diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 4d5e286..cead6cf 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -44,11 +44,13 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "bech32 0.11.0",
+ "built",
  "clap",
  "envpath",
  "gasket",
  "hex",
  "indicatif",
+ "indoc",
  "insta",
  "miette 7.2.0",
  "opentelemetry",
@@ -524,6 +526,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "zeroize",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "built"
+version = "0.7.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c360505aed52b7ec96a3636c3f039d99103c37d1d9b4f7a8c743d3ea9ffcd03b"
+dependencies = [
+ "git2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bumpalo"
 version = "3.16.0"
@@ -1226,6 +1237,19 @@ version = "0.31.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "07e28edb80900c19c28f1072f2e8aeca7fa06b23cd4169cefe1af5aa3260783f"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "git2"
+version = "0.19.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b903b73e45dc0c6c596f2d37eccece7c1c8bb6e4407b001096387c63d0d93724"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "libc",
+ "libgit2-sys",
+ "log",
+ "url",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "glob"
 version = "0.3.1"
@@ -1615,6 +1639,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "web-time",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "indoc"
+version = "2.0.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b248f5224d1d606005e02c97f5aa4e88eeb230488bcc03bc9ca4d7991399f2b5"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "insta"
 version = "1.41.1"
@@ -1744,6 +1774,18 @@ version = "0.2.161"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8e9489c2807c139ffd9c1794f4af0ebe86a828db53ecdc7fea2111d0fed085d1"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "libgit2-sys"
+version = "0.17.0+1.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "10472326a8a6477c3c20a64547b0059e4b0d086869eee31e6d7da728a8eb7224"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "libc",
+ "libz-sys",
+ "pkg-config",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "libloading"
 version = "0.8.5"
@@ -1793,6 +1835,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d2d16453e800a8cf6dd2fc3eb4bc99b786a9b90c663b8559a5b1a041bf89e472"
 dependencies = [
  "cc",
+ "libc",
  "pkg-config",
  "vcpkg",
 ]
diff --git a/crates/amaru/Cargo.toml b/crates/amaru/Cargo.toml
index 1b7886e..8eee069 100644
--- a/crates/amaru/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/amaru/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ homepage = "https://github.com/pragma-org/amaru"
 documentation = "https://docs.rs/amaru"
 readme = "README.md"
 rust-version = "1.81.0"
+build = "build.rs"
 
 [dependencies]
 async-trait = "0.1.83"
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ clap = { version = "4.5.20", features = ["derive"] }
 gasket = { version = "0.8.0", features = ["derive"] }
 hex = "0.4.3"
 miette = "7.2.0"
+indoc = "2.0"
 ouroboros = { git = "https://github.com/pragma-org/ouroboros", rev = "ca1d447a6c106e421e6c2b1c7d9d59abf5ca9589" }
 ouroboros-praos = { git = "https://github.com/pragma-org/ouroboros", rev = "ca1d447a6c106e421e6c2b1c7d9d59abf5ca9589" }
 pallas-addresses = "0.31.0"
@@ -39,10 +41,17 @@ serde = "1.0.215"
 bech32 = "0.11.0"
 opentelemetry = { version = "0.27.1" }
 opentelemetry_sdk = { version = "0.27.1", features = ["async-std", "rt-tokio"] }
-opentelemetry-otlp = { version = "0.27.0", features = ["grpc-tonic", "http-proto", "reqwest-client"] }
+opentelemetry-otlp = { version = "0.27.0", features = [
+    "grpc-tonic",
+    "http-proto",
+    "reqwest-client",
+] }
 tracing-opentelemetry = { version = "0.28.0" }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 envpath = { version = "0.0.1-beta.3", features = ["rand"] }
 insta = { version = "1.41.1", features = ["json"] }
 proptest = "1.5.0"
+
+[build-dependencies]
+built = { version = "0.7.1", features = ["git2"] }
diff --git a/crates/amaru/build.rs b/crates/amaru/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8f91cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/amaru/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+fn main() {
+    built::write_built_file().expect("Failed to acquire build-time information");
+}
diff --git a/crates/amaru/src/bin/amaru/main.rs b/crates/amaru/src/bin/amaru/main.rs
index 79e278f..f64706f 100644
--- a/crates/amaru/src/bin/amaru/main.rs
+++ b/crates/amaru/src/bin/amaru/main.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
 use opentelemetry::metrics::Counter;
+use panic::panic_handler;
 use std::env;
 
 mod cmd;
 mod config;
 mod exit;
+mod panic;
 
 pub const SERVICE_NAME: &str = "amaru";
 
@@ -28,6 +30,8 @@ struct Cli {
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> miette::Result<()> {
+    panic_handler();
+
     let counter = setup_tracing();
 
     let args = Cli::parse();
diff --git a/crates/amaru/src/bin/amaru/panic.rs b/crates/amaru/src/bin/amaru/panic.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f96e360
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/amaru/src/bin/amaru/panic.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+/// Installs a panic handler that prints some useful diagnostics and
+/// asks the user to report the issue.
+pub fn panic_handler() {
+    std::panic::set_hook(Box::new(move |info| {
+        let message = info
+            .payload()
+            .downcast_ref::<&str>()
+            .map(|s| (*s).to_string())
+            .or_else(|| {
+                info.payload()
+                    .downcast_ref::<String>()
+                    .map(|s| s.to_string())
+            })
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| "unknown error".to_string());
+
+        let location = info.location().map_or_else(
+            || "".into(),
+            |location| {
+                format!(
+                    "{}:{}:{}\n\n    ",
+                    location.file(),
+                    location.line(),
+                    location.column(),
+                )
+            },
+        );
+
+        // We present the user with a helpful and welcoming error message;
+        // Block producing nodes should be considered mission critical software, and so
+        // They should endeavor *never* to crash, and should always handle and recover from errors.
+        // So if the process panics, it should be treated as a bug, and we very much want the user to report it.
+        // TODO(pi): We could go a step further, and prefill some issue details like title, body, labels, etc.
+        //           using query parameters: https://github.com/sindresorhus/new-github-issue-url?tab=readme-ov-file#api
+        let error_message = indoc::formatdoc! {
+            r#"{fatal}
+                        Whoops! The Amaru process panicked, rather than handling the error it encountered gracefully.
+
+                        This is almost certainly a bug, and we'd appreciate a report so we can improve Amaru.
+
+                        Please report this error at https://github.com/pragma-org/amaru/issues/new.
+
+                        In your bug report please provide the information below and if possible the code
+                        that produced it.
+                        {info}
+
+                        {location}{message}"#,
+            info = node_info(),
+            fatal = "amaru::fatal::error",
+            location = location,
+        };
+
+        println!("\n{}", indent(&error_message, 3));
+    }));
+}
+
+// TODO: pulled from aiken; should we have our own utility crate for pretty printing?
+// https://github.com/aiken-lang/aiken/blob/main/crates/aiken-project/src/pretty.rs#L126C1-L134C2
+pub fn indent(lines: &str, n: usize) -> String {
+    let tab = pad_left(String::new(), n, " ");
+    lines
+        .lines()
+        .map(|line| format!("{tab}{line}"))
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+        .join("\n")
+}
+
+pub fn pad_left(mut text: String, n: usize, delimiter: &str) -> String {
+    let diff = n as i32 - text.len() as i32;
+    if diff.is_positive() {
+        for _ in 0..diff {
+            text.insert_str(0, delimiter);
+        }
+    }
+    text
+}
+
+// TODO: pulled from aiken; should we have our own config utility crate?
+// https://github.com/aiken-lang/aiken/blob/main/crates/aiken-project/src/config.rs#L382C1-L393C2
+mod built_info {
+    include!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/built.rs"));
+}
+
+pub fn node_info() -> String {
+    format!(
+        r#"
+Operating System: {}
+Architecture:     {}
+Version:          {}"#,
+        built_info::CFG_OS,
+        built_info::CFG_TARGET_ARCH,
+        node_version(true),
+    )
+}
+
+pub fn node_version(include_commit_hash: bool) -> String {
+    let version = built_info::PKG_VERSION;
+    let suffix = if include_commit_hash {
+        format!(
+            "+{}",
+            built_info::GIT_COMMIT_HASH_SHORT.unwrap_or("unknown")
+        )
+    } else {
+        "".to_string()
+    };
+    format!("v{version}{suffix}")
+}