diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c7ebdda..398201e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,9 +7,16 @@ direnv fetchurl https://gitlab.com/rensa-nix/direnv/-/raw/main/direnvrc
 ```
 
 `.envrc`:
+
 ```bash
 source $(fetchurl https://gitlab.com/rensa-nix/direnv/-/raw/main/direnvrc <hash>)
 
 use envreload //repo/shells/default
 ```
 
+## Formatting & Linting
+
+```sh
+shfmt -w -i 2 direnvrc
+shellcheck direnvrc
+```
diff --git a/direnvrc b/direnvrc
index c1052b5..15668fa 100644
--- a/direnvrc
+++ b/direnvrc
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ __ren_init_project() {
   mkdir -p "${REN_STATE}/direnv"
   # shellcheck disable=SC2034
   direnv_layout_dir="${REN_STATE}/direnv"
+
+  # add nested gitignore which ignores the whole state dir
+  echo "**/*" >"$REN_STATE/.gitignore"
 }
 
 #