diff --git a/users/pbsds/home/default.nix b/users/pbsds/home/default.nix
index ed409f8..07f625b 100644
--- a/users/pbsds/home/default.nix
+++ b/users/pbsds/home/default.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
     ./profiles/ssh.nix
     /* ./profiles/tmate.nix */
     ./profiles/update-diff.nix
+    ./profiles/desktop/zed/remote.nix
   ];
 
   # TODO: add remote-exec once packaged
diff --git a/users/pbsds/home/profiles/desktop/zed/default.nix b/users/pbsds/home/profiles/desktop/zed/default.nix
index 9d41502..b79d075 100644
--- a/users/pbsds/home/profiles/desktop/zed/default.nix
+++ b/users/pbsds/home/profiles/desktop/zed/default.nix
@@ -1,35 +1,15 @@
 { lib, pkgs, ... }:
 {
 
-  home.shellAliases.atom = lib.mkDefault "zed";
+  home.shellAliases.atom = lib.mkDefault "zeditor";
 
-  home.packages = with pkgs; [
-    unstable.zed-editor
-
-    # TODO: should i wrap zed with these? That won't work remotely...
-
-    # needed builtin plugins paths:
-    unstable.package-version-server # Zed autodownloads this
-    vscode-langservers-extracted # vscode-{css,eslint,html,json,markdown}-language-server
-    taplo # toml lsp
-    gopls
-    pyright # (node) TODO: eww please figure out python-lsp-server!
-    rust-analyzer # TODO: ra-multiplex
-    glsl_analyzer
-    ruff
-    # simple-completion-language-server # theirs works?
-
-    # needed community plugins
-    nixd
-    nil
-    unstable.nixfmt-rfc-style
-    harper
-    typos-lsp
-
-    # I prefer these in shell.nix
-    # python3Packages.python-lsp-server
+  home.packages = [
+    # the rest are in ./remote.nix
+    pkgs.unstable.zed-editor
   ];
 
+  imports = [ ./remote.nix ];
+
   # TODO:
   #.config/zed/keymap.json
   #.config/zed/settings.json
diff --git a/users/pbsds/home/profiles/desktop/zed/remote.nix b/users/pbsds/home/profiles/desktop/zed/remote.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..733869c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/users/pbsds/home/profiles/desktop/zed/remote.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+{ pkgs, ... }:
+{
+  home.packages = with pkgs; [
+    # unstable.zed-editor # not for headless remotes
+
+    # TODO: should i wrap zed with these? That won't work remotely...
+
+    # needed by builtin plugins paths:
+    unstable.package-version-server # Zed autodownloads this
+    vscode-langservers-extracted # vscode-{css,eslint,html,json,markdown}-language-server
+    taplo # toml lsp
+    gopls
+    pyright # (node) TODO: eww please figure out python-lsp-server!
+    rust-analyzer # TODO: ra-multiplex
+    glsl_analyzer
+    ruff
+    # simple-completion-language-server # theirs seem to work?
+
+    # needed by community plugins
+    nixd
+    nil
+    unstable.nixfmt-rfc-style
+    harper
+    typos-lsp
+
+    # I prefer these in shell.nix / virtual environments
+    # python3Packages.python-lsp-server
+  ];
+}