diff --git a/shell/.mattrc b/shell/.mattrc
index 7d7a615..32b6712 100644
--- a/shell/.mattrc
+++ b/shell/.mattrc
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ alias vi=nvim
 export VISUAL=nvim
 export EDITOR="$VISUAL"
 export PLAN_BASE_PATH="$HOME/.plan"
+alias act="source .venv/bin/activate"
+alias deact="deactivate"
 
 # prepend: tools that should win over system equivalents
 [[ -d /opt/homebrew/bin ]]            && export PATH="/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH"