diff --git a/home/common/default.nix b/home/common/default.nix
index 2f9c8e2..c473787 100644
--- a/home/common/default.nix
+++ b/home/common/default.nix
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@
     ./nodm.nix
     ./nix.nix
     ./theme.nix
+    ./shell.nix
   ];
 }
diff --git a/home/common/shell.nix b/home/common/shell.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..290a54d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/common/shell.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+let
+  inherit (lib) mkOption mkEnableOption mkIf mkDefault;
+  cfg = config.nixfiles.common.shell;
+
+  common_functions = shell: ''
+    __nixfiles_alias_comma_frequent_commands () {
+      history | sed 's:^ \+[0-9]\+ \+::' | grep '^,' | cut -d' ' -f2- | sed 's:^\(-[^ ]\+ \?\)\+::g' | grep . | cut -d' ' -f1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -g
+    }
+  '';
+in
+{
+  options.nixfiles.common.shell = {
+    enable = lib.mkEnableOption "" // {
+      description = "Whether to enable the nixfiles shell configuration.";
+    };
+  };
+
+  config = mkIf cfg.enable {
+    home.shellAliases = {
+      v = "nvim";
+      icat = "kitten icat";
+      srun = "systemd-run";
+      urun = "systemd-run --user";
+
+      # this lets me find commands that i run with comma very frequently so i
+      # can install them
+      comma-frequent = "__nixfiles_alias_comma_frequent_commands";
+    };
+    programs.fzf.enable = mkDefault true;
+    programs.fzf.enableZshIntegration = mkDefault true;
+    programs.fzf.enableBashIntegration = mkDefault true;
+
+    programs.bash = {
+      enable = mkDefault true;
+      # declare functions at start of bashrc
+      bashrcExtra = common_functions "bash";
+      initExtra = ''
+        export HOME_MANAGER_MANAGED=true;
+        [[ -e ~/dotfiles/shell/.bashrc ]] && . ~/dotfiles/shell/.bashrc ]]
+        unset HOME_MANAGERR_MANAGED
+      '';
+    };
+    programs.zsh = {
+      enable = mkDefault true;
+      initExtra = ''
+        export HOME_MANAGER_MANAGED=true
+        [[ -e ~/dotfiles/shell/.zshrc ]] && . ~/dotfiles/shell/.zshrc ]]
+        unset HOME_MANAGER_MANAGED
+      '' + common_functions "zsh";
+      oh-my-zsh = {
+        enable = mkDefault true;
+        theme = "robbyrussell";
+        extraConfig = ''
+          DISABLE_MAGIC_FUNCTIONS="true"
+        '';
+        plugins = [
+          "git"
+        ];
+      };
+    };
+
+  };
+}
diff --git a/home/profile/base.nix b/home/profile/base.nix
index f67a719..f7ffa88 100644
--- a/home/profile/base.nix
+++ b/home/profile/base.nix
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ in
     nixfiles.programs.comma.enable = true;
     nixfiles.programs.neovim.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
     nixfiles.common.nix.enable = true;
+    nixfiles.common.shell.enable = true;
 
     home.sessionVariables = lib.mkMerge [
       (lib.mkIf config.programs.neovim.enable {
@@ -34,50 +35,6 @@ in
       })
     ];
 
-
-    # TODO move this stuff to a shell.nix or something; this is just a quick
-    # fix so home.sessionVariables works
-    home.shellAliases = {
-      v = "nvim";
-      icat = "kitten icat";
-      srun = "systemd-run";
-      urun = "systemd-run --user";
-
-      # this lets me find commands that i run with comma very frequently so i
-      # can install them
-      comma-frequent = "history | sed 's:^ \+[0-9]\+ \+::' | grep '^,' | cut -d' ' -f2- | sed 's:^\(-[^ ]\+ \?\)\+::g' | grep . | cut -d' ' -f1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -g";
-    };
-    programs.fzf.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
-    programs.fzf.enableZshIntegration = lib.mkDefault true;
-    programs.fzf.enableBashIntegration = lib.mkDefault true;
-
-    programs.bash = {
-      enable = lib.mkDefault true;
-      initExtra = ''
-        export HOME_MANAGER_MANAGED=true;
-        [[ -e ~/dotfiles/shell/.bashrc ]] && . ~/dotfiles/shell/.bashrc ]]
-        unset HOME_MANAGERR_MANAGED
-      '';
-    };
-    programs.zsh = {
-      enable = lib.mkDefault true;
-      initExtra = ''
-        export HOME_MANAGER_MANAGED=true
-        [[ -e ~/dotfiles/shell/.zshrc ]] && . ~/dotfiles/shell/.zshrc ]]
-        unset HOME_MANAGER_MANAGED
-      '';
-      oh-my-zsh = {
-        enable = lib.mkDefault true;
-        theme = "robbyrussell";
-        extraConfig = ''
-          DISABLE_MAGIC_FUNCTIONS="true"
-        '';
-        plugins = [
-          "git"
-        ];
-      };
-    };
-
     programs.btop.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
 
     programs.ranger = let