diff --git a/src/kit/shell/src/shellEngine.c b/src/kit/shell/src/shellEngine.c
index c54cd9fa75331419efeeee8c36e5a93f1a4faaf9..167547349363fed08f87012bccdd3ecbdf2d81b5 100644
--- a/src/kit/shell/src/shellEngine.c
+++ b/src/kit/shell/src/shellEngine.c
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ TAOS *shellInit(SShellArguments *_args) {
   }
 
   if (con == NULL) {
+    printf("\033[31mfailed to connect to db, reason:%s\033[0m\n", taos_errstr(con));
     fflush(stdout);
     return con;
   }