diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 292b60a4..7c3ac842 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ uv run datacommons admin init
 
 The command will prompt for:
 - GCP project id
-- namespace
+- instance name
 - Data Commons API key
 
 It then creates a new folder with `main.tf`, `terraform.tfvars`, and a deployment `README.md`.
diff --git a/infra/dcp/README.md b/infra/dcp/README.md
index eada5b1b..79c92ebe 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/README.md
+++ b/infra/dcp/README.md
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ cp terraform.tfvars.template terraform.tfvars
 
 Edit `terraform.tfvars` and fill in at least the following required variables:
 *   `project_id`: Your GCP Project ID.
-*   `namespace`: A unique identifier for resource naming (e.g., your name or team name).
+*   `instance_name`: A unique identifier for resource naming (e.g., your name or team name).
 
 ### 2. Run the Setup Script
 
@@ -103,17 +103,17 @@ Upon successful apply, Terraform displays key endpoints and resource names:
 After successful deployment with `deploy_ingestion_workflow = true`, you can run the automated ingestion pipeline.
 
 ### Step 1: Upload your Schema file
-Upload your custom graph nodes file (`.mcf`) to the provisioned ingestion bucket. By default, the bucket name format is: `<namespace>-ingestion-bucket-<project_id>`.
+Upload your custom graph nodes file (`.mcf`) to the provisioned ingestion bucket. By default, the bucket name format is: `<instance-name>-ingestion-bucket-<project_id>`.
 
 ```bash
-gcloud storage cp path/to/your/sample.mcf gs://<namespace>-ingestion-bucket-<project_id>/imports/sample.mcf
+gcloud storage cp path/to/your/sample.mcf gs://<instance-name>-ingestion-bucket-<project_id>/imports/sample.mcf
 ```
 
 ### Step 2: Trigger the Workflow Orchestrator
 Trigger the Cloud Workflow to start the Dataflow job that will read the file and insert it into Spanner.
 
 ```bash
-gcloud workflows run <namespace>-ingestion-orchestrator \
+gcloud workflows run <instance-name>-ingestion-orchestrator \
   --project=<project_id> \
   --location=<region> \
   --data='{
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ gcloud workflows run <namespace>-ingestion-orchestrator \
     "region": "<region>",
     "spannerInstanceId": "<spanner-instance-id>",
     "spannerDatabaseId": "<spanner-database-id>",
-    "importList": "[{\"importName\": \"SampleTestCase\", \"graphPath\": \"gs://<namespace>-ingestion-bucket-<project_id>/imports/sample.mcf\"}]",
-    "tempLocation": "gs://<namespace>-ingestion-bucket-<project_id>/temp"
+    "importList": "[{\"importName\": \"SampleTestCase\", \"graphPath\": \"gs://<instance-name>-ingestion-bucket-<project_id>/imports/sample.mcf\"}]",
+    "tempLocation": "gs://<instance-name>-ingestion-bucket-<project_id>/temp"
   }'
 ```
 
diff --git a/infra/dcp/main.tf b/infra/dcp/main.tf
index b35157cc..67751b06 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/main.tf
@@ -59,13 +59,16 @@ resource "google_project_service" "apis" {
 }
 
 locals {
+  # For backward compatibility, fallback to namespace if instance_name is empty
+  effective_instance_name = var.instance_name != "" ? var.instance_name : var.namespace
+
   # Redirect abandoned 'latest' alias to 'stable' for Dataflow templates
   df_template_version = var.dcp_version == "latest" ? "stable" : var.dcp_version
 
   global_config = {
     project_id                    = var.project_id
     region                        = var.region
-    namespace                     = var.namespace
+    instance_name                 = local.effective_instance_name
     stateful_deletion_protection  = var.stateful_deletion_protection
     stateless_deletion_protection = var.stateless_deletion_protection
   }
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/auth/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/auth/main.tf
index be78a5e1..1421e300 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/auth/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/auth/main.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix               = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
+  name_prefix               = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
   google_maps_api_key_value = var.google_maps_api_key != null ? var.google_maps_api_key : try(google_apikeys_key.maps_api_key[0].key_string, "")
 }
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ resource "google_apikeys_key" "maps_api_key" {
   count = var.google_maps_api_key == null && var.create_google_maps_key ? 1 : 0
 
   name         = "${local.name_prefix}dc-google-maps-key-${random_id.api_key_suffix.hex}"
-  display_name = "Maps API Key for ${var.namespace != "" ? var.namespace : "Data Commons"}"
+  display_name = "Maps API Key for ${var.instance_name != "" ? var.instance_name : "Data Commons"}"
   project      = var.project_id
 
   restrictions {
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/auth/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/auth/variables.tf
index 09d894b3..2396a7f4 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/auth/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/auth/variables.tf
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ variable "project_id" {
   type = string
 }
 
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   type = string
 }
 
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/datacommons_services/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/datacommons_services/main.tf
index a95ae93e..5febde14 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/datacommons_services/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/datacommons_services/main.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
+  name_prefix = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
 }
 
 resource "google_service_account" "serving_sa" {
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/datacommons_services/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/datacommons_services/variables.tf
index dff9a37a..b1da6c49 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/datacommons_services/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/datacommons_services/variables.tf
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ variable "project_id" {
   type = string
 }
 
