diff --git a/.env b/.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03b3e5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# disable spitting out the menu everytime direnv reloads
+DEVSHELL_NO_MOTD=1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
index 7fd05db..092a064 100644
--- a/.envrc
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+dotenv
 if ! has nix_direnv_version || ! nix_direnv_version 3.0.4; then
     source_url "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nix-community/nix-direnv/3.0.4/direnvrc" "sha256-DzlYZ33mWF/Gs8DDeyjr8mnVmQGx7ASYqA5WlxwvBG4="
 fi