diff --git a/bindings/clean_plugins b/bindings/clean_plugins
index ea18752..9a0d5d7 100755
--- a/bindings/clean_plugins
+++ b/bindings/clean_plugins
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
 
 CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
 SCRIPTS_DIR="$CURRENT_DIR/../scripts"
+HELPERS_DIR="$SCRIPTS_DIR/helpers"
 
-source "$SCRIPTS_DIR/shared_functions.sh"
+source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_echo_functions.sh"
+source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_utils.sh"
 
 main() {
 	reload_tmux_environment
diff --git a/bindings/install_plugins b/bindings/install_plugins
index f92bbbc..3ade3c4 100755
--- a/bindings/install_plugins
+++ b/bindings/install_plugins
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
 
 CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
 SCRIPTS_DIR="$CURRENT_DIR/../scripts"
+HELPERS_DIR="$SCRIPTS_DIR/helpers"
 
-source "$SCRIPTS_DIR/shared_functions.sh"
+source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_echo_functions.sh"
+source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_utils.sh"
 
 main() {
 	reload_tmux_environment
diff --git a/bindings/update_plugins b/bindings/update_plugins
index f4f441f..9a3a86c 100755
--- a/bindings/update_plugins
+++ b/bindings/update_plugins
@@ -9,8 +9,11 @@
 
 CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
 SCRIPTS_DIR="$CURRENT_DIR/../scripts"
+HELPERS_DIR="$SCRIPTS_DIR/helpers"
 
 source "$SCRIPTS_DIR/shared_functions.sh"
+source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_echo_functions.sh"
+source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_utils.sh"
 
 display_plugin_update_list() {
 	local plugins="$(shared_get_tpm_plugins_list)"
diff --git a/scripts/clean_plugins.sh b/scripts/clean_plugins.sh
index 2433ad3..4ff59f6 100755
--- a/scripts/clean_plugins.sh
+++ b/scripts/clean_plugins.sh
@@ -1,34 +1,14 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+HELPERS_DIR="$CURRENT_DIR/helpers"
 
 source "$CURRENT_DIR/shared_functions.sh"
 
-TMUX_ECHO_FLAG="$1"
-
-# True if invoked as tmux mapping or tmux command,
-# false if invoked via command line wrapper from `bin/` directory.
-use_tmux_echo() {
-	[ "$TMUX_ECHO_FLAG" == "--tmux-echo" ]
-}
-
-if use_tmux_echo; then
-	# use tmux specific echo-ing
-	echo_ok() {
-		tmux_echo "$*"
-	}
-
-	echo_err() {
-		tmux_echo "$*"
-	}
-else
-	echo_ok() {
-		echo "$*"
-	}
-
-	echo_err() {
-		fail_helper "$*"
-	}
+if [ "$1" == "--tmux-echo" ]; then # tmux-specific echo functions
+	source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_echo_functions.sh"
+else # shell output functions
+	source "$HELPERS_DIR/shell_echo_functions.sh"
 fi
 
 clean_plugins() {
diff --git a/scripts/helpers/shell_echo_functions.sh b/scripts/helpers/shell_echo_functions.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecaa37e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/helpers/shell_echo_functions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+echo_ok() {
+	echo "$*"
+}
+
+echo_err() {
+	fail_helper "$*"
+}
diff --git a/scripts/helpers/tmux_echo_functions.sh b/scripts/helpers/tmux_echo_functions.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c145b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/helpers/tmux_echo_functions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+tmux_echo() {
+	local message="$1"
+	tmux run-shell "echo '$message'"
+}
+
+echo_ok() {
+	tmux_echo "$*"
+}
+
+echo_err() {
+	tmux_echo "$*"
+}
+
+end_message() {
+	tmux_echo ""
+	tmux_echo "TMUX environment reloaded."
+	tmux_echo ""
+	tmux_echo "Done, press ENTER to continue."
+}
diff --git a/scripts/helpers/tmux_utils.sh b/scripts/helpers/tmux_utils.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e39946a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/helpers/tmux_utils.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+reload_tmux_environment() {
+	tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
diff --git a/scripts/install_plugins.sh b/scripts/install_plugins.sh
index b1fcc87..be7cd5b 100755
--- a/scripts/install_plugins.sh
+++ b/scripts/install_plugins.sh
@@ -1,34 +1,14 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+HELPERS_DIR="$CURRENT_DIR/helpers"
 
 source "$CURRENT_DIR/shared_functions.sh"
 