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   type = string
 }
 
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/dataflow/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/dataflow/main.tf
index 31a1fa33..ad4c7167 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/dataflow/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/dataflow/main.tf
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix         = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
-  display_name_prefix = var.namespace != "" ? "(${var.namespace}) " : ""
+  name_prefix         = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
+  display_name_prefix = var.instance_name != "" ? "(${var.instance_name}) " : ""
 }
 
 resource "google_service_account" "dataflow_sa" {
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/dataflow/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/dataflow/variables.tf
index e0cd1066..a95b0a48 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/dataflow/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/dataflow/variables.tf
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ variable "project_id" {
   type = string
 }
 
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   type = string
 }
 
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/helper_service/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/helper_service/main.tf
index 3e08f3e4..c4819b10 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/helper_service/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/helper_service/main.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
+  name_prefix = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
 }
 
 resource "google_service_account" "helper_sa" {
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/helper_service/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/helper_service/variables.tf
index cdf98061..3ff1db00 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/helper_service/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/helper_service/variables.tf
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ variable "project_id" {
   type = string
 }
 
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   type = string
 }
 
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/postprocessing_job/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/postprocessing_job/main.tf
index 77a82f4a..f9de83e2 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/postprocessing_job/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/postprocessing_job/main.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
+  name_prefix = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
 }
 
 resource "google_service_account" "postprocessing_sa" {
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/postprocessing_job/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/postprocessing_job/variables.tf
index dd50f053..41bb4fe0 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/postprocessing_job/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/postprocessing_job/variables.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 variable "project_id" { type = string }
-variable "namespace" { type = string }
+variable "instance_name" { type = string }
 variable "region" { type = string }
 variable "stateless_deletion_protection" {
   type        = bool
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/preprocessing_job/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/preprocessing_job/main.tf
index 67d58af4..ba2df454 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/preprocessing_job/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/preprocessing_job/main.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
+  name_prefix = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
 }
 
 resource "google_service_account" "preprocessing_sa" {
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/preprocessing_job/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/preprocessing_job/variables.tf
index 36b60041..8264cdf3 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/preprocessing_job/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/preprocessing_job/variables.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 variable "project_id" { type = string }
-variable "namespace" { type = string }
+variable "instance_name" { type = string }
 variable "region" { type = string }
 variable "stateless_deletion_protection" {
   type        = bool
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/workflow/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/workflow/main.tf
index 34f0bc78..1542abff 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/workflow/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/workflow/main.tf
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix               = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
+  name_prefix               = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
   should_run_postprocessing = var.enable_bigquery_postprocessing || var.enable_embeddings_generation
-  clean_namespace_prefix    = var.namespace != "" ? "${replace(lower(var.namespace), "_", "-")}-" : ""
+  clean_namespace_prefix    = var.instance_name != "" ? "${replace(lower(var.instance_name), "_", "-")}-" : ""
 }
 
 resource "google_service_account" "workflow_sa" {
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ resource "google_workflows_workflow" "ingestion_orchestrator" {
     dataflow_subnetwork            = var.dataflow_subnetwork
     embeddings_timeout             = var.embeddings_timeout
     clean_namespace_prefix         = local.clean_namespace_prefix
+
+
     enable_redis_cache_clearing    = var.enable_redis_cache_clearing
     preprocessing_job_name         = var.preprocessing_job_name
     postprocessing_job_name        = var.postprocessing_job_name
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/workflow/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/workflow/variables.tf
index 04c5a752..5d8e4fff 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/workflow/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/ingestion/workflow/variables.tf
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ variable "deploy" {
   type = bool
 }
 
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   type = string
 }
 
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ variable "embeddings_timeout" {
   default     = 1800
 }
 
+
+
 variable "ingestion_helper_service_name" {
   type        = string
   description = "Name of the ingestion helper Cloud Run service"
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/redis/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/redis/main.tf
index 4f80a250..7843d6d5 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/redis/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/redis/main.tf
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix         = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
-  display_name_prefix = var.namespace != "" ? "(${var.namespace}) " : ""
+  name_prefix         = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
+  display_name_prefix = var.instance_name != "" ? "(${var.instance_name}) " : ""
 }
 
 resource "google_redis_instance" "redis_instance" {
-  name                    = var.instance_name != "" ? "${local.name_prefix}${var.instance_name}" : "${local.name_prefix}dc-redis-instance"
+  name                    = var.redis_instance_name != "" ? "${local.name_prefix}${var.redis_instance_name}" : "${local.name_prefix}dc-redis-instance"
   memory_size_gb          = var.memory_size_gb
   tier                    = var.tier
   region                  = var.region
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/redis/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/redis/variables.tf
index 6c88e7a7..a74e1ea1 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/redis/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/redis/variables.tf
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   type = string
 }
 
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ variable "region" {
   type = string
 }
 
-variable "instance_name" {
+variable "redis_instance_name" {
   type    = string
   default = ""
 }
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/spanner/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/spanner/main.tf
index 85889e8f..e17bdeed 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/spanner/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/spanner/main.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix           = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
+  name_prefix           = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
   effective_instance_id = var.create_instance ? (var.instance_id != "" ? "${local.name_prefix}${var.instance_id}" : "${local.name_prefix}dc-instance") : var.instance_id
   effective_database_id = var.create_database ? (var.database_id != "" ? "${local.name_prefix}${var.database_id}" : "${local.name_prefix}dc-db") : var.database_id
 }
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/spanner/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/spanner/variables.tf
index a47c66eb..d702fbdf 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/spanner/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/spanner/variables.tf
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ variable "project_id" {
   description = "GCP Project ID"
 }
 
