diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/atuin.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/atuin.nix
index 7637e06141ca..7e89929884d6 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/atuin.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/atuin.nix
@@ -54,10 +54,13 @@ in
         };
 
         uri = mkOption {
-          type = types.str;
+          type = types.nullOr types.str;
           default = "postgresql:///atuin?host=/run/postgresql";
           example = "postgresql://atuin@localhost:5432/atuin";
-          description = mdDoc "URI to the database";
+          description = mdDoc ''
+            URI to the database.
+            Can be set to null in which case ATUIN_DB_URI should be set through an EnvironmentFile
+          '';
         };
       };
     };
@@ -134,9 +137,10 @@ in
         ATUIN_PORT = toString cfg.port;
         ATUIN_MAX_HISTORY_LENGTH = toString cfg.maxHistoryLength;
         ATUIN_OPEN_REGISTRATION = lib.boolToString cfg.openRegistration;
-        ATUIN_DB_URI = cfg.database.uri;
         ATUIN_PATH = cfg.path;
         ATUIN_CONFIG_DIR = "/run/atuin"; # required to start, but not used as configuration is via environment variables
+      } // lib.optionalAttrs (cfg.database.uri != null) {
+        ATUIN_DB_URI = cfg.database.uri;
       };
     };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/at/atuin/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/at/atuin/package.nix
index db9bc233cb9a..88e9609075fe 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/at/atuin/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/at/atuin/package.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 { lib
 , stdenv
 , fetchFromGitHub
+, fetchpatch
 , installShellFiles
 , rustPlatform
 , libiconv
@@ -19,12 +20,28 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage rec {
     hash = "sha256-fuVSn1vhKn2+Tw5f6zBYHFW3QSL4eisZ6d5pxsj5hh4=";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+    # atuin with bash-preexec wasn't recording history properly after searching,
+    # backport recent fix until next release
+    (fetchpatch {
+      url = "https://github.com/atuinsh/atuin/commit/cb11af25afddbad552d337a9c82e74ac4302feca.patch";
+      sha256 = "sha256-cG99aLKs5msatT7vXiX9Rn5xur2WUjQ/U33nOxuon7I=";
+    })
+  ];
+
   # TODO: unify this to one hash because updater do not support this
   cargoHash =
     if stdenv.isLinux
     then "sha256-lHWgsVnjSeBmd7O4Fn0pUtTn4XbkBOAouaRHRozil50="
     else "sha256-LxfpllzvgUu7ZuD97n3W+el3bdOt5QGXzJbDQ0w8seo=";
 
+  # atuin's default features include 'check-updates', which do not make sense
+  # for distribution builds. List all other default features.
+  buildNoDefaultFeatures = true;
+  buildFeatures = [
+    "client" "sync" "server" "clipboard"
+  ];
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [ installShellFiles ];
 
   buildInputs = lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [