
 	Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
 		appType := c.Args().First()
 		if appType == "" {
-			cli.ShowSubcommandHelp(c)
+			errorExit(c, "new", errors.New("no app type provided"))
 			return nil
 		}
 
diff --git a/cli/errors.go b/cli/errors.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f4ffbc733
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/errors.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+)
+
+// errorExit exits the program on error, logs the error to the terminal, and shows the help command.
+// When passing command, use an empty string to get the base command, and for a subcommand, give the name of the subcommand
+// Example: "" for `app new` gets the app help, "new" gets the `new` subcommand help
+func errorExit(c *cli.Context, command string, err interface{}) {
+	cli.ShowCommandHelp(c, command)
+	logrus.Error(err)
+	os.Exit(1)
+}