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   type = string
 }
 
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/stack/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/stack/main.tf
index a6e75975..4f83385d 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/stack/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/stack/main.tf
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ module "spanner" {
   count  = var.spanner_config.enable ? 1 : 0
 
   project_id                         = var.global.project_id
-  namespace                          = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name                      = var.global.instance_name
   region                             = var.global.region
   create_instance                    = var.spanner_config.create_instance
   create_database                    = var.spanner_config.create_db
@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ module "storage" {
   stateful_deletion_protection = var.global.stateful_deletion_protection
 
   # Shared vars
-  project_id = var.global.project_id
-  namespace  = var.global.namespace
+  project_id    = var.global.project_id
+  instance_name = var.global.instance_name
 }
 
 module "ingestion_preprocessing_job" {
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ module "ingestion_preprocessing_job" {
   count  = var.ingestion_config.enable_ingestion ? 1 : 0
 
   project_id                    = var.global.project_id
-  namespace                     = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name                 = var.global.instance_name
   region                        = var.global.region
   stateless_deletion_protection = var.global.stateless_deletion_protection
   image                         = var.ingestion_config.preprocessing_job_image
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ module "ingestion_postprocessing_job" {
   count  = var.ingestion_config.enable_ingestion ? 1 : 0
 
   project_id                     = var.global.project_id
-  namespace                      = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name                  = var.global.instance_name
   region                         = var.global.region
   stateless_deletion_protection  = var.global.stateless_deletion_protection
   image                          = var.ingestion_config.postprocessing_job_image
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ module "ingestion_dataflow" {
 
   deploy                = var.ingestion_config.enable_ingestion
   project_id            = var.global.project_id
-  namespace             = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name         = var.global.instance_name
   ingestion_bucket_name = module.storage.artifacts_bucket_name
   use_spanner           = var.spanner_config.enable
 }
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ module "ingestion_helper_service" {
 
   deploy                        = var.ingestion_config.enable_ingestion
   project_id                    = var.global.project_id
-  namespace                     = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name                 = var.global.instance_name
   region                        = var.global.region
   stateless_deletion_protection = var.global.stateless_deletion_protection
   # Use index [0] because module.spanner is conditional. Fallback to empty string if disabled.
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ module "ingestion_workflow" {
   source = "../ingestion/workflow"
 
   deploy                         = var.ingestion_config.enable_ingestion
-  namespace                      = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name                  = var.global.instance_name
   region                         = var.global.region
   stateless_deletion_protection  = var.global.stateless_deletion_protection
   project_id                     = var.global.project_id
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ module "ingestion_workflow" {
   dataflow_service_account_email = module.ingestion_dataflow.service_account_email
   enable_bigquery_postprocessing = var.ingestion_config.workflow_enable_bigquery_postprocessing
   enable_embeddings_generation   = var.spanner_config.enable_embeddings_generation
-  ingestion_helper_service_name  = "${var.global.namespace != "" ? "${var.global.namespace}-" : ""}dc-ingestion-helper"
+  ingestion_helper_service_name  = "${var.global.instance_name != "" ? "${var.global.instance_name}-" : ""}dc-ingestion-helper"
   enable_redis_cache_clearing    = var.redis_config.enable
   ingestion_artifacts_path       = "${var.ingestion_config.ingestion_artifacts_path}/metadata"
   dataflow_ip_configuration      = var.ingestion_config.dataflow_ip_configuration
@@ -228,13 +228,14 @@ module "ingestion_workflow" {
   depends_on = [module.ingestion_helper_service]
 }
 
+
 module "redis" {
   source = "../redis"
   count  = var.redis_config.enable ? 1 : 0
 
-  namespace               = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name           = var.global.instance_name
   region                  = var.global.region
-  instance_name           = var.redis_config.instance_name
+  redis_instance_name     = var.redis_config.instance_name
   memory_size_gb          = var.redis_config.memory_size_gb
   tier                    = var.redis_config.tier
   location_id             = var.redis_config.location_id
@@ -249,7 +250,7 @@ module "auth" {
   source = "../auth"
 
   project_id             = var.global.project_id
-  namespace              = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name          = var.global.instance_name
   dc_api_key             = var.auth_config.google_datacommons_api_key
   google_maps_api_key    = var.auth_config.google_maps_api_key
   create_google_maps_key = var.auth_config.create_google_maps_key
@@ -260,7 +261,7 @@ module "datacommons_services" {
   count  = var.datacommons_services_config.enable ? 1 : 0
 
   project_id                    = var.global.project_id
-  namespace                     = var.global.namespace
+  instance_name                 = var.global.instance_name
   region                        = var.global.region
   stateless_deletion_protection = var.global.stateless_deletion_protection
   image                         = var.datacommons_services_config.image
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/stack/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/stack/variables.tf
index 90210c48..4086b03d 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/stack/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/stack/variables.tf
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ variable "global" {
   type = object({
     project_id                    = string
     region                        = string
-    namespace                     = string
+    instance_name                 = string
     stateful_deletion_protection  = bool
     stateless_deletion_protection = bool
   })
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/storage/main.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/storage/main.tf
index 6f2afde2..d1cb9d84 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/storage/main.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/storage/main.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 locals {
-  name_prefix           = var.namespace != "" ? "${var.namespace}-" : ""
+  name_prefix           = var.instance_name != "" ? "${var.instance_name}-" : ""
   artifacts_bucket_name = var.artifacts_bucket_name != "" ? var.artifacts_bucket_name : "${local.name_prefix}dc-artifacts-${var.project_id}"
 }
 
diff --git a/infra/dcp/modules/storage/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/modules/storage/variables.tf
index a3512823..42f4104c 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/modules/storage/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/modules/storage/variables.tf
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ variable "project_id" {
   type = string
 }
 
