diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/cli.py b/src/ohmyapi/cli.py
index 58b4f11..4f4a824 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/cli.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/cli.py
@@ -10,9 +10,6 @@ from ohmyapi.core import scaffolding, runtime
 from pathlib import Path
 
 app = typer.Typer(help="OhMyAPI — Django-flavored FastAPI scaffolding with tightly integrated TortoiseORM.")
-banner = """OhMyAPI Shell | Project: {project_name}
-Find your loaded project singleton via identifier: `p`
-"""
 
 
 @app.command()
@@ -40,52 +37,50 @@ def serve(root: str = ".", host="127.0.0.1", port=8000):
 
 @app.command()
 def shell(root: str = "."):
-    """
-    Launch an interactive IPython shell with the project and apps loaded.
-    """
     project_path = Path(root).resolve()
     project = runtime.Project(project_path)
 
-    # Ensure the ORM is shutdown
-    async def close_project():
+    banner = f"""
+    OhMyAPI Project Shell: {getattr(project.settings, 'PROJECT_NAME', 'MyProject')}
+    Find your loaded project singleton via identifier: `p`; i.e.: `p.apps`
+    """
+
+    async def init_and_cleanup():
+        try:
+            await project.init_orm()
+            return True
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"Failed to initialize ORM: {e}")
+            return False
+
+    async def cleanup():
         try:
             await project.close_orm()
             print("Tortoise ORM closed successfully.")
         except Exception as e:
             print(f"Error closing ORM: {e}")
 
-    def cleanup():
-        loop = None
-        try:
-            loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
-        except RuntimeError:
-            pass
-        if loop and loop.is_running():
-            asyncio.create_task(close_project())
-        else:
-            asyncio.run(close_project())
+    loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+    asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)
+    loop.run_until_complete(init_and_cleanup())
 
-    # Ensure the ORM is initialized
-    asyncio.run(project.init_orm())
+    # Prepare shell vars that are to be directly available
+    shell_vars = {"p": project}
 
     try:
         from IPython import start_ipython
-        shell_vars = {
-            "p": project,
-        }
         from traitlets.config.loader import Config
+
         c = Config()
         c.TerminalIPythonApp.display_banner = True
-        c.TerminalInteractiveShell.banner2 = banner.format(**{
-            "project_name": f"{f'{project.settings.PROJECT_NAME} ' if getattr(project.settings, 'PROJECT_NAME', '') else ''}[{Path(project_path).resolve()}]",
-        })
-        atexit.register(cleanup)
+        c.TerminalInteractiveShell.banner2 = banner
+
         start_ipython(argv=[], user_ns=shell_vars, config=c)
     except ImportError:
-        typer.echo("IPython is not installed. Falling back to built-in Python shell.")
         import code
-        atexit.register(cleanup)
-        code.interact(local={"p": project})
+        code.interact(local=shell_vars, banner=banner)
+    finally:
+        loop.run_until_complete(cleanup())
 
 
 @app.command()