diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index fea997d..e82040e 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
             extraShellHook ? "",
             additionalHooks ? { },
             tools ? [ ],
+            includeStandardPackages ? true,
             # tools = list of { name, bin, versionCmd, color? }
             # e.g. { name = "Bun"; bin = "${pkgs.bun}/bin/bun"; versionCmd = "--version"; color = "YELLOW"; }
             formatters ? { },
@@ -49,6 +50,13 @@
           }:
           let
             pkgs = import nixpkgs { inherit system; };
+            standardPackages = with pkgs; [
+              nixfmt
+              gitlint
+              gitleaks
+              shfmt
+            ];
+            selectedStandardPackages = pkgs.lib.optionals includeStandardPackages standardPackages;
 
             oxfmtEnabled = features.oxfmt or false;
             oxfmtPackages = pkgs.lib.optionals oxfmtEnabled [
@@ -106,7 +114,7 @@
             formatter = treefmtEval.config.build.wrapper;
 
             shell = pkgs.mkShell {
-              packages = extraPackages ++ oxfmtPackages;
+              packages = selectedStandardPackages ++ extraPackages ++ oxfmtPackages;
 
               buildInputs = pre-commit-check.enabledPackages;
 
@@ -114,7 +122,7 @@
                 ${pre-commit-check.shellHook}
 
                 if [ -t 1 ]; then
-                  command -v tput >/dev/null 2>&1 && tput clear || printf '\033c'
+                  # command -v tput >/dev/null 2>&1 && tput clear || printf '\033c'
                 fi
 
                 GREEN='\033[1;32m'
@@ -258,10 +266,6 @@
           env = self.lib.mkDevShell {
             inherit system;
             extraPackages = with pkgs; [
-              nixfmt-rfc-style
-              gitlint
-              gitleaks
-              shfmt
               self.packages.${system}.release
             ];
             tools = [
diff --git a/packages/release/release.sh b/packages/release/release.sh
index 6e03198..bad0369 100644
--- a/packages/release/release.sh
+++ b/packages/release/release.sh
@@ -16,14 +16,14 @@ usage() {
   cmd="$(basename "$0")"
   printf '%s\n' \
     "Usage:" \
-    "  ${cmd} [major|minor|patch] [stable|${channelList}]" \
+    "  ${cmd} [major|minor|patch] [stable|__CHANNEL_LIST__]" \
     "  ${cmd} set <version>" \
     "" \
     "Bump types:" \
     "  (none)            bump patch, keep current channel" \
     "  major/minor/patch bump the given part, keep current channel" \
     "  stable / full     remove prerelease suffix" \
-    "  ${channelList}    switch channel (bumps prerelease number if same base+channel)" \
+    "  __CHANNEL_LIST__    switch channel (bumps prerelease number if same base+channel)" \
     "" \
     "Examples:" \
     "  ${cmd}                 # patch bump on current channel" \
@@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ parse_base_version() {
     echo "Error: invalid base version '$v' (expected x.y.z)" >&2
     exit 1
   fi
-  MAJOR="''${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-  MINOR="''${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-  PATCH="''${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"
+  MAJOR="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+  MINOR="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+  PATCH="${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"
 }
 
 parse_full_version() {
@@ -75,11 +75,11 @@ parse_full_version() {
   PRERELEASE_NUM=""
 
   if [[ $v =~ ^([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)-([a-zA-Z]+)\.([0-9]+)$ ]]; then
-    BASE_VERSION="''${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-    CHANNEL="''${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-    PRERELEASE_NUM="''${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"
+    BASE_VERSION="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+    CHANNEL="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+    PRERELEASE_NUM="${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"
   elif [[ $v =~ ^([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)$ ]]; then
-    BASE_VERSION="''${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+    BASE_VERSION="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
   else
     echo "Error: invalid version '$v' (expected x.y.z or x.y.z-channel.N)" >&2
     exit 1
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ parse_full_version() {
 validate_channel() {
   local ch="$1"
   [[ $ch == "stable" ]] && return 0
-  local valid_channels="${channelList}"
+  local valid_channels="__CHANNEL_LIST__"
   for c in $valid_channels; do
     [[ $ch == "$c" ]] && return 0
   done
@@ -106,14 +106,14 @@ version_cmp() {
 
