diff --git a/tools/monorel/main.go b/tools/monorel/main.go
index ecee110..bc3c705 100644
--- a/tools/monorel/main.go
+++ b/tools/monorel/main.go
@@ -145,7 +145,11 @@ func runRelease(args []string) {
 	fmt.Println("# Generated by monorel — review carefully before running!")
 	fmt.Println("set -euo pipefail")
 
-	for _, group := range groups {
+	for i, group := range groups {
+		if i > 0 {
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr)
+		}
+		printGroupHeader(cwd, group)
 		relPath, _ := filepath.Rel(cwd, group.root)
 		relPath = filepath.ToSlash(relPath)
 		processModule(group, relPath)
@@ -206,7 +210,12 @@ func runBump(args []string) {
 	if err != nil {
 		fatalf("%v", err)
 	}
-	for _, group := range groups {
+	cwd, _ := os.Getwd()
+	for i, group := range groups {
+		if i > 0 {
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr)
+		}
+		printGroupHeader(cwd, group)
 		newTag := bumpModuleTag(group, component, force, dryRun)
 		switch {
 		case newTag == "":
@@ -259,7 +268,12 @@ func runInit(args []string) {
 	if err != nil {
 		fatalf("%v", err)
 	}
-	for _, group := range groups {
+	cwd, _ := os.Getwd()
+	for i, group := range groups {
+		if i > 0 {
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr)
+		}
+		printGroupHeader(cwd, group)
 		initModuleGroup(group, dryRun)
 	}
 }
@@ -274,7 +288,8 @@ func initModuleGroup(group *moduleGroup, dryRun bool) {
 	prefix := mustRunIn(modRoot, "git", "rev-parse", "--show-prefix")
 	prefix = strings.TrimSuffix(prefix, "/")
 	if prefix == "" {
-		fatalf("%s appears to be the repo root; the module must be in a subdirectory", modRoot)
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "monorel: skip: %s is at the repository root; binaries at the repo root cannot have prefixed tags\n", modRoot)
+		return
 	}
 	prefixParts := strings.Split(prefix, "/")
 	projectName := prefixParts[len(prefixParts)-1]
@@ -379,7 +394,8 @@ func bumpModuleTag(group *moduleGroup, component string, force, dryRun bool) str
 	prefix := mustRunIn(modRoot, "git", "rev-parse", "--show-prefix")
 	prefix = strings.TrimSuffix(prefix, "/")
 	if prefix == "" {
-		fatalf("%s appears to be the repo root; the module must be in a subdirectory", modRoot)
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "monorel: skip: %s is at the repository root; binaries at the repo root cannot have prefixed tags\n", modRoot)
+		return ""
 	}
 
 	latestStable := findLatestStableTag(modRoot, prefix)
@@ -653,6 +669,29 @@ func groupByModule(args []string) ([]*moduleGroup, error) {
 
 // ── Per-module processing ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
+// printGroupHeader writes "found binary …" and "found module …" lines to
+// stderr before each module is processed, providing progress feedback during
+// recursive operations.
+func printGroupHeader(cwd string, group *moduleGroup) {
+	modRel, _ := filepath.Rel(cwd, group.root)
+	modRel = filepath.ToSlash(modRel)
+	for _, bin := range group.bins {
+		suffix := strings.TrimPrefix(bin.mainPath, "./")
+		var binPath string
+		if suffix == "." || suffix == "" {
+			binPath = "./" + modRel
+		} else {
+			binPath = "./" + filepath.ToSlash(filepath.Join(modRel, suffix))
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "found binary %s\n", binPath)
+	}
+	modLabel := "./" + modRel
+	if !strings.HasSuffix(modLabel, "/") {
+		modLabel += "/"
+	}
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "found module %s\n", modLabel)
+}
+
 // processModule writes .goreleaser.yaml and emits the release-script section
 // for one module group.  relPath is the path from the caller's CWD to the
 // module root; it is used in the script for all paths so that the script can
@@ -666,7 +705,8 @@ func processModule(group *moduleGroup, relPath string) {
 	prefix := mustRunIn(modRoot, "git", "rev-parse", "--show-prefix")
 	prefix = strings.TrimSuffix(prefix, "/")
 	if prefix == "" {
-		fatalf("%s appears to be the repo root; the module must be in a subdirectory", modRoot)
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "monorel: skip: %s is at the repository root; binaries at the repo root cannot have prefixed tags\n", modRoot)
+		return
 	}
 
 	prefixParts := strings.Split(prefix, "/")