diff --git a/mycpp/common.sh b/mycpp/common.sh
index 7d9c460ebf..bfec9cfd32 100644
--- a/mycpp/common.sh
+++ b/mycpp/common.sh
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@ if test -z "${REPO_ROOT:-}"; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
-readonly MYPY_REPO=$REPO_ROOT/_clone/mypy
+readonly MYPY_REPO=$REPO_ROOT/../oil_DEPS/_clone/mypy
diff --git a/mycpp/deps.sh b/mycpp/deps.sh
index e7f13f49c0..480cb3e5b1 100755
--- a/mycpp/deps.sh
+++ b/mycpp/deps.sh
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ git-clone() {
 }
 
 create-venv() {
-  local dir=_tmp/mycpp-venv
+  local dir=../oil_DEPS/mycpp-venv
   python3 -m venv $dir
 
   ls -l $dir
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ pip-install() {
   set +o nounset
   set +o pipefail
   set +o errexit
-  source _tmp/mycpp-venv/bin/activate
+  source ../oil_DEPS/mycpp-venv/bin/activate
 
   mypy-deps      # install deps in virtual env
 
diff --git a/soil/host-shim.sh b/soil/host-shim.sh
index 9c19ac4112..b4d9b0fec6 100755
--- a/soil/host-shim.sh
+++ b/soil/host-shim.sh
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ run-job-uke() {
   local docker=$1  # docker or podman
   local repo_root=$2
   local task=$3  # e.g. dev-minimal
+  local debug_shell=${4:-}
 
   local -a flags=()
 
@@ -50,10 +51,28 @@ run-job-uke() {
   command time -p -o $metadata_dir/image-pull-time.txt \
     $docker pull $image
 
+  local -a args
+  if test -n "$debug_shell"; then
+    # launch interactive shell
+    flags+=( -i -t )
+
+    # So we can run GDB
+    # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/35860527/warning-error-disabling-address-space-randomization-operation-not-permitted
+    flags+=( --cap-add SYS_PTRACE --security-opt seccomp=unconfined )
+
+    # can mount other tools for debugging, like clang
+    #local clang_dir=~/git/oilshell/oil_DEPS/clang+llvm-14.0.0-x86_64-linux-gnu-ubuntu-18.04
+    #flags+=( --mount "type=bind,source=$clang_dir,target=/home/uke/oil_DEPS/$(basename $clang_dir)" )
+    
+    args=(bash)
+  else
+    args=(sh -c "cd /home/uke/oil; soil/worker.sh run-$task")
+  fi
+
   $docker run "${flags[@]}" \
       --mount "type=bind,source=$repo_root,target=/home/uke/oil" \
       $image \
-      sh -c "cd /home/uke/oil; soil/worker.sh run-$task"
+      "${args[@]}"
 }
 
 local-test-uke() {
@@ -62,7 +81,7 @@ local-test-uke() {
 
   local branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 
-  local fresh_clone=/tmp/oil
+  local fresh_clone=/tmp/oil  # TODO: /tmp/soil-$task
   rm -r -f -v $fresh_clone
 
   local this_repo=$PWD
@@ -75,6 +94,14 @@ local-test-uke() {
   sudo $0 run-job-uke docker $fresh_clone $task
 }
 
+local-shell() {
+  local task=${1:-cpp}
+
+  local repo_root=/tmp/oil  # TODO: /tmp/soil-$task
+  # Run bash as debug shell
+  sudo $0 run-job-uke docker $repo_root $task bash
+}
+
 cleanup() {
   sudo rm -r -f -v _tmp/soil
   sudo rm -r -f -v /tmp/oil
diff --git a/test/spec-cpp.sh b/test/spec-cpp.sh
index 5eafd70174..ddb15d7288 100755
--- a/test/spec-cpp.sh
+++ b/test/spec-cpp.sh
@@ -371,4 +371,10 @@ one-off() {
   #run-with-osh-eval builtin-io -r 54 -v  # to_float()
 }
 
+repro() {
+  test/spec.sh alias -r 0 -p > _tmp/a
+  ninja _bin/clang-dbg/osh_eval
+  _bin/clang-dbg/osh_eval _tmp/a
+}
+
 "$@"