diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index 180e359..4411adc 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -10,10 +10,14 @@ forEachSystem (
   let
     inherit (inputs) nixpkgs sops-nix;
     pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};
+
+    # construct the shell provided by pre-commit for running hooks
     pre-commit = pkgs.mkShell {
       inherit (checks.${system}.pre-commit-check) shellHook;
       buildInputs = checks.${system}.pre-commit-check.enabledPackages;
     };
+
+    # construct a shell for importing sops keys (also provides the sops binary)
     sops = pkgs.mkShell {
       sopsPGPKeyDirs = [ "./keys" ];
       packages = [
@@ -21,6 +25,8 @@ forEachSystem (
         sops-nix.packages.${system}.sops-import-keys-hook
       ];
     };
+
+    # constructs a custom shell with commonly used utilities
     rad-dev = pkgs.mkShell {
       packages = with pkgs; [
         deadnix