diff --git a/home-manager/nix-init-scripts.nix b/home-manager/nix-init-scripts.nix
index 0d8e290..1f7bb00 100644
--- a/home-manager/nix-init-scripts.nix
+++ b/home-manager/nix-init-scripts.nix
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 { lib, pkgs, ... }:
 let
-  nix-prepare = ''
+  nix-prepare = pkgs.writeShellScript "nix-prepare" ''
     run() {
-      local dir
+      local dir="$1"
       echo "Preparing nix environment in $dir"
 
+      if [ "$dir" = "" ]; then
+        echo "Usage: nix-prepare <dir>"
+        exit 1
+      fi
+
       mkdir -p $dir
       cd $dir
 
@@ -15,6 +20,7 @@ let
       chmod 644 flake.nix
 
       echo '/*' > .gitignore
+      echo '!/.gitignore' >> .gitignore
       echo '!/flake.nix' >> .gitignore
       echo '!/flake.lock' >> .gitignore
       echo 'use flake . --impure' > .envrc
@@ -32,7 +38,7 @@ let
     run "$@"
   '';
 
-  git-nix-clone = ''
+  git-nix-clone = pkgs.writeShellScript "git-nix-clone" ''
     # Input is a git repository such as git@github.com:group/project-name.git
     run() {
       local repo="$1"
@@ -43,7 +49,7 @@ let
         exit 1
       fi
 
-      nix-prepare "$projectName"-nix
+      ${nix-prepare} "$projectName"-nix
 
       git clone "$repo" "$projectName"-nix"/$projectName"
     }
@@ -53,8 +59,8 @@ let
 in
 {
   programs.zsh.shellAliases = {
-    git-nix-clone = lib.mkDefault "${pkgs.writeShellScript "git-nix-clone" git-nix-clone}";
-    nix-prepare = lib.mkDefault "${pkgs.writeShellScript "nix-prepare" nix-prepare}";
+    git-nix-clone = lib.mkDefault "${git-nix-clone}";
+    nix-prepare = lib.mkDefault "${nix-prepare}";
   };
 
 }