diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index b949072..b859272 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ jobs:
           nix build --no-link \
             .#checks.x86_64-linux.nix-quality \
             .#checks.x86_64-linux.lua-format \
-            .#checks.x86_64-linux.zsh-syntax
+            .#checks.x86_64-linux.zsh-syntax \
+            .#checks.x86_64-linux.bash-syntax
 
       - name: Evaluate WSL configuration
         run: nix eval --raw '.#nixosConfigurations.nixos-wsl.config.system.build.toplevel.drvPath'
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a3ab5e1..8525522 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Local/work-specific configuration files
 .zshenv.local
+.bashrc.local
 git/.config/git/config.local
 
 # Herdr runtime state (written into the symlinked config dir; only config.toml is tracked)
diff --git a/bash/.bash_profile b/bash/.bash_profile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e053780
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bash/.bash_profile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Login shells read this instead of ~/.bashrc, so source ~/.bashrc here to keep
+# login and non-login interactive shells identical.
+[ -f "$HOME/.bashrc" ] && . "$HOME/.bashrc"
diff --git a/bash/.bashrc b/bash/.bashrc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1658d26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bash/.bashrc
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+# Minimal bash configuration, kept as a portable fallback to zsh/.zshrc.
+#
+# Layout mirrors the zsh config: environment first (so non-interactive login
+# shells get PATH too, the job zsh/.zshenv does), interactive-only setup after
+# the guard. Login shells reach this file through ~/.bash_profile.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Environment (mirrors zsh/.zshenv)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+export EDITOR="nvim"
+export VISUAL="nvim"
+export DOTFILES="${DOTFILES:-$HOME/dotfiles}"
+
+export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
+export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:$PATH"
+# This is required for asdf (0.16 or later)
+export PATH="${ASDF_DATA_DIR:-$HOME/.asdf}/shims:$PATH"
+# reorder PATH to make sure Nix's home-manager PATH comes before
+# system path, so it uses nix installed package first
+export PATH="$HOME/.nix-profile/bin:$PATH"
+
+export CLOUDSDK_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python3
+
+# GPG TTY for commit signing. `tty` writes "not a tty" to stdout and fails when
+# stdin is not a terminal, so assign only on success and keep any inherited value.
+if __tty=$(tty 2>/dev/null); then
+  export GPG_TTY="$__tty"
+fi
+unset __tty
+
+# Home Manager session variables, when this machine is managed by Nix.
+# The first file sourced sets a guard, so the second is a no-op.
+for __hm_vars in \
+  "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh" \
+  "/etc/profiles/per-user/$USER/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh"; do
+  [ -r "$__hm_vars" ] && . "$__hm_vars"
+done
+unset __hm_vars
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Interactive shells only
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+case $- in
+  *i*) ;;
+  *) return ;;
+esac
+
+# History. mcfly bails out with an error unless the file already exists, so
+# create it here rather than waiting for the first shell to exit.
+HISTFILE="${HISTFILE:-$HOME/.bash_history}"
+[ -e "$HISTFILE" ] || (umask 077 && : > "$HISTFILE")
+HISTSIZE=50000
+HISTFILESIZE=100000
+HISTCONTROL=ignoreboth:erasedups
+HISTIGNORE="ls:ll:la:cd:pwd:exit:clear:history"
+HISTTIMEFORMAT="%F %T "
+shopt -s histappend cmdhist
+
+# Shell behaviour (options unknown to bash 3.2 are skipped quietly)
+shopt -s checkwinsize globstar autocd cdspell dirspell no_empty_cmd_completion 2>/dev/null
+
+# vi keybindings, matching the zsh vi-mode plugin
+set -o vi
+# Keys bash leaves unbound in vi-insert but zsh's viins keymap provides
+bind -m vi-insert '"\C-l": clear-screen' 2>/dev/null
+bind -m vi-insert '"\C-a": beginning-of-line' 2>/dev/null
+bind -m vi-insert '"\C-e": end-of-line' 2>/dev/null
+bind -m vi-insert '"\C-k": kill-line' 2>/dev/null
+# Open the current buffer line in $EDITOR, as ^x^e does in zsh
+bind -m vi-insert '"\C-x\C-e": edit-and-execute-command' 2>/dev/null
+
+# bash-completion (Nix profile, system, or Homebrew)
+for __bc in \
+  "$HOME/.nix-profile/share/bash-completion/bash_completion" \
+  "/etc/profiles/per-user/$USER/share/bash-completion/bash_completion" \
+  /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion \
+  /opt/homebrew/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh \
+  /usr/local/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh; do
+  if [ -r "$__bc" ]; then
+    . "$__bc"
+    break
+  fi
+done
+unset __bc
+
+# Prompt: user@host:cwd (git-branch)
+__bash_git_branch() {
+  local branch
+  branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null) || return 0
+  printf ' (%s)' "$branch"
+}
+PS1='\[\e[32m\]\u@\h\[\e[0m\]:\[\e[34m\]\w\[\e[33m\]$(__bash_git_branch)\[\e[0m\]\$ '
+
+# General aliases
+alias v="nvim"
+
+# eza as default lister
+if command -v eza >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  alias ls='eza --group-directories-first --icons=auto'
+  alias ll='eza -l  --group-directories-first --icons=auto --git'
+  alias la='eza -la --group-directories-first --icons=auto --git'
+  alias lt='eza --tree --level=2 --icons=auto'
+fi
+
+# Load local-specific configuration if it exists. Deliberately before the two
+# integrations below: on bash < 5.1 (macOS /bin/bash is 3.2) PROMPT_COMMAND is a
+# plain string, so a bare assignment here would wipe their hooks. Both append to
+# whatever it leaves behind, and it can still set MCFLY_*/_ZO_* to configure them.
+[ -f "$DOTFILES/bash/.bashrc.local" ] && . "$DOTFILES/bash/.bashrc.local"
+
+# zoxide: smarter cd, provides `z` and `zi`
+command -v zoxide >/dev/null 2>&1 && eval "$(zoxide init bash)"
+
+# mcfly: fuzzy ^R history search (after zoxide, so it wraps that prompt hook)
+command -v mcfly >/dev/null 2>&1 && eval "$(mcfly init bash)"
diff --git a/docs/README.nix.md b/docs/README.nix.md
index 87767ad..2fc0432 100644
--- a/docs/README.nix.md
+++ b/docs/README.nix.md
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ Before activation, customize `home.username` and `home.homeDirectory` in `home/d
 ### Development Tools
 - **Editors**: Neovim
 - **Terminal**: Herdr, Wezterm, Yazi
-- **Shell**: Zsh with completion and syntax highlighting
+- **Shell**: Zsh (primary, oh-my-zsh + mcfly) with a minimal Bash fallback (zoxide + mcfly)
 - **Version Control**: Git, GitHub CLI, Lazygit
 - **CLI Tools**: ripgrep, fd, bat, fzf, jq, and more
 - **Rust Toolchain**: rustc, Cargo, Clippy, and rustfmt (managed by Nix)
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ Before activation, customize `home.username` and `home.homeDirectory` in `home/d
 ### Configuration Management
 - **Modular**: Shared modules + platform-specific overrides
 - **Symlinked**: Your existing dotfiles are symlinked (edit directly, no rebuild needed)
+- **Stow-compatible**: each top-level config directory is also a GNU Stow package, so the same repo works on non-Nix machines (`stow bash zsh nvim`)
 - **Reproducible**: Same environment across all machines
 - **Declarative**: Everything in version control
 
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ dotfiles/
 ├── home/                        # Home Manager configurations
 │   ├── modules/                 # Shared modules
 │   │   ├── common.nix          # Base settings
-│   │   ├── shell.nix           # Zsh configuration
+│   │   ├── shell.nix           # Zsh + Bash configuration
 │   │   ├── dev-tools.nix       # Development packages
 │   │   ├── neovim.nix          # Neovim + LSPs
 │   │   └── terminal.nix        # Herdr, Wezterm, Yazi
@@ -140,7 +141,8 @@ dotfiles/
 │   ├── herdr/.config/herdr/
 │   ├── wezterm/.config/wezterm/
 │   ├── yazi/.config/yazi/
-│   └── zsh/
+│   ├── zsh/
+│   └── bash/                    # Minimal fallback shell
 │
 └── docs/
     ├── DEPLOYMENT.md           # Detailed deployment guide
@@ -248,7 +250,7 @@ home-manager switch --rollback
 **Current approach**: Manual management for simplicity
 - Generate SSH keys manually on each machine: `ssh-keygen -t ed25519`
 - Keep sensitive credentials outside version control
-- Use local overrides (`.zshenv.local` pattern) for machine-specific secrets
+- Use local overrides (`.zshenv.local` / `.bashrc.local` pattern) for machine-specific secrets
 
 ### Development Shells
 Create project-specific environments:
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 185d7e4..e9d8e57 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -339,6 +339,17 @@
                 zsh -n ${self}/zsh/.zshrc
                 touch "$out"
               '';
+
+          bash-syntax =
+            pkgs.runCommand "bash-syntax"
+              {
+                nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgs.bash ];
+              }
+              ''
+                bash -n ${self}/bash/.bash_profile
+                bash -n ${self}/bash/.bashrc
+                touch "$out"
+              '';
         }
       );
 
diff --git a/home/modules/common.nix b/home/modules/common.nix
index cc1e3b2..bbac733 100644
--- a/home/modules/common.nix
+++ b/home/modules/common.nix
@@ -25,6 +25,5 @@
     # Misc utilities
     wget
     curl
-    mcfly
   ];
 }
diff --git a/home/modules/shell.nix b/home/modules/shell.nix
index 6a1525d..ffd901f 100644
--- a/home/modules/shell.nix
+++ b/home/modules/shell.nix
@@ -2,10 +2,17 @@
 
 {
   home = {
-    # Install oh-my-zsh package (not managed by Home Manager's programs.zsh.oh-my-zsh)
-    # This allows your .zshrc to have full control
     packages = with pkgs; [
+      # Install oh-my-zsh package (not managed by Home Manager's programs.zsh.oh-my-zsh)
+      # This allows your .zshrc to have full control
       oh-my-zsh
+
+      # Completions for the bash fallback (programs.bash is off, see below)
+      bash-completion
+
+      # Shell integrations wired up in zsh/.zshrc and bash/.bashrc
+      mcfly
+      zoxide
     ];
 
     file = {
@@ -19,12 +26,14 @@
       # Symlink .zshenv
       ".zshenv".source =
         config.lib.file.mkOutOfStoreSymlink "${config.home.homeDirectory}/dotfiles/zsh/.zshenv";
-    };
-  };
 
-  # Bash configuration (fallback)
-  programs.bash = {
-    enable = true;
-    enableCompletion = true;
+      # Bash fallback. programs.bash stays disabled so these stay plain symlinks
+      # into the repo, which keeps them usable via GNU Stow on non-Nix machines.
+      ".bashrc".source =
+        config.lib.file.mkOutOfStoreSymlink "${config.home.homeDirectory}/dotfiles/bash/.bashrc";
+
+      ".bash_profile".source =
+        config.lib.file.mkOutOfStoreSymlink "${config.home.homeDirectory}/dotfiles/bash/.bash_profile";
+    };
   };
 }
diff --git a/zsh/.zshenv b/zsh/.zshenv
index 9284849..de855d3 100755
--- a/zsh/.zshenv
+++ b/zsh/.zshenv
@@ -6,8 +6,12 @@ export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:$PATH"
 export PATH="$HOME/.nix-profile/bin:$PATH"
 export CLOUDSDK_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python3
 
-# GPG TTY for commit signing
-export GPG_TTY=$(tty)
+# GPG TTY for commit signing. `tty` writes "not a tty" to stdout when stdin is
+# not a terminal, so assign only on success and keep any inherited value.
+if __tty=$(tty 2>/dev/null); then
+  export GPG_TTY=$__tty
+fi
+unset __tty
 
 # General aliases
 alias v="nvim"