diff --git a/home/zsh.nix b/home/zsh.nix
index 63ab842..e330792 100644
--- a/home/zsh.nix
+++ b/home/zsh.nix
@@ -41,12 +41,11 @@
       tailscale = "/Applications/Tailscale.app/Contents/MacOS/Tailscale";
 
       # nix helpers
-      ni = "nix profile install nixpkgs#";    # ni <pkg> - quick imperative install
       nr = "nix profile remove";               # nr <index> - remove from profile
       ns = "nix search nixpkgs";               # ns <query> - search packages
       nls = "nix profile list";                # nls - list installed profile packages
-      nrb = "darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/Documents/GitHub/nix";  # nrb - rebuild declarative config
-      nup = "nix flake update ~/Documents/GitHub/nix && darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/Documents/GitHub/nix";  # nup - update flake + rebuild
+      nrb = "sudo darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/Documents/GitHub/nix";  # nrb - rebuild declarative config
+      nup = "nix flake update ~/Documents/GitHub/nix && sudo darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/Documents/GitHub/nix";  # nup - update flake + rebuild
     };
 
     envExtra = ''
@@ -107,6 +106,8 @@
           $path
         )
 
+        ni() { nix profile install "nixpkgs#$1"; }
+
         unalias ga 2>/dev/null
         ga() {
           if [[ $# -eq 0 ]]; then