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   type = string
 }
 
diff --git a/infra/dcp/terraform.tfvars.template b/infra/dcp/terraform.tfvars.template
index 948efda0..bedc6287 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/terraform.tfvars.template
+++ b/infra/dcp/terraform.tfvars.template
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@
 # =============================================================================
 # Global Configuration
 # =============================================================================
-project_id = "$$PROJECT_ID$$"
-namespace  = "$$NAMESPACE$$"
-region     = "us-central1"
+project_id    = "$$PROJECT_ID$$"
+instance_name = "$$INSTANCE_NAME$$"
+region        = "us-central1"
 
 # Deletion protection for stateful resources holding persistent data 
 # (Spanner and Cloud Storage).
diff --git a/infra/dcp/variables.tf b/infra/dcp/variables.tf
index 0af5cd60..2e4a216b 100644
--- a/infra/dcp/variables.tf
+++ b/infra/dcp/variables.tf
@@ -13,12 +13,18 @@ variable "region" {
   default     = "us-central1"
 }
 
-variable "namespace" {
+variable "instance_name" {
   description = "A unique identifier used as a prefix for resource naming. This prevents naming conflicts when deploying multiple isolated environments (like dev, staging, or feature branches) within the same GCP project."
   type        = string
   default     = ""
 }
 
+variable "namespace" {
+  description = "DEPRECATED: Use instance_name instead. A unique identifier used as a prefix for resource naming."
+  type        = string
+  default     = ""
+}
+
 variable "stateful_deletion_protection" {
   description = "Enable deletion protection for stateful resources (Spanner, GCS) to prevent data loss."
   type        = bool
@@ -82,7 +88,7 @@ variable "storage_create_artifacts_bucket" {
 }
 
 variable "storage_artifacts_bucket_name" {
-  description = "The name of the unified GCS bucket for artifacts (serving and ingestion). If not provided, a name will be automatically generated following the pattern [namespace-]dc-artifacts-[project_id]"
+  description = "The name of the unified GCS bucket for artifacts (serving and ingestion). If not provided, a name will be automatically generated following the pattern [instance-name-]dc-artifacts-[project_id]"
   type        = string
   default     = ""
 }
@@ -98,7 +104,7 @@ variable "enable_redis" {
 }
 
 variable "redis_instance_name" {
-  description = "The name of the Redis instance. If not provided, a name will be automatically generated following the pattern [namespace-]dc-redis-instance"
+  description = "The name of the Redis instance. If not provided, a name will be automatically generated following the pattern [instance-name-]dc-redis-instance"
   type        = string
   default     = ""
 }
@@ -168,13 +174,13 @@ variable "spanner_create_database" {
 }
 
 variable "spanner_instance_id" {
-  description = "The ID of the Spanner instance. If not provided, a name will be automatically generated following the pattern [namespace-]dc-instance"
+  description = "The ID of the Spanner instance. If not provided, a name will be automatically generated following the pattern [instance-name-]dc-instance"
   type        = string
   default     = ""
 }
 
 variable "spanner_database_id" {
-  description = "The ID of the Spanner database. If not provided, a name will be automatically generated following the pattern [namespace-]dc-db"
+  description = "The ID of the Spanner database. If not provided, a name will be automatically generated following the pattern [instance-name-]dc-db"
   type        = string
   default     = ""
 }
diff --git a/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/admin_cli.py b/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/admin_cli.py
index d2dd327e..139c8b7e 100644
--- a/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/admin_cli.py
+++ b/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/admin_cli.py
@@ -35,14 +35,14 @@
 GITHUB_REPO_URL = "https://github.com/datacommonsorg/datacommons.git"
 
 
-def _get_default_bucket_name(namespace: str, project_id: str) -> str:
+def _get_default_bucket_name(instance_name: str, project_id: str) -> str:
     """Returns the default Google Cloud Storage bucket name for Terraform state."""
-    return f"tf-state-{namespace}-{project_id}"
+    return f"tf-state-{instance_name}-{project_id}"
 
 
-def _get_default_state_prefix(namespace: str) -> str:
+def _get_default_state_prefix(instance_name: str) -> str:
     """Returns the default Google Cloud Storage object prefix for Terraform state."""
-    return f"terraform/state/{namespace}"
+    return f"terraform/state/{instance_name}"
 
 
 def _log_resolved_value(label: str, value: str, is_default: bool, indent: int = 2):
@@ -225,34 +225,59 @@ def fetch(filename: str) -> str:
 
 
 @click.group()
-def admin() -> None:
+@click.option(
+    "--project-id",
+    default=None,
+    help="GCP project ID used to locate the remote Terraform state bucket.",
+)
+@click.option(
+    "--instance-name",
+    default=None,
+    help="DCP instance name (prefix) used to locate the remote Terraform state bucket.",
+)
+@click.option(
+    "--tf-state-location",
+    default=None,
+    help="Direct GCS URI pointing to the Terraform state file (gs://bucket/prefix/default.tfstate).",
+)
+@click.pass_context
+def admin(
+    ctx: click.Context,
+    project_id: str | None,
+    instance_name: str | None,
+    tf_state_location: str | None,
+) -> None:
     """Manage a Data Commons Platform instance in Google Cloud"""
+    ctx.ensure_object(dict)
+    ctx.obj["project_id"] = project_id
+    ctx.obj["instance_name"] = instance_name
+    ctx.obj["tf_state_location"] = tf_state_location
 
