diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bbf9bb7176..ac08b56525 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -114,9 +114,9 @@ cli: ## Build CLI binary. NOTE: 1) a separate go.mod, 2) static linkage with cgo
 	@echo "Building ais (CLI) => $(BUILD_DEST)/ais [build tags:$(BUILD_TAGS)]"
 ifdef CROSS_COMPILE_CLI
 	cd $(BUILD_DIR)/cli && \
-	$(CROSS_COMPILE_CLI) go build -o ./ais $(BUILD_FLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) *.go && mv ./ais $(BUILD_DEST)/.
+	$(CROSS_COMPILE_CLI) go build -o ./ais -tags="$(BUILD_TAGS)" $(BUILD_FLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) *.go && mv ./ais $(BUILD_DEST)/.
 else
-	@cd $(BUILD_DIR)/cli && $(CGO_DISABLE) go build -o $(BUILD_DEST)/ais $(BUILD_FLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) *.go
+	@cd $(BUILD_DIR)/cli && $(CGO_DISABLE) go build -o $(BUILD_DEST)/ais -tags="$(BUILD_TAGS)" $(BUILD_FLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) *.go
 endif
 	@echo "*** To enable autocompletions in your current shell, run:"
 ifeq ($(AISTORE_PATH),$(PWD))
diff --git a/api/bucket.go b/api/bucket.go
index 646eac082d..e013f744b4 100644
--- a/api/bucket.go
+++ b/api/bucket.go
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ func HeadBucket(bp BaseParams, bck cmn.Bck, dontAddRemote bool) (p *cmn.Bprops,
 func hdr2msg(bck cmn.Bck, status int, err error) error {
 	herr, ok := err.(*cmn.ErrHTTP)
 	if !ok {
-		debug.FailTypeCast(err)
 		return err
 	}
 	debug.Assert(herr.Status == status)
diff --git a/api/client.go b/api/client.go
index 85cb2432b0..4d9055039b 100644
--- a/api/client.go
+++ b/api/client.go
@@ -116,12 +116,15 @@ func (reqParams *ReqParams) DoRequest() error {
 }
 
 // same as above except that it also returns response header
-func (reqParams *ReqParams) doReqHdr() (http.Header, int, error) {
+func (reqParams *ReqParams) doReqHdr() (_ http.Header, status int, _ error) {
 	resp, err := reqParams.do()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, resp.StatusCode, err
+	if err == nil {
+		return resp.Header, resp.StatusCode, reqParams.cdc(resp)
+	}
+	if resp != nil {
+		status = resp.StatusCode
 	}
-	return resp.Header, resp.StatusCode, reqParams.cdc(resp)
+	return nil, status, err
 }
 
 // Makes request via do(), decodes `resp.Body` into the `out` structure,
diff --git a/bench/tools/aisloader/run.go b/bench/tools/aisloader/run.go
index 2fea75fcd4..5b8cc0216f 100644
--- a/bench/tools/aisloader/run.go
+++ b/bench/tools/aisloader/run.go
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ const (
 	wo2FreeDelay = 3*time.Second + time.Millisecond
 
 	ua = "aisloader"
+
+	defaultClusterIP   = "localhost"
+	defaultClusterIPv4 = "127.0.0.1"
 )
 
 type (
@@ -501,7 +504,7 @@ func addCmdLine(f *flag.FlagSet, p *params) {
 	f.StringVar(&p.bck.Provider, "provider", apc.AIS,
 		"ais - for AIS bucket, \"aws\", \"azure\", \"gcp\", \"hdfs\"  for Azure, Amazon, Google, and HDFS clouds respectively")
 
-	f.StringVar(&ip, "ip", "localhost", "AIS proxy/gateway IP address or hostname")
+	f.StringVar(&ip, "ip", defaultClusterIP, "AIS proxy/gateway IP address or hostname")
 	f.StringVar(&port, "port", "8080", "AIS proxy/gateway port")
 
