diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 55fb33e..2a65b13 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ View code ownership for every file right in the status bar. You'll get the name
 Quick access to the owning team's config file. Clicking on the status bar item will open a popup that includes a button that opens the team's config file. See [Code Teams](https://github.com/rubyatscale/code_teams) for more information on team config files.
 
 ## Installation
+
 [Install from Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Gusto.code-ownership-vscode)
 
 ## Requirements
diff --git a/src/extension.ts b/src/extension.ts
index e1b53a8..96c18cd 100644
--- a/src/extension.ts
+++ b/src/extension.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { relative, resolve, sep } from 'path';
 import * as cp from 'child_process';
 import { readFile } from 'fs/promises';
+import { existsSync } from 'fs';
 
 import * as yaml from 'js-yaml';
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
@@ -9,7 +10,8 @@ let channel: vscode.OutputChannel;
 
 function run(file: string | vscode.Uri | null | undefined) {
   if (!file) {
-    run(vscode.window.activeTextEditor?.document.uri);
+    if (!vscode.window.activeTextEditor) return;
+    run(vscode.window.activeTextEditor.document.uri);
     return;
   }
 
@@ -200,6 +202,7 @@ class StatusProvider implements vscode.Disposable {
 
   private _status: Status = 'idle';
   private _owner: Owner | undefined = undefined;
+  private _isConfigured: boolean | null = null;
 
   get status(): Status {
     return this._status;
@@ -217,6 +220,14 @@ class StatusProvider implements vscode.Disposable {
     this.update();
   }
 
+  get isConfigured(): boolean | null {
+    return this._isConfigured;
+  }
+  set isConfigured(value: boolean | null) {
+    this._isConfigured = value;
+    this.update();
+  }
+
   private update() {
     if (this.status === 'error') {
       this.statusBarItem.command = 'code-ownership-vscode.showOutputChannel';
@@ -237,9 +248,14 @@ class StatusProvider implements vscode.Disposable {
         this.statusBarItem.text = `$(account) Owner: ${this.owner.teamName}`;
         this.statusBarItem.tooltip = undefined;
         this.statusBarItem.show();
+      } else if (this.isConfigured === false) {
+        this.statusBarItem.text = `$(info) Ownership: not configured`;
+        this.statusBarItem.tooltip =
+          'This workspace is not configured for code ownership';
+        this.statusBarItem.show();
       } else {
         this.statusBarItem.text = `$(warning) Owner: none`;
-        this.statusBarItem.tooltip = undefined;
+        this.statusBarItem.tooltip = 'This file has no assigned team ownership';
         this.statusBarItem.show();
       }
     }
@@ -251,92 +267,129 @@ class StatusProvider implements vscode.Disposable {
 }
 
 class Worker implements vscode.Disposable {
+  private isConfigured: boolean | null = null;
+
   constructor(
     private readonly workspace: vscode.WorkspaceFolder,
     private readonly statusProvider: StatusProvider,
-  ) {}
+  ) {
+    this.checkConfiguration();
+  }
+
+  private async checkConfiguration(): Promise<void> {
+    const binaryPath = resolve(this.workspace.uri.fsPath, 'bin/codeownership');
+    this.isConfigured = existsSync(binaryPath);
+    this.statusProvider.isConfigured = this.isConfigured;
+
+    if (!this.isConfigured) {
+      log(
+        'info',
+        `No code ownership binary found in workspace: ${this.workspace.name}`,
+      );
+    } else {
+      log(
+        'info',
+        `Code ownership binary found in workspace: ${this.workspace.name}`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
 
   workspaceHas(file: vscode.Uri): boolean {
     return file.fsPath.startsWith(this.workspace.uri.fsPath);
   }
 
   async run(file: vscode.Uri): Promise<void> {
-    if (this.workspaceHas(file)) {
-      this.statusProvider.status = 'working';
-
-      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 50));
-
-      // bin/codeownership currenlty wants relative paths
-      const cwd = this.workspace.uri.fsPath;
-      const relativePath = relative(cwd, file.fsPath);
-
-      logSpace();
-      log('debug', `cwd: ${cwd}`);
-      log('debug', `workspace: ${this.workspace.uri.fsPath}`);
-      log('debug', `file path: ${file.fsPath}`);
-      log('debug', `relative path: ${relativePath}`);
-
-      try {
-        const output = await runCommand(
-          cwd,
-          `bin/codeownership for_file "${relativePath}" --json`,
-          this.statusProvider,
-        );
+    if (!this.workspaceHas(file)) return;
 