 
-def _validate_namespace(ns: str) -> Tuple[bool, str]:
-    if not ns:
-        return False, "Namespace must not be empty."
-    if len(ns) > 16:
+def _validate_instance_name(name: str) -> Tuple[bool, str]:
+    if not name:
+        return False, "Instance name must not be empty."
+    if len(name) > 16:
         return (
             False,
-            f"Namespace must be 16 characters or less (currently {len(ns)} characters).",
+            f"Instance name must be 16 characters or less (currently {len(name)} characters).",
         )
-    if not re.match(r"^[a-z]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?$", ns):
+    if not re.match(r"^[a-z]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?$", name):
         return (
             False,
-            "Namespace must start with a lowercase letter, end with a lowercase letter or number, and contain only lowercase alphanumeric characters and dashes.",
+            "Instance name must start with a lowercase letter, end with a lowercase letter or number, and contain only lowercase alphanumeric characters and dashes.",
         )
     return True, ""
 
 
 def _resolve_project_config(
-    project_id: str, namespace: str, force: bool
+    project_id: str, instance_name: str, force: bool
 ) -> Tuple[str, str, Path]:
-    """Resolves project ID and namespace, and determines target directory."""
+    """Resolves project ID and instance name, and determines target directory."""
     if project_id:
         _log_resolved_value("Project ID", project_id, is_default=False)
-    if namespace:
-        _log_resolved_value("Namespace", namespace, is_default=False)
+    if instance_name:
+        _log_resolved_value("Instance Name", instance_name, is_default=False)
 
     resolved_project_id = project_id.strip()
     if not resolved_project_id:
@@ -262,34 +287,34 @@ def _resolve_project_config(
     if not resolved_project_id:
         raise click.ClickException("GCP project ID must not be empty.")
 
-    resolved_namespace = namespace.strip()
-    if resolved_namespace:
-        is_valid, err_msg = _validate_namespace(resolved_namespace)
+    resolved_instance_name = instance_name.strip()
+    if resolved_instance_name:
+        is_valid, err_msg = _validate_instance_name(resolved_instance_name)
         if not is_valid:
             raise click.ClickException(err_msg)
 
     while True:
-        if not resolved_namespace:
-            resolved_namespace = _prompt("Namespace", type=str).strip()
-            is_valid, err_msg = _validate_namespace(resolved_namespace)
+        if not resolved_instance_name:
+            resolved_instance_name = _prompt("Instance Name", type=str).strip()
+            is_valid, err_msg = _validate_instance_name(resolved_instance_name)
             if not is_valid:
                 click.secho(f"Error: {err_msg}", fg="red")
-                resolved_namespace = ""
+                resolved_instance_name = ""
                 continue
 
-        target_dir = Path.cwd() / resolved_namespace
+        target_dir = Path.cwd() / resolved_instance_name
         if target_dir.exists() and not force:
             click.secho(
-                f"Error: Folder '{resolved_namespace}' already exists locally. "
-                "Please specify a different namespace, or use --force to overwrite.",
+                f"Error: Folder '{resolved_instance_name}' already exists locally. "
+                "Please specify a different instance name, or use --force to overwrite.",
                 fg="yellow",
             )
-            resolved_namespace = ""
+            resolved_instance_name = ""
             continue
 
         break
 
-    return resolved_project_id, resolved_namespace, target_dir
+    return resolved_project_id, resolved_instance_name, target_dir
 
 
 def _check_existing_files(target_dir: Path, use_remote_state: bool, force: bool):
@@ -315,7 +340,7 @@ def _check_existing_files(target_dir: Path, use_remote_state: bool, force: bool)
 def _setup_dcp_config_dir(
     target_dir: Path,
     project_id: str,
-    namespace: str,
+    instance_name: str,
     bucket_name: str,
     tf_state_prefix: str,
     dc_api_key: str,
@@ -364,7 +389,8 @@ def _setup_dcp_config_dir(
         # Modify tfvars_example with actual values
         tfvars_content = tfvars_example
         tfvars_content = tfvars_content.replace('"$$PROJECT_ID$$"', f'"{project_id}"')
-        tfvars_content = tfvars_content.replace('"$$NAMESPACE$$"', f'"{namespace}"')
+        tfvars_content = tfvars_content.replace('"$$NAMESPACE$$"', f'"{instance_name}"')
+        tfvars_content = tfvars_content.replace('"$$INSTANCE_NAME$$"', f'"{instance_name}"')
         if api_key:
             tfvars_content = tfvars_content.replace('"$$DC_API_KEY$$"', f'"{api_key}"')
 
@@ -401,7 +427,14 @@ def _setup_dcp_config_dir(
     help="Google Cloud Platform project ID used for all resources related to your Data Commons instance.",
 )
 @click.option(
-    "--namespace", default="", help="Namespace prefix for provisioned resources."
+    "--instance-name",
+    default="",
+    help="Unique identifier used as a prefix for resource naming (replaces --namespace).",
+)
+@click.option(
+    "--namespace",
+    default="",
+    help="DEPRECATED: Use --instance-name instead.",
 )
 @click.option("--dc-api-key", default="", help="Data Commons API key.")
 @click.option(
@@ -432,11 +465,12 @@ def _setup_dcp_config_dir(
 @click.option(
     "--tf-state-prefix",
     default="",
-    help="Google Cloud Storage object prefix for Terraform state file (default: terraform/state/{namespace}).",
+    help="Google Cloud Storage object prefix for Terraform state file (default: terraform/state/{instance_name}).",
 )
 def init(
     project_id: str,
     namespace: str,
+    instance_name: str,
     dc_api_key: str,
     tf_git_ref: str,
     force: bool,
@@ -448,11 +482,14 @@ def init(
     """Initialize Terraform scaffolding for Data Commons administration/infrastructure."""
     click.secho("Data Commons Admin Init", fg="cyan", bold=True)
 
