diff --git a/assembly/Cargo.toml b/assembly/Cargo.toml
index 34e54d669a..c541dd81fa 100644
--- a/assembly/Cargo.toml
+++ b/assembly/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ doctest = false
 
 [features]
 default = ["std"]
-std = ["vm-core/std"]
+std = ["vm-core/std", "log/std"]
 
 [dependencies]
+log = { version = "0.4", default-features = false, optional = true }
 num_enum = "0.7"
 vm-core = { package = "miden-core", path = "../core", version = "0.8", default-features = false }
diff --git a/assembly/src/assembler/mod.rs b/assembly/src/assembler/mod.rs
index af92112779..dba05fd9d8 100644
--- a/assembly/src/assembler/mod.rs
+++ b/assembly/src/assembler/mod.rs
@@ -264,6 +264,12 @@ impl Assembler {
             }
         }
 
+        // log the completion of the module
+        log::debug!(
+            "\n - Module \"{}\" has been compiled",
+            path.unwrap_or(&LibraryPath::anon_path())
+        );
+
         Ok(proc_roots)
     }
 
diff --git a/miden/examples/merkle_store/merkle_store.masm b/miden/examples/merkle_store/merkle_store.masm
index c7c01d8f52..3d8fca8f90 100644
--- a/miden/examples/merkle_store/merkle_store.masm
+++ b/miden/examples/merkle_store/merkle_store.masm
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use.std::math::u64
+
 begin
     # push the root of the Partial Merkle Tree on the stack
     push.0x82bb4d9a8e93582f1387611949703eecd8e4c74b904880f9c9c85f1fc1d7576d
@@ -33,6 +35,11 @@ begin
     push.22.0.0.0
     assert_eqw
 
+
+
     dropw
 
+    push.1.2
+    exec.u64::checked_add
+
 end
diff --git a/miden/src/cli/data.rs b/miden/src/cli/data.rs
index aef6b6b691..0ff8927781 100644
--- a/miden/src/cli/data.rs
+++ b/miden/src/cli/data.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use serde_derive::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::{
     collections::HashMap,
     fs,
-    io::Write,
+    io::{stdout, Write},
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
     time::Instant,
 };
@@ -406,6 +406,7 @@ impl ProgramFile {
         L: Library,
     {
         print!("Compiling program... ");
+        stdout().flush().expect("Couldn't flush stdout");
         let now = Instant::now();
 
         // compile program
diff --git a/miden/src/cli/prove.rs b/miden/src/cli/prove.rs
index eb9b7d8d33..0c13cbf8d1 100644
--- a/miden/src/cli/prove.rs
+++ b/miden/src/cli/prove.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ use super::data::{Debug, InputFile, Libraries, OutputFile, ProgramFile, ProofFil
 use clap::Parser;
 use miden::ProvingOptions;
 use processor::{DefaultHost, ExecutionOptions, ExecutionOptionsError};
-use std::{io::Write, path::PathBuf, time::Instant};
+use std::{path::PathBuf, time::Instant};
 
 // TODO check if clap is supporting automatic generation of list values of hash function
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Parser)]
@@ -65,12 +65,6 @@ impl ProveCmd {
         println!("Prove program");
         println!("============================================================");
 
-        // configure logging
-        env_logger::Builder::new()
-            .format(|buf, record| writeln!(buf, "{}", record.args()))
-            .filter_level(log::LevelFilter::Debug)
-            .init();
-
         // load libraries from files
         let libraries = Libraries::new(&self.library_paths)?;
 
diff --git a/miden/src/main.rs b/miden/src/main.rs
index cd3e8bb64b..9e51f05725 100644
--- a/miden/src/main.rs
+++ b/miden/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use clap::Parser;
 use core::fmt;
 use miden::{AssemblyError, ExecutionError};
+use std::io::Write;
 
 mod cli;
 mod examples;
@@ -53,6 +54,16 @@ pub fn main() {
     // read command-line args
     let cli = Cli::parse();
 
+    // configure logging
+    // if logging level is not specified, set level to "warn"
+    if std::env::var("MIDEN_LOG").is_err() {
+        std::env::set_var("MIDEN_LOG", "warn");
+    }
+    // use "MIDEN_LOG" environment variable to change the logging level
+    env_logger::Builder::from_env("MIDEN_LOG")
+        .format(|buf, record| writeln!(buf, "{}", record.args()))
+        .init();
+
     // execute cli action
     if let Err(error) = cli.execute() {
         println!("{}", error);