diff --git a/shared/util_macros/src/lib.rs b/shared/util_macros/src/lib.rs
--- a/shared/util_macros/src/lib.rs
+++ b/shared/util_macros/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 extern crate proc_macro;
 use proc_macro::TokenStream;
+use syn::parse_macro_input;
 
 mod tag_aware_deserialize;
 
@@ -8,7 +9,7 @@
 /// totally ignores the `tag` attribute when deserializing enum variants.
 ///
 /// This derive requires two serde attributes to be present:
-/// `#[serde(tag = "type", remote = "Self")]`
+/// `#[serde(tag = "<<some_tag>>", remote = "Self")]`
 ///
 /// ### Example
 /// ```
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@
 /// ```
 #[proc_macro_derive(TagAwareDeserialize)]
 pub fn tag_aware_deserialize_macro_derive(input: TokenStream) -> TokenStream {
-  let ast = syn::parse(input).unwrap();
+  let ast = parse_macro_input!(input as syn::DeriveInput);
   tag_aware_deserialize::impl_tag_aware_deserialize_macro(&ast)
+    .unwrap_or_else(|err| err.into_compile_error().into())
 }
diff --git a/shared/util_macros/src/tag_aware_deserialize.rs b/shared/util_macros/src/tag_aware_deserialize.rs
--- a/shared/util_macros/src/tag_aware_deserialize.rs
+++ b/shared/util_macros/src/tag_aware_deserialize.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,26 @@
 use proc_macro::TokenStream;
 use quote::quote;
+use syn::{Attribute, Lit, Meta, NestedMeta, Result};
 
-pub fn impl_tag_aware_deserialize_macro(ast: &syn::DeriveInput) -> TokenStream {
+pub fn impl_tag_aware_deserialize_macro(
+  ast: &syn::DeriveInput,
+) -> Result<TokenStream> {
   let name = &ast.ident;
 
+  if !has_serde_remote_self(&ast.attrs) {
+    return Err(syn::Error::new(
+      name.span(),
+      format!("{} must have `#[serde(remote = \"Self\")]` directive", name),
+    ));
+  }
+
+  let Some(tag_value) = extract_tag_value(&ast.attrs) else {
+    return Err(syn::Error::new(
+      name.span(),
+      format!("{} must have `#[serde(tag = \"...\")]` directive", name),
+    ));
+  };
+
   let gen = quote! {
     impl<'de> serde::de::Deserialize<'de> for #name {
       fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> std::result::Result<Self, D::Error>
@@ -13,7 +30,7 @@
         use serde::de::Error;
 
         let this = serde_json::Value::deserialize(deserializer)?;
-        if let Some(found_tag) = this.get("type") {
+        if let Some(found_tag) = this.get(#tag_value) {
           if found_tag == stringify!(#name) {
             // now we can run _original_ deserialize
             return match #name::deserialize(this) {
@@ -36,5 +53,40 @@
       }
     }
   };
-  gen.into()
+  Ok(gen.into())
+}
+
+/// Reads the `#[serde(tag = "...")]` value
+fn extract_tag_value(attrs: &[Attribute]) -> Option<String> {
+  let serde_attr = attrs.iter().find(|attr| attr.path.is_ident("serde"))?;
+  if let Ok(Meta::List(meta_list)) = serde_attr.parse_meta() {
+    for nested in meta_list.nested {
+      if let NestedMeta::Meta(Meta::NameValue(name_value)) = nested {
+        if name_value.path.is_ident("tag") {
+          if let Lit::Str(lit_str) = name_value.lit {
+            return Some(lit_str.value());
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  None
+}
+
+/// Checks for the `#[serde(remote = "Self")]` attribute
+fn has_serde_remote_self(attrs: &[Attribute]) -> bool {
+  let Some(serde_attr) = attrs.iter().find(|attr| attr.path.is_ident("serde"))
+  else {
+    return false;
+  };
+  if let Ok(Meta::List(meta_list)) = serde_attr.parse_meta() {
+    for nested in meta_list.nested {
+      if let NestedMeta::Meta(Meta::NameValue(name_value)) = nested {
+        if name_value.path.is_ident("remote") {
+          return matches!(name_value.lit, Lit::Str(lit_str) if lit_str.value() == "Self");
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  false
 }