diff --git a/hosts/othalan/default.nix b/hosts/othalan/default.nix
index babfb6d..039ab2c 100644
--- a/hosts/othalan/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/othalan/default.nix
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
         vbox
         podman
         docker
+        utils
       ''
       |> listify
       |> enableAttrs
diff --git a/modules/essentials.nix b/modules/essentials.nix
index 67e1f5c..43dfe5b 100644
--- a/modules/essentials.nix
+++ b/modules/essentials.nix
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
     gcc
     file
 
-    jq
-
     wget
     curl
     htop
diff --git a/modules/oizys.nix b/modules/oizys.nix
index 65b4c62..9033f7b 100644
--- a/modules/oizys.nix
+++ b/modules/oizys.nix
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ in
     restic
 
     llm
+
+    utils
   ];
 
   options.oizys = {
diff --git a/modules/utils/default.nix b/modules/utils/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e541c5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/utils/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+  config,
+  pkgs,
+  mkOizysModule,
+  ...
+}:
+mkOizysModule config "utils" {
+  # a grab bag of classic utils I probably want installed by default
+  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
+    feh
+    jq
+  ];
+}