-TMUX_ECHO_FLAG="$1"
-
-# True if invoked as tmux mapping or tmux command,
-# false if invoked via command line wrapper from `bin/` directory.
-use_tmux_echo() {
-	[ "$TMUX_ECHO_FLAG" == "--tmux-echo" ]
-}
-
-if use_tmux_echo; then
-	# use tmux specific echo-ing
-	echo_ok() {
-		tmux_echo "$*"
-	}
-
-	echo_err() {
-		tmux_echo "$*"
-	}
-else
-	echo_ok() {
-		echo "$*"
-	}
-
-	echo_err() {
-		fail_helper "$*"
-	}
+if [ "$1" == "--tmux-echo" ]; then # tmux-specific echo functions
+	source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_echo_functions.sh"
+else # shell output functions
+	source "$HELPERS_DIR/shell_echo_functions.sh"
 fi
 
 clone() {
diff --git a/scripts/shared_functions.sh b/scripts/shared_functions.sh
index 58b6b4b..878e73a 100644
--- a/scripts/shared_functions.sh
+++ b/scripts/shared_functions.sh
@@ -43,17 +43,6 @@ shared_plugin_path() {
 	echo "${SHARED_TPM_PATH}${plugin_name}/"
 }
 
-# TMUX messaging is weird. You only get a nice clean pane if you do it with
-# `run-shell` command.
-tmux_echo() {
-	local message="$1"
-	tmux run-shell "echo '$message'"
-}
-
-reload_tmux_environment() {
-	tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf >/dev/null 2>&1
-}
-
 plugin_already_installed() {
 	local plugin="$1"
 	local plugin_path="$(shared_plugin_path "$plugin")"
@@ -62,13 +51,6 @@ plugin_already_installed() {
 		git remote >/dev/null 2>&1
 }
 
-end_message() {
-	tmux_echo ""
-	tmux_echo "TMUX environment reloaded."
-	tmux_echo ""
-	tmux_echo "Done, press ENTER to continue."
-}
-
 ensure_tpm_path_exists() {
 	mkdir -p "$SHARED_TPM_PATH"
 }
diff --git a/scripts/update_plugin.sh b/scripts/update_plugin.sh
index a89a44a..4407102 100755
--- a/scripts/update_plugin.sh
+++ b/scripts/update_plugin.sh
@@ -3,37 +3,19 @@
 # this script handles core logic of updating plugins
 
 CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+HELPERS_DIR="$CURRENT_DIR/helpers"
 
 source "$CURRENT_DIR/shared_functions.sh"
 
-TMUX_ECHO_FLAG="$1"
-shift
-
-# True if invoked as tmux mapping or tmux command,
-# false if invoked via command line wrapper from `bin/` directory.
-use_tmux_echo() {
-	[ "$TMUX_ECHO_FLAG" == "--tmux-echo" ]
-}
-
-if use_tmux_echo; then
-	# use tmux specific echo-ing
-	echo_ok() {
-		tmux_echo "$*"
-	}
-
-	echo_err() {
-		tmux_echo "$*"
-	}
-else
-	echo_ok() {
-		echo "$*"
-	}
-
-	echo_err() {
-		fail_helper "$*"
-	}
+if [ "$1" == "--tmux-echo" ]; then # tmux-specific echo functions
+	source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_echo_functions.sh"
+else # shell output functions
+	source "$HELPERS_DIR/shell_echo_functions.sh"
 fi
 
+# from now on ignore first script argument
+shift
+
 pull_changes() {
 	local plugin="$1"
 	local plugin_path="$(shared_plugin_path "$plugin")"
diff --git a/scripts/update_plugin_prompt_handler.sh b/scripts/update_plugin_prompt_handler.sh
index fa34992..5e1f7d9 100755
--- a/scripts/update_plugin_prompt_handler.sh
+++ b/scripts/update_plugin_prompt_handler.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 CURRENT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+HELPERS_DIR="$CURRENT_DIR/helpers"
 
 if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-source "$CURRENT_DIR/shared_functions.sh"
+source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_echo_functions.sh"
+source "$HELPERS_DIR/tmux_utils.sh"
 
 main() {
 	"$CURRENT_DIR/update_plugin.sh" --tmux-echo "$*"