diff --git a/sky/templates/jobs-controller.yaml.j2 b/sky/templates/jobs-controller.yaml.j2
index 71c808fdd0f..f18582421e5 100644
--- a/sky/templates/jobs-controller.yaml.j2
+++ b/sky/templates/jobs-controller.yaml.j2
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ setup: |
   {{cmd}}
   {%- endfor %}
 
-  {% if is_dev %}
-  # Internal: disable logging for manually logging into the jobs controller for debugging.
-  echo 'export SKYPILOT_DEV=1' >> ~/.bashrc
+  {% if controller_envs.get("SKYPILOT_DEV") %}
+  grep -q "export SKYPILOT_DEV=" ~/.bashrc || echo 'export SKYPILOT_DEV=1' >> ~/.bashrc
+  grep -q "alias sky-env=" ~/.bashrc || echo 'alias sky-env="{{ sky_activate_python_env }}"' >> ~/.bashrc
   {% endif %}
 
   # Create systemd service file
diff --git a/sky/templates/sky-serve-controller.yaml.j2 b/sky/templates/sky-serve-controller.yaml.j2
index 507a6e3a325..48854ed57f5 100644
--- a/sky/templates/sky-serve-controller.yaml.j2
+++ b/sky/templates/sky-serve-controller.yaml.j2
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ setup: |
   {{cmd}}
   {%- endfor %}
 
+  {% if controller_envs.get("SKYPILOT_DEV") %}
+  grep -q "export SKYPILOT_DEV=" ~/.bashrc || echo 'export SKYPILOT_DEV=1' >> ~/.bashrc
+  grep -q "alias sky-env=" ~/.bashrc || echo 'alias sky-env="{{ sky_activate_python_env }}"' >> ~/.bashrc
+  {% endif %}
+
   # Install serve dependencies.
   # TODO(tian): Gather those into serve constants.
   pip list | grep uvicorn > /dev/null 2>&1 || pip install uvicorn > /dev/null 2>&1