diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index 57f11e2..37fc7ce 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ mkShell rec {
     sqlite
   ] ++ additionalBuildInputs;
   LD_LIBRARY_PATH = lib.makeLibraryPath buildInputs;
-  DATABASE_URL = "sqlite://.cache/data";
-  CACHE_DIR = "./.cache";
+  DATABASE_URL = "sqlite://.cache/data"; # This is only used by the sqlx-cli
+  CACHE_DIR = "./.cache"; # The default is a system path, not suitable for dev environments
+  DIST_DIR = "./dist"; # This is currently the default, but the dev shell should override it anyway
 }