diff --git a/robot/docker/.bashrc b/robot/docker/.bashrc
index 541c922e..7ece30a3 100644
--- a/robot/docker/.bashrc
+++ b/robot/docker/.bashrc
@@ -102,6 +102,20 @@ fi
 #    . /etc/bash_completion
 #fi
 
+
+# Creates a history file that stores locally on the developer computer
+# check if we previously created a symlink to ~/.bash_history
+if [ ! -h ~/.bash_history ]; then
+    # File is not a symlink
+    rm ~/.bash_history
+    # initialize .bash_history file if doesn't exist yet
+    if [ ! -d ~/.dev/.bash_history ]; then
+        cp ~/.dev/.bash_history_init ~/.dev/.bash_history
+    fi
+    # symlink to ~/.dev/.bash_history
+    ln -s ~/.dev/.bash_history ~/.bash_history
+fi
+
 # --- ROS2 workspace setup ---
 
 # Define the ROS2 workspace directory
@@ -162,4 +176,5 @@ CONTAINER_PREFIX="airstack-"
 export ROBOT_NAME=$(echo "$container_name" | sed "s#/$CONTAINER_PREFIX##" | sed 's#-#_#')
 export ROS_DOMAIN_ID=$(echo "$ROBOT_NAME" | awk -F'_' '{print $NF}')
 
-export RCUTILS_COLORIZED_OUTPUT=1  # get colored output from ROS2 tools
\ No newline at end of file
+export RCUTILS_COLORIZED_OUTPUT=1  # get colored output from ROS2 tools
+
diff --git a/robot/docker/.bash_history b/robot/docker/.dev/.bash_history_init
similarity index 100%
rename from robot/docker/.bash_history
rename to robot/docker/.dev/.bash_history_init
diff --git a/robot/docker/docker-compose.yaml b/robot/docker/docker-compose.yaml
index 31c1cefc..e45ab63a 100644
--- a/robot/docker/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/robot/docker/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ services:
       - $HOME/.Xauthority:/root/.Xauthority
       - /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix
       # developer stuff
+      - .dev:/root/.dev:rw # developer config
       - .bashrc:/root/.bashrc:rw # bash config
-      - .bash_history:/root/.bash_history:rw # save cmdline history
       - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock # access docker API for container name
       # autonomy stack stuff
       - ../../common/ros_packages:/root/ros_ws/src/common:rw  # common ROS packages
diff --git a/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.bash_history b/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.bash_history
deleted file mode 100644
index b13c1101..00000000
--- a/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.bash_history
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-runapp
-tmux ls
-tmux a -t isaac
diff --git a/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.bashrc b/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.bashrc
index e14bee50..883ab6b5 100644
--- a/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.bashrc
+++ b/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.bashrc
@@ -102,7 +102,22 @@ fi
 #    . /etc/bash_completion
 #fi
 
+
+# Creates a history file that stores locally on the developer computer
+# check if we previously created a symlink to ~/.bash_history
+if [ ! -h ~/.bash_history ]; then
+    # File is not a symlink
+    rm ~/.bash_history
+    # initialize .bash_history file if doesn't exist yet
+    if [ ! -d ~/.dev/.bash_history ]; then
+        cp ~/.dev/.bash_history_init ~/.dev/.bash_history
+    fi
+    # symlink to ~/.dev/.bash_history
+    ln -s ~/.dev/.bash_history ~/.bash_history
+fi
+
 # --- ROS2 setup ---
+
 source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
 source /humble_ws/install/setup.bash  # isaacsim ros2 package
 # needed for communication with Isaac Sim ROS2  # https://docs.omniverse.nvidia.com/isaacsim/latest/installation/install_ros.html#enabling-the-ros-bridge-extension
diff --git a/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.dev/.bash_history_init b/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.dev/.bash_history_init
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..929c6870
--- /dev/null
+++ b/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/.dev/.bash_history_init
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+tmux a
+tmux ls
+cd ~/ros_ws
+ros2 launch gcs_bringup gcs.launch.xml 
+cws
+bws
+sws
+bws --packages-select gcs_bringup
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/docker-compose.yaml b/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/docker-compose.yaml
index 16c69418..7a555d57 100644
--- a/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/simulation/isaac-sim/docker/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ services:
       - ~/docker/isaac-sim/data:/root/.local/share/ov/data:rw
       - ~/docker/isaac-sim/documents:/root/Documents:rw
       # developer stuff
+      - .dev:/root/.dev:rw # developer config
       - .bashrc:/root/.bashrc:rw # bash config
-      - .bash_history:/root/.bash_history:rw # save cmdline history
       # code
       - ../sitl_integration/kit-app-template/source/extensions/:/root/Documents/Kit/shared/exts/
       - ../sitl_integration:/sitl_integration:rw