diff --git a/config/configuration.nix b/config/configuration.nix
index 399e9d7..8bdbd48 100644
--- a/config/configuration.nix
+++ b/config/configuration.nix
@@ -7,5 +7,8 @@
       ./nixos
       ./users/alice.nix
     ];
+
+  # to use zsh as a login shell, it has to be enabled globally.
+  programs.zsh.enable = true;
 }
 
diff --git a/config/flake.nix b/config/flake.nix
index 4e6eec3..a7e7b42 100644
--- a/config/flake.nix
+++ b/config/flake.nix
@@ -24,9 +24,12 @@
           {
             home-manager.useGlobalPkgs = true; # Use global packages in home-manager
             home-manager.useUserPackages = true; # Use user packages in home-manager
-            # home-manager.users.alice = ./users/alice.nix; # Define user-specific home-manager configuration
           }
         ];
+
+        specialArgs = {
+          inherit home-manager;
+        };
       };
     };
   };
diff --git a/config/users/alice.nix b/config/users/alice.nix
index c906717..cf5cd7e 100644
--- a/config/users/alice.nix
+++ b/config/users/alice.nix
@@ -19,21 +19,20 @@ inputs @ { pkgs, lib, ...}: let
       };
     };
   };
-in
-  {
-    imports = [(lib.modules.importApply ./user.nix {
-      user = {
-          userName = "alice";
-          defaultPassword = "password";
-          shell = pkgs.zsh;
-          packages = with pkgs; [
-            tree
-            vim
-            wget
-            curl
-            git
-          ];
-          userModule = aliceUserFn;
-        };
-    })];
-  }
+in {
+  imports = [(lib.modules.importApply ./user.nix {
+    user = {
+      userName = "alice";
+      defaultPassword = "password";
+      shell = pkgs.zsh;
+      packages = with pkgs; [
+        tree
+        vim
+        wget
+        curl
+        git
+      ];
+      userModule = aliceUserFn;
+    };
+  })];
+}
diff --git a/config/users/user.nix b/config/users/user.nix
index 2c5cb23..c4a9877 100644
--- a/config/users/user.nix
+++ b/config/users/user.nix
@@ -5,19 +5,16 @@
 # - `packages`: List of packages to install for the user account.
 # - `userModule`: A module that provides additional configuration for the user account.
 
-{user}: inputs @ {lib, pkgs, ...}:
+{user}: inputs @ {lib, home-manager, pkgs, ...}:
 let
-  userName = user.userName or "alice";
+  username = user.userName or "alice";
 
   base = import ../options.nix {};
 in 
 let
-  homeDirectory = "/home/${userName}";
-  passwordConfig = lib.mkIf user.defaultPassword {
-    initialPassword = user.defaultPassword;
-  };
+  homeDirectory = "/home/${username}";
 in {
-  users.users.${userName} = {
+  users.users.${username} = {
     shell = user.shell or pkgs.zsh; # Default shell for the user
 
     home = homeDirectory;
@@ -25,14 +22,18 @@ in {
     group = "users"; # Default group
     isNormalUser = true;
     extraGroups = [ "wheel" ]; # Add to wheel group for sudo access
-  } // passwordConfig;
+  } // lib.optionalAttrs (lib.hasAttr "defaultPassword" user) {
+    initialPassword = user.defaultPassword;
+  };
 
-  home-manager.users.${userName} = {...}: {
-    imports = [ user.userModule (inputs) ];
+  home-manager.users.${username} = {
+    imports = [ user.userModule ];
+
+    # programs.home-manager.enable = true;
 
     home = {
-      inherit userName;
-      inherit (user) homeDirectory;
+      inherit username;
+      inherit homeDirectory;
       inherit (user) packages;
 
       stateVersion = "${base.stateVersion}";