 	//
@@ -676,7 +679,7 @@ func validateCmdLine(p *params) (err error) {
 		if p.randomProxy {
 			return errors.New("command line options '-s3endpoint' and '-randomproxy' are mutually exclusive")
 		}
-		if ip != "" && ip != "localhost" && ip != "127.0.0.1" { // TODO: hardcoded default
+		if ip != "" && ip != defaultClusterIP && ip != defaultClusterIPv4 {
 			return errors.New("command line options '-s3endpoint' and '-ip' are mutually exclusive")
 		}
 		if port != "" && port != "8080" { // TODO: ditto
@@ -858,7 +861,7 @@ func validateCmdLine(p *params) (err error) {
 		// see also: tlsArgs
 		envEndpoint = os.Getenv(env.AIS.Endpoint)
 		if envEndpoint != "" {
-			if ip != "" {
+			if ip != "" && ip != defaultClusterIP && ip != defaultClusterIPv4 {
 				return fmt.Errorf("'%s=%s' environment and '--ip=%s' command-line are mutually exclusive",
 					env.AIS.Endpoint, envEndpoint, ip)
 			}
diff --git a/cmd/cli/cli/object.go b/cmd/cli/cli/object.go
index 0f0dc5f629..716990fb40 100644
--- a/cmd/cli/cli/object.go
+++ b/cmd/cli/cli/object.go
@@ -356,8 +356,10 @@ func propVal(op *cmn.ObjectProps, name string) (v string) {
 		}
 	case apc.GetPropsLocation:
 		v = op.Location
+	case apc.GetPropsStatus:
+		// no "object status" in `cmn.ObjectProps` - nothing to do (see also: `cmn.LsoEntry`)
 	default:
-		debug.Assert(false, name)
+		debug.Assert(false, "obj prop name: \""+name+"\"")
 	}
 	return
 }
diff --git a/cmd/cli/cli/utils.go b/cmd/cli/cli/utils.go
index c39c95ebfa..0941c3a6c3 100644
--- a/cmd/cli/cli/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/cli/cli/utils.go
@@ -458,7 +458,10 @@ func headBucket(bck cmn.Bck, dontAddBckMD bool) (p *cmn.Bprops, err error) {
 			err = fmt.Errorf("failed to HEAD bucket %q: %s", bck, herr.Message)
 		}
 	} else {
-		err = fmt.Errorf("failed to HEAD bucket %q: %v", bck, err)
+		msg := strings.ToLower(err.Error())
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(msg, "head \"http") && !strings.HasPrefix(msg, "head http") {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("failed to HEAD bucket %q: %v", bck, err)
+		}
 	}
 	return
 }
diff --git a/cmd/cli/cli/xact.go b/cmd/cli/cli/xact.go
index 1ee247492f..79bc1a3992 100644
--- a/cmd/cli/cli/xact.go
+++ b/cmd/cli/cli/xact.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func toShowMsg(c *cli.Context, xjid, prompt string, verbose bool) string {
 // Wait for the caller's started xaction to run until finished _or_ idle (NOTE),
 // warn if aborted
 func waitXact(apiBP api.BaseParams, args xact.ArgsMsg) error {
-	debug.Assert(xact.IsValidUUID(args.ID))
+	debug.Assert(args.ID == "" || xact.IsValidUUID(args.ID))
 	kind, xname := xact.GetKindName(args.Kind)
 	debug.Assert(kind != "") // relying on it to decide between APIs
 	if xact.IdlesBeforeFinishing(kind) {
diff --git a/cmn/debug/debug_on.go b/cmn/debug/debug_on.go
index d3293bc6e9..401b5b4cea 100644
--- a/cmn/debug/debug_on.go
+++ b/cmn/debug/debug_on.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ package debug
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"expvar"
+	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/pprof"
@@ -55,8 +56,12 @@ func _panic(a ...any) {
 			fmt.Fprintf(buffer, "%s:%d", f, line)
 		}
 	}
-	nlog.Errorf("%s", buffer.Bytes())
-	nlog.Flush(true)
+	if flag.Parsed() {
+		nlog.Errorln(buffer.String())
+		nlog.Flush(true)
+	} else {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, buffer.String())
+	}
 	panic(msg)
 }
 
diff --git a/deploy/dev/local/deploy.sh b/deploy/dev/local/deploy.sh
index 44b65e9fc1..407c6805d9 100755
--- a/deploy/dev/local/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy/dev/local/deploy.sh
@@ -255,6 +255,9 @@ if command -v pgrep &> /dev/null; then
    run_count=$(pgrep -a aisnode | grep -c "${NEXT_TIER}")
    if [[ "${run_count}" -eq $((TARGET_CNT + PROXY_CNT)) ]]; then
       echo "${listening_on}"
+      if [[ -z $DEPLOY_AS_NEXT_TIER ]]; then
+         echo "Primary endpoint: ${AIS_PRIMARY_URL}"
+      fi
    fi
 else
    echo "Warning: pgrep not found"