diff --git a/zulip/integrations/git/post-receive b/zulip/integrations/git/post-receive
index a07722361..bd50a9ac9 100755
--- a/zulip/integrations/git/post-receive
+++ b/zulip/integrations/git/post-receive
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ client = zulip.Client(
     client="ZulipGit/" + VERSION,
 )
 
+log_file_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../post-receive.log")
+
+
+def log_error(message: str) -> None:
+    print(message, file=sys.stderr)
+    with open(log_file_path, "a") as log_file:
+        log_file.write(f"{message}\n")
+
 
 def git_repository_name() -> str:
     path, name = os.path.split(os.getcwd())
@@ -90,11 +98,13 @@ def send_bot_message(oldrev: str, newrev: str, refname: str) -> None:
 
     message_data = {
         "type": "stream",
-        "to": destination["stream"],
-        "subject": destination["subject"],
+        "to": destination.get("channel", destination.get("stream")),
+        "topic": destination.get("topic", destination.get("subject")),
         "content": message,
     }
-    client.send_message(message_data)
+    response = client.send_message(message_data)
+    if response["result"] == "error":
+        log_error(f"Failed to send Zulip message: {response['msg']}")
 
 
 for ln in sys.stdin:
diff --git a/zulip/integrations/git/zulip_git_config.py b/zulip/integrations/git/zulip_git_config.py
index cb26b2135..bdd2f5d50 100644
--- a/zulip/integrations/git/zulip_git_config.py
+++ b/zulip/integrations/git/zulip_git_config.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 #
 from typing import Dict, Optional
 
-# Name of the stream to send notifications to, default is "commits"
-STREAM_NAME = "commits"
+# Name of the channel to send notifications to, default is "commits"
+CHANNEL_NAME = "commits"
 
 # Change these values to configure authentication for the plugin
 ZULIP_USER = "git-bot@example.com"
@@ -17,16 +17,16 @@
 # * branch = the name of the branch that was pushed to
 # * commit = the commit id
 #
-# Returns a dictionary encoding the stream and subject to send the
+# Returns a dictionary encoding the channel and topic to send the
 # notification to (or None to send no notification).
 #
 # The default code below will send every commit pushed to "main" to
-# * stream "commits"
+# * channel "commits"
 # * topic "main"
 # And similarly for branch "test-post-receive" (for use when testing).
 def commit_notice_destination(repo: str, branch: str, commit: str) -> Optional[Dict[str, str]]:
     if branch in ["main", "master", "test-post-receive"]:
-        return dict(stream=STREAM_NAME, subject=f"{branch}")
+        return dict(channel=CHANNEL_NAME, topic=f"{branch}")
 
     # Return None for cases where you don't want a notice sent
     return None