+    # For backward compatibility, fallback to namespace if instance_name is empty
+    effective_instance_name = instance_name.strip() or namespace.strip()
+
     # 1. Project Configs
     click.secho("\n[Project configuration]", fg="cyan", bold=True)
     click.secho("Configuring project settings...", fg="bright_black")
-    resolved_project_id, resolved_namespace, target_dir = _resolve_project_config(
-        project_id, namespace, force
+    resolved_project_id, resolved_instance_name, target_dir = _resolve_project_config(
+        project_id, effective_instance_name, force
     )
 
     # 2. Terraform Setup
@@ -467,7 +504,7 @@ def init(
     resolved_bucket_name = (
         _configure_remote_state(
             resolved_project_id,
-            resolved_namespace,
+            resolved_instance_name,
             tf_state_bucket,
             tf_state_bucket_location,
         )
@@ -476,7 +513,7 @@ def init(
     )
 
     resolved_tf_state_prefix = tf_state_prefix.strip() or _get_default_state_prefix(
-        resolved_namespace
+        resolved_instance_name
     )
 
     # 3. DCP config dir setup
@@ -485,7 +522,7 @@ def init(
     _setup_dcp_config_dir(
         target_dir,
         resolved_project_id,
-        resolved_namespace,
+        resolved_instance_name,
         resolved_bucket_name,
         resolved_tf_state_prefix,
         dc_api_key,
@@ -494,7 +531,7 @@ def init(
     )
 
     click.secho(
-        f"Customize variables in {resolved_namespace}/terraform.tfvars as needed.",
+        f"Customize variables in {resolved_instance_name}/terraform.tfvars as needed.",
         fg="green",
     )
     click.secho(
diff --git a/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/infra_templates.py b/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/infra_templates.py
index 4f5999f0..05a2d2be 100644
--- a/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/infra_templates.py
+++ b/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/infra_templates.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 
 ## Configure Variables
 
-Set environment-specific values in `terraform.tfvars` (for example `project_id`, `namespace`, and `dc_api_key`), and update module arguments in `main.tf` if you want to enable or tune additional features.
+Set environment-specific values in `terraform.tfvars` (for example `project_id`, `instance_name`, and `dc_api_key`), and update module arguments in `main.tf` if you want to enable or tune additional features.
 
 ## Learn More About Variables
 
diff --git a/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/tf_utils.py b/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/tf_utils.py
index ed6ed9c2..7550fefa 100644
--- a/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/tf_utils.py
+++ b/packages/datacommons-admin/datacommons_admin/tf_utils.py
@@ -31,60 +31,154 @@
 TF_OUTPUT_INGESTION_WORKFLOW_NAME = "ingestion_workflow_name"
 
 
-def get_terraform_output(key: str) -> str:
-    """Fetches a specific key from `terraform output -json` with graceful error handling."""
-    if not shutil.which("terraform"):
-        raise click.ClickException(
-            "Terraform CLI not found. Please ensure Terraform is installed and available in your PATH."
-        )
+def _get_outputs_from_gcs(
+    tf_state_location: str | None,
+    project_id: str | None,
+    instance_name: str | None,
+) -> dict:
+    from google.cloud import storage
+    from google.cloud.exceptions import GoogleCloudError
+
+    # Resolve the GCS URI
+    if tf_state_location:
+        gcs_uri = tf_state_location.strip()
+        if not gcs_uri.endswith(".tfstate"):
+            gcs_uri = gcs_uri.rstrip("/") + "/default.tfstate"
+    elif project_id and instance_name:
+        p_id = project_id.strip()
+        i_name = instance_name.strip()
+        gcs_uri = f"gs://tf-state-{i_name}-{p_id}/terraform/state/{i_name}/default.tfstate"
+    else:
+        return {}
 
     try:
-        result = subprocess.run(
-            ["terraform", "output", "-json"],
-            capture_output=True,
-            text=True,
-            check=True,
-        )
-    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
-        raise click.ClickException(
-            f"Failed to run 'terraform output'. Are you in an initialized Terraform deployment directory?\n"
-            f"Error details: {e.stderr.strip() or e.stdout.strip()}"
-        )
+        if not gcs_uri.startswith("gs://"):
+            raise click.ClickException(f"Invalid GCS URI '{gcs_uri}'. Must start with 'gs://'.")
+        parts = gcs_uri[5:].split("/", 1)
+        if len(parts) < 2 or not parts[1]:
+            raise click.ClickException(f"Invalid GCS URI '{gcs_uri}'. Must specify bucket and object path.")
+        bucket_name, blob_name = parts[0], parts[1]
+
+        try:
+            client = storage.Client()
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise click.ClickException(
+                f"Failed to initialize Google Cloud Storage client: {e}.\n"
+                "Please ensure you are authenticated via 'gcloud auth application-default login'."
+            )
 
