diff --git a/sqlpage/templates/shell.handlebars b/sqlpage/templates/shell.handlebars
index 8d8513c2..f0530052 100644
--- a/sqlpage/templates/shell.handlebars
+++ b/sqlpage/templates/shell.handlebars
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
             {{~#if (or (eq (typeof this) 'object') (and (eq (typeof this) 'string') (starts_with this '{')))}}
                 {{~#with (parse_json this)}}
                     {{#if (or (or this.title this.icon) this.image)}}
-                        <li class="nav-item{{#if this.submenu}} dropdown{{/if}}">
+                        <li class="nav-item{{#if this.submenu}} dropdown{{/if}}{{#if this.active}} active{{/if}}">
                             <a class="nav-link {{#if this.submenu}}dropdown-toggle{{/if}}" href="{{#if this.link}}{{this.link}}{{else}}#{{/if}}"
                                 {{~#if this.submenu}} data-bs-toggle="dropdown" data-bs-auto-close="outside" {{/if~}}
                                 {{#if this.target}}target="{{this.target}}"{{/if}}
diff --git a/testshell.sql b/testshell.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e796f2d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testshell.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+select
+  'shell' as component
+  , true as sidebar
+  , '{"title": "Example Menu Item 1", "active": true}' as menu_item
+  , '{"title": "Example Menu Item 2"}' as menu_item
+