diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ccba409df..bab47b52e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ Pipfile.lock
 diagrams/db.pdf
 misspellings
 unuseddict
+.history
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index 4800d62ec..e8d38d96e 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -15,4 +15,8 @@ pkgs.mkShell {
     docs.dictcheck
     docs.linkcheck
   ];
+
+  shellHook = ''
+    export HISTFILE=.history
+  '';
 }