diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index fc1b2a8..457279b 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -552,5 +552,113 @@
             machine.crash()
           '';
         };
+
+      # `nix develop` — hot-reload loop for dotfiles/quickshell.
+      #
+      # hosts/terra/home.nix ships the shell via `xdg.configFile."quickshell"`,
+      # which COPIES the tree into the store, so ~/.config/quickshell is a
+      # read-only symlink into /nix/store and every QML tweak costs a
+      # nixos-rebuild. quickshell DOES hot-reload on file save — but only for
+      # the files it is watching, which are those frozen store copies. Pointing
+      # it at the working tree with `qs -p` restores edit-save-see, no rebuild.
+      #
+      # quickshell keys instance identity on the CONFIG PATH, so a working-tree
+      # instance and the store-backed one are two different instances that would
+      # both map layer-shell bars onto every output. Hence a swap, not a second
+      # instance — and the swap starts dev FIRST, killing the packaged shell
+      # only once dev is confirmed up, so a QML error in the working tree leaves
+      # you on your normal bar instead of no bar at all.
+      #
+      # Every kill is scoped to one config (`qs kill` = default only, `qs kill
+      # -p` = that path only). A blanket kill would also take out unrelated
+      # quickshell instances — pkgs/rishot.nix is one.
+      #
+      # Deliberately NOT wired to direnv (no .envrc in this repo): programs.direnv
+      # is enabled for this user, so a `use flake` would swap the running desktop
+      # shell on every `cd` into the checkout, including over ssh.
+      devShells.${system}.default =
+        let
+          pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};
+          # Same nixpkgs terra's home.nix takes pkgs.quickshell from, so the dev
+          # instance is the identical build to the packaged one.
+          qs = "${nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system}.quickshell}/bin/qs";
+          git = "${nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system}.git}/bin/git";
+
+          # Resolved at RUN time, not build time: the entire point is to run the
+          # working tree, and `self` here is only a store snapshot of it.
+          preamble = ''
+            root="$(${git} rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)"
+            cfg="$root/dotfiles/quickshell"
+            if [ ! -f "$cfg/shell.qml" ]; then
+              echo "no shell.qml under $cfg — run this from the homelab checkout" >&2
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            # `qs list` exits 0 whether or not it found anything, and only emits
+            # json when it did — so "json came back" is the liveness test.
+            running() { ${qs} list -p "$1" -j 2>/dev/null | grep -q '"id"'; }
+            prod_running() { ${qs} list -j 2>/dev/null | grep -q '"id"'; }
+          '';
+
+          qs-dev = pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "qs-dev" ''
+            set -uo pipefail
+            ${preamble}
+
+            if [ -z "''${WAYLAND_DISPLAY:-}" ]; then
+              echo "qs-dev: no WAYLAND_DISPLAY — refusing to swap the desktop shell" >&2
+              exit 1
+            fi
+
+            if running "$cfg"; then
+              echo "qs-dev: already running from $cfg"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+
+            ${qs} -d -p "$cfg"
+
+            # Confirm it came up before touching the packaged shell.
+            for _ in $(seq 1 50); do
+              running "$cfg" && break
+              sleep 0.1
+            done
+
+            if ! running "$cfg"; then
+              echo "qs-dev: dev shell failed to start — packaged shell left alone" >&2
+              echo "qs-dev: run 'qs -p $cfg' in the foreground to see the QML error" >&2
+              exit 1
+            fi
+
+            ${qs} kill || true
+            echo "qs-dev: live on $cfg — edits there now hot-reload"
+          '';
+
+          qs-prod = pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "qs-prod" ''
+            set -uo pipefail
+            ${preamble}
+
+            running "$cfg" && ${qs} kill -p "$cfg" || true
+            prod_running || ${qs} -d
+            echo "qs-prod: back on ~/.config/quickshell"
+          '';
+        in
+        pkgs.mkShell {
+          packages = [ pkgs.quickshell qs-dev qs-prod ];
+
+          # Swap on entry, swap back on exit. Three guards:
+          #   - interactive only ($- has i). `nix develop --command X` EXECs X,
+          #     replacing the shell that set the trap, so the restore would
+          #     never run and you'd be left on the dev instance. Non-interactive
+          #     use gets the explicit `nix develop -c qs-dev` instead.
+          #   - WAYLAND_DISPLAY, so entering the shell over ssh cannot kill the
+          #     desktop's bar and leave nothing in its place.
+          #   - a sentinel, so a nested `nix develop` does not swap (and then
+          #     restore) a second time.
+          shellHook = ''
+            if [[ $- == *i* ]] && [ -n "''${WAYLAND_DISPLAY:-}" ] && [ -z "''${HOMELAB_QS_DEV:-}" ]; then
+              export HOMELAB_QS_DEV=1
+              qs-dev && trap qs-prod EXIT
+            fi
+            echo "homelab devshell — qs-dev (working tree) / qs-prod (packaged); exit restores"
+          '';
+        };
     };
 }