-    try:
-        outputs = json.loads(result.stdout)
-    except json.JSONDecodeError:
-        raise click.ClickException(
-            "Failed to parse 'terraform output -json'. The output was not valid JSON."
-        )
+        bucket = client.bucket(bucket_name)
+        blob = bucket.blob(blob_name)
+        
+        try:
+            content = blob.download_as_text()
+        except GoogleCloudError as e:
+            if "404" in str(e) or "Not Found" in str(e):
+                raise click.ClickException(
+                    f"Terraform state file not found at '{gcs_uri}'.\n"
+                    "Please verify that the --project-id, --instance-name, or --tf-state-location flags are correct and that resources were deployed."
+                )
+            raise click.ClickException(
+                f"Failed to download Terraform state from GCS at '{gcs_uri}': {e}"
+            )
 
-    if not outputs:
-        from pathlib import Path
+        try:
+            state_data = json.loads(content)
+        except json.JSONDecodeError:
+            raise click.ClickException(f"Failed to parse Terraform state at '{gcs_uri}' as valid JSON.")
+
+        outputs = state_data.get("outputs", {})
+        if not outputs:
+            raise click.ClickException(
+                f"No outputs found in the Terraform state file at '{gcs_uri}'.\n"
+                "Please verify that your deployment is active and that variables are exported."
+            )
+        return outputs
+
+    except click.ClickException:
+        raise
+    except Exception as e:
+        raise click.ClickException(f"An unexpected error occurred while fetching remote state: {e}")
 
-        cwd = Path.cwd()
-        has_tf_files = (
-            (cwd / ".terraform").exists()
-            or (cwd / "terraform.tfstate").exists()
-            or (cwd / "main.tf").exists()
-        )
 
-        if not has_tf_files:
+def get_terraform_output(key: str) -> str:
+    """Fetches a specific key from `terraform output -json` (local or remote GCS state)."""
+    ctx = click.get_current_context(silent=True)
+    project_id = None
+    instance_name = None
+    tf_state_location = None
+
+    if ctx and ctx.obj:
+        cur_ctx = ctx
+        while cur_ctx:
+            if cur_ctx.obj:
+                project_id = project_id or cur_ctx.obj.get("project_id")
+                instance_name = instance_name or cur_ctx.obj.get("instance_name")
+                tf_state_location = tf_state_location or cur_ctx.obj.get("tf_state_location")
+            cur_ctx = cur_ctx.parent
+
+    use_remote = bool(tf_state_location or (project_id and instance_name))
+
+    if use_remote:
+        outputs = _get_outputs_from_gcs(tf_state_location, project_id, instance_name)
+    else:
+        if not shutil.which("terraform"):
             raise click.ClickException(
-                f"No Terraform outputs found in '{cwd}'.\n"
-                "Please navigate to your initialized DCP Terraform directory (e.g., 'cd my-namespace') and ensure 'terraform apply' has been run."
+                "Terraform CLI not found. Please ensure Terraform is installed and available in your PATH."
+            )
+
+        try:
+            result = subprocess.run(
+                ["terraform", "output", "-json"],
+                capture_output=True,
+                text=True,
+                check=True,
             )
-        else:
+        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
             raise click.ClickException(
-                f"No Terraform outputs found in '{cwd}'.\n"
-                "Please ensure you have successfully run 'terraform apply' to generate the deployment state."
+                f"Failed to run 'terraform output'.\n"
+                f"To resolve your deployment configuration, either:\n"
+                f"a. Run this command inside your initialized DCP Terraform deployment directory (where 'terraform apply' has been run).\n"
+                f"b. Specify the GCS remote state flags on the 'admin' group: --project-id <id> and --instance-name <name> (or --tf-state-location <gcs_uri>).\n\n"
+                f"Error details: {e.stderr.strip() or e.stdout.strip()}"
             )
 
+        try:
+            outputs = json.loads(result.stdout)
+        except json.JSONDecodeError:
+            raise click.ClickException(
+                "Failed to parse 'terraform output -json'. The output was not valid JSON."
+            )
+
+        if not outputs:
+            from pathlib import Path
+
+            cwd = Path.cwd()
+            has_tf_files = (
+                (cwd / ".terraform").exists()
+                or (cwd / "terraform.tfstate").exists()
+                or (cwd / "main.tf").exists()
+            )
+
+            if not has_tf_files:
+                raise click.ClickException(
+                    f"No Terraform deployment state found in '{cwd}'.\n"
+                    "To resolve your deployment configuration, either:\n"
+                    "a. Navigate to your initialized DCP Terraform directory (where 'terraform apply' has been run).\n"
+                    "b. Run the command with GCS remote state flags on the 'admin' group: --project-id <id> and --instance-name <name> (or --tf-state-location <gcs_uri>)."
+                )
+            else:
+                raise click.ClickException(
+                    f"No Terraform outputs found in '{cwd}'.\n"
+                    "Please ensure you have successfully run 'terraform apply' to generate the deployment state."
+                )
+
     if key not in outputs:
         from pathlib import Path
-
+        location_desc = tf_state_location or f"GCP project: '{project_id}' / instance: '{instance_name}'" if use_remote else f"'{Path.cwd()}'"
         raise click.ClickException(
-            f"Terraform output key '{key}' not found in '{Path.cwd()}'.\n"
-            "Please verify that your Terraform configuration exports this output and that 'terraform apply' was fully completed."
+            f"Terraform output key '{key}' not found in {location_desc}.\n"
+            "Please verify that your Terraform configuration exports this output."
         )
 
     value = outputs[key].get("value")
diff --git a/packages/datacommons-admin/tests/test_admin_cli.py b/packages/datacommons-admin/tests/test_admin_cli.py
index 2827a40a..6128dca2 100644
--- a/packages/datacommons-admin/tests/test_admin_cli.py
+++ b/packages/datacommons-admin/tests/test_admin_cli.py
@@ -66,6 +66,46 @@ def test_init_success_with_options(
         assert 'dc_api_key = "test-key"' in tfvars_content
 
