diff --git a/hack/demo-env/README.md b/hack/demo-env/README.md
index f352908..03cc31f 100644
--- a/hack/demo-env/README.md
+++ b/hack/demo-env/README.md
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ sudo microk8s.config > ~/.kube/config
 
 What's left is to install the metallb configuration. You should be good now.
 
-```
+```shell
 kubectl apply -n metallb-system -f hack/demo-env/resources/metallb-ipaddresspool.yaml
 ```
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Make sure you have administrative access to a cluster and [vcluster](https://git
 
 To setup all required virtual clusters, run
 
-```
+```shell
 ./hack/demo-env/setup-vcluster-env.sh create
 ```
 
@@ -78,7 +78,11 @@ This is a local development environment. It comes with pre-configured credential
 
 You can authenticate to the the Argo CD UI or API server with user `admin` and password `adminadmin`. Creative, isn't it.
 
-You will need to generate credentials for the agents. Run the `gen-creds.sh` script before you start any of the agent or principal components.
+You will need to generate credentials for the agents. Before you start any of the agent or principal components run:
+
+```shell
+gen-creds.sh
+```
 
 ## Starting the components
 
diff --git a/hack/demo-env/setup-vcluster-env.sh b/hack/demo-env/setup-vcluster-env.sh
index 2bf9209..236d8fb 100755
--- a/hack/demo-env/setup-vcluster-env.sh
+++ b/hack/demo-env/setup-vcluster-env.sh
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ create)
 	for c in $VCLUSTERS; do
 		cluster=$(cluster $c)
  		echo "  --> Creating vcluster $cluster"
-		vcluster create --context=${initial_context} ${EXTRA_VCLUSTER_PARAMS} --switch-context=false -n vcluster-${cluster} --expose --kube-config-context-name vcluster-${cluster} vcluster-${cluster}
+		vcluster create --context=${initial_context} ${EXTRA_VCLUSTER_PARAMS} -n vcluster-${cluster} --expose --kube-config-context-name vcluster-${cluster} vcluster-${cluster}
 
 		# I found a sleep statement here was beneficial to allow time for the load balancer to become available. If we find this is not required, these commented out lines should be removed.
 		# if [[ "$OPENSHIFT" != "" ]]; then
diff --git a/hack/demo-env/start-agent-autonomous.sh b/hack/demo-env/start-agent-autonomous.sh
index ddb1e7c..9343153 100755
--- a/hack/demo-env/start-agent-autonomous.sh
+++ b/hack/demo-env/start-agent-autonomous.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/bin/bash
 # Copyright 2024 The argocd-agent Authors
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-set -e -o pipefail
+set -ex -o pipefail
 ARGS=$*
 if ! kubectl config get-contexts | tail -n +2 | awk '{ print $2 }' | grep -qE '^vcluster-agent-autonomous$'; then
     echo "kube context vcluster-agent-autonomous is not configured; missing setup?" >&2
diff --git a/hack/demo-env/start-agent-managed.sh b/hack/demo-env/start-agent-managed.sh
index 5cfdbc7..a710391 100755
--- a/hack/demo-env/start-agent-managed.sh
+++ b/hack/demo-env/start-agent-managed.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/bin/bash
 # Copyright 2024 The argocd-agent Authors
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
diff --git a/hack/demo-env/start-principal.sh b/hack/demo-env/start-principal.sh
index fa1da36..8b0570b 100755
--- a/hack/demo-env/start-principal.sh
+++ b/hack/demo-env/start-principal.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/bin/bash
 # Copyright 2024 The argocd-agent Authors
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");