diff --git a/hosts/pro.nix b/hosts/pro.nix
index e90e3ea..3dfa02d 100644
--- a/hosts/pro.nix
+++ b/hosts/pro.nix
@@ -106,30 +106,6 @@
 
   # each VM is a single-user linux guest; its account is declared by its nixos config
   vms = {
-    nixden = {
-      arch = "aarch64-linux";
-      user = "mostlyobvious";
-      system = ../vms/nixden/configuration.nix;
-      home = [
-        ../modules/core.nix
-        ../modules/cli.nix
-        ../modules/git.nix
-        ../modules/fish.nix
-        ../modules/neovim.nix
-        ../modules/ruby.nix
-        ../modules/claude.nix
-        ../modules/pi.nix
-        ../modules/eza.nix
-        ../modules/skills.nix
-        {
-          home.homeDirectory = "/home/mostlyobvious.guest";
-          my.dotfilesDir = "/mnt/dotfiles"; # the read-only lima mount
-          programs.zed-editor = {
-            enable = true;
-            installRemoteServer = true;
-          };
-        }
-      ];
-    };
+    nixden = import ../vms/nixden.nix;
   };
 }
diff --git a/vms/nixden.nix b/vms/nixden.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c1f4fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vms/nixden.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+{
+  arch = "aarch64-linux";
+  user = "mostlyobvious";
+  system = ./nixden/configuration.nix;
+  home = [
+    ../modules/core.nix
+    ../modules/cli.nix
+    ../modules/git.nix
+    ../modules/fish.nix
+    ../modules/neovim.nix
+    ../modules/ruby.nix
+    ../modules/claude.nix
+    ../modules/pi.nix
+    ../modules/eza.nix
+    ../modules/skills.nix
+    {
+      home.homeDirectory = "/home/mostlyobvious.guest";
+      my.dotfilesDir = "/mnt/dotfiles"; # the read-only lima mount
+      programs.zed-editor = {
+        enable = true;
+        installRemoteServer = true;
+      };
+    }
+  ];
+}