 
+@patch("datacommons_admin.admin_cli._get_github_templates")
+def test_init_success_with_instance_name(
+    mock_get_templates, runner: CliRunner, tmp_path: Path
+) -> None:
+    mock_get_templates.return_value = (
+        'variable "test" {}',
+        'module "stack" {\n  source = "./modules/stack"\n}',
+        'output "test" {}',
+        'project_id = "$$PROJECT_ID$$"\ninstance_name  = "$$INSTANCE_NAME$$"\n# dc_api_key = "$$DC_API_KEY$$"',
+    )
+    with runner.isolated_filesystem(temp_dir=tmp_path):
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            admin,
+            [
+                "init",
+                "--project-id",
+                "test-project",
+                "--instance-name",
+                "test-inst",
+                "--dc-api-key",
+                "test-key",
+                "--no-tf-remote-state",
+            ],
+        )
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+        assert "Downloaded and populated Terraform templates." in result.output
+
+        target_dir = Path.cwd() / "test-inst"
+        assert target_dir.exists()
+        assert (target_dir / "main.tf").exists()
+        assert (target_dir / "terraform.tfvars").exists()
+        assert (target_dir / "README.md").exists()
+        assert not (target_dir / "backend.tf").exists()
+
+        tfvars_content = (target_dir / "terraform.tfvars").read_text()
+        assert 'project_id = "test-project"' in tfvars_content
+        assert 'instance_name  = "test-inst"' in tfvars_content
+        assert 'dc_api_key = "test-key"' in tfvars_content
+
+
 @patch("datacommons_admin.admin_cli._get_github_templates")
 def test_init_success_with_prompts(
     mock_get_templates, runner: CliRunner, tmp_path: Path
@@ -540,3 +580,64 @@ def test_ingest_start_with_imports_success(
     called_payload = called_args["json"]
     assert "argument" in called_payload
     assert json.loads(called_payload["argument"]) == expected_arg
+
+
+@patch("google.cloud.storage.Client")
+def test_get_terraform_output_from_gcs(mock_storage_client, runner: CliRunner) -> None:
+    from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+    from datacommons_admin.tf_utils import get_terraform_output
+    import click
+
+    # Mock storage client
+    mock_client_inst = MagicMock()
+    mock_storage_client.return_value = mock_client_inst
+    mock_bucket = MagicMock()
+    mock_client_inst.bucket.return_value = mock_bucket
+    mock_blob = MagicMock()
+    mock_bucket.blob.return_value = mock_blob
+    
+    state_content = """{
+      "version": 4,
+      "outputs": {
+        "test_key": {
+          "value": "gcs-resolved-val",
+          "type": "string"
+        }
+      }
+    }"""
+    mock_blob.download_as_text.return_value = state_content
+
+    @admin.command(name="test-get-output")
+    def test_get_output_cmd():
+        val = get_terraform_output("test_key")
+        click.echo(f"VAL={val}")
+
+    # Test with project-id and instance-name
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        admin,
+        [
+            "--project-id", "mock-project",
+            "--instance-name", "mock-instance",
+            "test-get-output"
+        ]
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert "VAL=gcs-resolved-val" in result.output
+    mock_client_inst.bucket.assert_called_once_with("tf-state-mock-instance-mock-project")
+    mock_bucket.blob.assert_called_once_with("terraform/state/mock-instance/default.tfstate")
+
+    # Test with tf-state-location
+    mock_client_inst.reset_mock()
+    mock_bucket.reset_mock()
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        admin,
+        [
+            "--tf-state-location", "gs://custom-bucket/custom-prefix/state.tfstate",
+            "test-get-output"
+        ]
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert "VAL=gcs-resolved-val" in result.output
+    mock_client_inst.bucket.assert_called_once_with("custom-bucket")
+    mock_bucket.blob.assert_called_once_with("custom-prefix/state.tfstate")
+
diff --git a/packages/datacommons-cli/README.md b/packages/datacommons-cli/README.md
index ac3e0f3a..f868da8f 100644
--- a/packages/datacommons-cli/README.md
+++ b/packages/datacommons-cli/README.md
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ datacommons admin [COMMAND] --help
 
 1. Initialize your project configuration and scaffold Terraform templates:
    ```bash
-   datacommons admin init --project-id my-gcp-project --namespace prod
+   datacommons admin init --project-id my-gcp-project --instance-name prod
    ```
 
 2. Change directories to the scaffolded directory (e.g. `cd prod`).
diff --git a/packages/datacommons-cli/datacommons_cli/cli.py b/packages/datacommons-cli/datacommons_cli/cli.py
index 1e69e381..4bcae815 100644
--- a/packages/datacommons-cli/datacommons_cli/cli.py
+++ b/packages/datacommons-cli/datacommons_cli/cli.py
@@ -16,6 +16,17 @@
 
 import click
 
+# Monkeypatch ClickException to format errors in red
+def _custom_click_exception_show(self, file=None):
+    if file is None:
+        import sys
+        file = sys.stderr
+    click.echo(
+        click.style("Error: ", fg="red", bold=True) + click.style(self.format_message(), fg="red"),
+        file=file
+    )
+click.ClickException.show = _custom_click_exception_show
+
 from datacommons_admin.admin_cli import admin as admin_cli
 
 from . import __version__