diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1d953f4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+use nix
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 80249fc6..6ab41ba4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@
 .python-version
 .DS_Store
 __pycache__
+.direnv
diff --git a/.rsyncignore b/.rsyncignore
index c806e2f8..5466af14 100644
--- a/.rsyncignore
+++ b/.rsyncignore
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 .git*
 .pre-commit-config.yaml
 .stylua.toml
+.envrc
+./shell.nix
 Makefile
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 65836209..a1782220 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ waybar: $(CONFIG_DIR)/waybar
 	command -v nix > /dev/null || echo "Install nix package manager before continuing"; exit 1
 
 /etc/nixos/config:
-	sudo rsync -avz --exclude-from=.rsyncignore --delete-during --delete-excluded ./ $@
+	sudo rsync -avz --exclude-from=.rsyncignore --filter=':- .gitignore' --delete-during --delete-excluded ./ $@
 
 $(HOMEMANAGER_CONFIG_DIR)/home.nix: $(HOMEMANAGER_CONFIG_DIR) /nix
 	[ -f $(HOMEMANAGER_CONFIG) ] || touch $(HOMEMANAGER_CONFIG)
diff --git a/common.nix b/common.nix
index 2d4e79c4..71c35195 100644
--- a/common.nix
+++ b/common.nix
@@ -45,4 +45,9 @@
     dates = "daily";
     options = "--delete-older-than 7d";
   };
+
+  nix.extraOptions = ''
+    keep-outputs = true
+    keep-derivations = true
+  '';
 }
diff --git a/home/env/direnv.nix b/home/env/direnv.nix
index dd836e9c..3a7b8add 100644
--- a/home/env/direnv.nix
+++ b/home/env/direnv.nix
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 {...}: {
-  programs.direnv.enable = true;
+  programs.direnv = {
+    enable = true;
+    nix-direnv.enable = true;
+  };
 }
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0e8a0e98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+{pkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {}, ...}:
+pkgs.mkShell {buildInputs = with pkgs; [gnumake pre-commit];}