-        const obj = JSON.parse(output);
+    if (this.isConfigured === null) {
+      await this.checkConfiguration();
+    }
 
-        if (typeof obj.team_name !== 'string') {
-          log(
-            'warning',
-            'Missing expected property `team_name` in command output',
-          );
-        }
-        if (typeof obj.team_yml !== 'string') {
-          log(
-            'warning',
-            'Missing expected property `team_yml` in command output',
-          );
-        }
+    if (!this.isConfigured) {
+      this.statusProvider.owner = undefined;
+      this.statusProvider.status = 'idle';
+      return;
+    }
 
-        if (
-          typeof obj.team_name === 'string' &&
-          typeof obj.team_yml === 'string' &&
-          obj.team_name !== 'Unowned'
-        ) {
-          const teamConfig = resolve(this.workspace.uri.fsPath, obj.team_yml);
-
-          const actions: UserAction[] = [];
-
-          const slackChannel = await getSlackChannel(teamConfig);
-
-          if (slackChannel) {
-            actions.push({
-              title: `Slack: #${slackChannel}`,
-              uri: vscode.Uri.parse(
-                `https://slack.com/app_redirect?channel=${slackChannel}`,
-              ),
-            });
-          }
-
-          actions.push({
-            title: 'View team config',
-            uri: vscode.Uri.parse(teamConfig),
-          });
-
-          this.statusProvider.owner = {
-            filepath: file.fsPath,
-            teamName: obj.team_name,
-            teamConfig,
-            actions,
-          };
-        } else {
-          this.statusProvider.owner = undefined;
-        }
+    this.statusProvider.status = 'working';
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 50));
+
+    const cwd = this.workspace.uri.fsPath;
+    const relativePath = relative(cwd, file.fsPath);
+
+    logSpace();
+    log('info', `Checking ownership for ${relativePath}`);
+    log('debug', `cwd: ${cwd}`);
+    log('debug', `workspace: ${this.workspace.uri.fsPath}`);
+    log('debug', `file path: ${file.fsPath}`);
+
+    // Run ownership check
+    const output = await runCommand(
+      cwd,
+      `bin/codeownership for_file "${relativePath}" --json`,
+      this.statusProvider,
+    );
+
+    if (!output) {
+      log('info', 'Code ownership check returned no output');
+      this.statusProvider.owner = undefined;
+      this.statusProvider.status = 'idle';
+      return;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      const obj = JSON.parse(output);
+
+      if (!obj.team_name) {
+        log('info', 'No team name found in ownership data');
+        this.statusProvider.owner = undefined;
         this.statusProvider.status = 'idle';
-      } catch {
-        this.statusProvider.status = 'error';
-        log('error', 'Error parsing command output');
+        return;
       }
+
+      if (!obj.team_yml) {
+        log('info', 'No team config file found in ownership data');
+        this.statusProvider.owner = undefined;
+        this.statusProvider.status = 'idle';
+        return;
+      }
+
+      if (obj.team_name === 'Unowned') {
+        log('info', 'File is explicitly unowned');
+        this.statusProvider.owner = undefined;
+        this.statusProvider.status = 'idle';
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const teamConfig = resolve(this.workspace.uri.fsPath, obj.team_yml);
+      const actions: UserAction[] = [];
+
+      const slackChannel = await getSlackChannel(teamConfig);
+      if (slackChannel) {
+        actions.push({
+          title: `Slack: #${slackChannel}`,
+          uri: vscode.Uri.parse(
+            `https://slack.com/app_redirect?channel=${slackChannel}`,
+          ),
+        });
+      }
+
+      actions.push({
+        title: 'View team config',
+        uri: vscode.Uri.parse(teamConfig),
+      });
+
+      this.statusProvider.owner = {
+        filepath: file.fsPath,
+        teamName: obj.team_name,
+        teamConfig,
+        actions,
+      };
+      this.statusProvider.status = 'idle';
+    } catch (error) {
+      log('info', `Invalid ownership data format: ${error.message}`);
+      this.statusProvider.owner = undefined;
+      this.statusProvider.status = 'idle';
     }
   }