   local base1="" pre1="" base2="" pre2=""
   if [[ $v1 =~ ^([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)-(.+)$ ]]; then
-    base1="''${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-    pre1="''${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+    base1="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+    pre1="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
   else
     base1="$v1"
   fi
   if [[ $v2 =~ ^([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)-(.+)$ ]]; then
-    base2="''${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-    pre2="''${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+    base2="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+    pre2="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
   else
     base2="$v2"
   fi
@@ -150,14 +150,14 @@ bump_base_version() {
     exit 1
     ;;
   esac
-  BASE_VERSION="''${MAJOR}.''${MINOR}.''${PATCH}"
+  BASE_VERSION="${MAJOR}.${MINOR}.${PATCH}"
 }
 
 compute_full_version() {
   if [[ $CHANNEL == "stable" || -z $CHANNEL ]]; then
     FULL_VERSION="$BASE_VERSION"
   else
-    FULL_VERSION="''${BASE_VERSION}-''${CHANNEL}.''${PRERELEASE_NUM:-1}"
+    FULL_VERSION="${BASE_VERSION}-${CHANNEL}.${PRERELEASE_NUM:-1}"
   fi
   export BASE_VERSION CHANNEL PRERELEASE_NUM FULL_VERSION
 }
@@ -188,27 +188,31 @@ validate_commit_message() {
 # ── version file generation ────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 generate_version_files() {
-  ${versionFilesScript}
+  :
+  __VERSION_FILES__
 }
 
 # ── user-provided hooks ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 do_read_version() {
-  ${readVersion}
+  :
+  __READ_VERSION__
 }
 
 do_write_version() {
-  ${writeVersion}
+  :
+  __WRITE_VERSION__
 }
 
 do_post_version() {
-  ${postVersion}
+  :
+  __POST_VERSION__
 }
 
 # ── main ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 main() {
-  [[ ''${1-} == "-h" || ''${1-} == "--help" ]] && usage && exit 0
+  [[ ${1-} == "-h" || ${1-} == "--help" ]] && usage && exit 0
 
   require_clean_git
   START_HEAD="$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
@@ -218,13 +222,13 @@ main() {
   raw_version="$(do_read_version)"
   parse_full_version "$raw_version"
 
-  log "Current: base=$BASE_VERSION channel=$CHANNEL pre=''${PRERELEASE_NUM:-}"
+  log "Current: base=$BASE_VERSION channel=$CHANNEL pre=${PRERELEASE_NUM:-}"
 
-  local action="''${1-}"
+  local action="${1-}"
   shift || true
 
   if [[ $action == "set" ]]; then
-    local newv="''${1-}"
+    local newv="${1-}"
     [[ -z $newv ]] && echo "Error: 'set' requires a version argument" >&2 && exit 1
     compute_full_version
     local current_full="$FULL_VERSION"
@@ -251,20 +255,20 @@ main() {
     "") part="patch" ;;
     major | minor | patch)
       part="$action"
-      target_channel="''${1-}"
+      target_channel="${1-}"
       ;;
     stable | full)
-      [[ -n ''${1-} ]] && echo "Error: '$action' takes no second argument" >&2 && usage && exit 1
+      [[ -n ${1-} ]] && echo "Error: '$action' takes no second argument" >&2 && usage && exit 1
       target_channel="stable"
       ;;
     *)
       # check if action is a valid channel
       local is_channel=0
-      for c in ${channelList}; do
+      for c in __CHANNEL_LIST__; do
         [[ $action == "$c" ]] && is_channel=1 && break
       done
       if [[ $is_channel == 1 ]]; then
-        [[ -n ''${1-} ]] && echo "Error: channel-only bump takes no second argument" >&2 && usage && exit 1
+        [[ -n ${1-} ]] && echo "Error: channel-only bump takes no second argument" >&2 && usage && exit 1
         target_channel="$action"
       else
         echo "Error: unknown argument '$action'" >&2
diff --git a/result b/result
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..2a61a01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/result
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/nix/store/acl2f263ncy3zfy38cipk2idmqnnvp9x-release
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/template/flake.nix b/template/flake.nix
index 5d94656..e8f1ab6 100644
--- a/template/flake.nix
+++ b/template/flake.nix
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
           env = devshell-lib.lib.mkDevShell {
             inherit system;
 
+            # includeStandardPackages = false; # opt out of nixfmt/gitlint/gitleaks/shfmt defaults
+
             extraPackages = with pkgs; [
               # add your tools here, e.g.:
               # go