diff --git a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/default.nix b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/default.nix
index 3b870aed5..b415494e8 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/default.nix
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ python3.pkgs.buildPythonApplication {
   desktopItems = [
     (makeDesktopItem {
       name = "clan-vm-manager";
-      # TODO: this subcommand is not implemented yet
       exec = "clan-vm-manager join %u";
       desktopName = "CLan VM Manager";
       startupWMClass = "clan";
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/shell.nix b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/shell.nix
index 6f1785707..098f10242 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/shell.nix
+++ b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/shell.nix
@@ -10,8 +10,15 @@ mkShell {
   shellHook = ''
     ln -sfT ${clan-cli.nixpkgs} ../clan-cli/clan_cli/nixpkgs
 
-    ln -sf ${clan-vm-manager} ./result
     # prepend clan-cli for development
     export PYTHONPATH=../clan-cli:$PYTHONPATH
+
+    set -euox
+    # install desktop file
+    cp -f ${clan-vm-manager}/share/applications/clan-vm-manager.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/clan-vm-manager.desktop
+    sleep 2
+    sed -i "s|Exec=.*|Exec=${clan-vm-manager}/bin/clan-vm-manager|" ~/.local/share/applications/clan-vm-manager.desktop
+    xdg-mime default clan-vm-manager.desktop  x-scheme-handler/clan
+    set +x
   '';
 }