diff --git a/home/applications/zellij/default.nix b/home/applications/zellij/default.nix
index da21e21..8e49f75 100644
--- a/home/applications/zellij/default.nix
+++ b/home/applications/zellij/default.nix
@@ -1,10 +1,32 @@
-{
+{lib, ...}: {
   programs.zellij = {
     enable = true;
     enableFishIntegration = true;
-    settings = {
-      simplified_ui = true;
-      theme = "tokyo-night-dark";
-    };
   };
+
+  # not sure how to write keybinds in nix (see line 16)
+  xdg.configFile."zellij/config.kdl".text = lib.mkForce ''
+    theme "tokyo-night-dark"
+    simplified_ui true
+    pane_frames false
+    // default_layout "compact" // still learning the keybinds!
+
+    on_force_close "quit"
+    mirror_session false
+
+    keybinds {
+      normal {
+        bind "Alt 1" { GoToTab 1; }
+        bind "Alt 2" { GoToTab 2; }
+        bind "Alt 3" { GoToTab 3; }
+        bind "Alt 4" { GoToTab 4; }
+        bind "Alt 5" { GoToTab 5; }
+        bind "Alt 6" { GoToTab 6; }
+        bind "Alt 7" { GoToTab 7; }
+        bind "Alt 8" { GoToTab 8; }
+        bind "Alt 9" { GoToTab 9; }
+        bind "Alt 0" { GoToTab 10; }
+      }
+    }
+  '';
 }
diff --git a/home/default.nix b/home/default.nix
index 11991dc..6dd08f7 100644
--- a/home/default.nix
+++ b/home/default.nix
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
     ./applications/fd
     ./applications/hyperfine
     ./applications/atuin
+    ./applications/zellij
 
     ./applications/ydict
     ./applications/fastfetch