diff --git a/cerulean/nexus/snow.nix b/cerulean/nexus/snow.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 736779f..0000000
--- a/cerulean/nexus/snow.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,108 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2025-2026 _cry64 (Emile Clark-Boman)
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-{
-  inputs,
-  lib,
-  ...
-}: {
-  # nexus
-  options = let
-    inherit
-      (lib)
-      mkOption
-      types
-      ;
-  in {
-    modules = mkOption {
-      type = types.listOf types.path;
-    };
-    args = mkOption {
-      type = types.attrs;
-    };
-
-    groups = mkOption {
-      type = types.attrs;
-    };
-
-    nodes = mkOption {
-      type = types.attrsOf (types.submoduleWith ({...}: {
-        options = {
-          enabled = mkOption {
-            type = types.bool;
-            default = true;
-          };
-          system = mkOption {
-            type = types.enum inputs.systems;
-          };
-          groups = mkOption {
-            type = types.list;
-          };
-          modules = mkOption {
-            type = types.list;
-          };
-          args = mkOption {
-            type = types.attrs;
-          };
-
-          deploy = {
-            user = mkOption {
-              type = types.str;
-            };
-            sudoCmd = mkOption {
-              type = types.str;
-            };
-            interactiveSudo = mkOption {
-              type = types.bool;
-            };
-
-            remoteBuild = mkOption {
-              type = types.bool;
-            };
-            autoRollback = mkOption {
-              type = types.bool;
-            };
-            magicRollback = mkOption {
-              type = types.bool;
-            };
-
-            activationTimeout = mkOption {
-              type = types.int;
-            };
-            confirmTimeout = mkOption {
-              type = types.int;
-            };
-
-            ssh = {
-              host = mkOption {
-                type = types.str;
-              };
-              user = mkOption {
-                type = types.str;
-              };
-              port = mkOption {
-                type = types.int;
-              };
-              opts = mkOption {
-                type = types.listOf types.str;
-              };
-            };
-          };
-        };
-      }));
-    };
-  };
-
-  config = {
-  };
-}
diff --git a/cerulean/snow/default.nix b/cerulean/snow/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1fe87f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cerulean/snow/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Copyright 2025-2026 _cry64 (Emile Clark-Boman)
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+{...}: {
+  imports = [
+    ./nodes
+  ];
+}
diff --git a/cerulean/snow/nodes/default.nix b/cerulean/snow/nodes/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c458a41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cerulean/snow/nodes/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Copyright 2025-2026 _cry64 (Emile Clark-Boman)
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+{lib, ...}: {
+  options.nodes = let
+    inherit
+      (lib)
+      mkOption
+      types
+      ;
+  in
+    mkOption {
+      description = ''
+        Cerulean node declarations.
+      '';
+      type = types.submoduleWith {
+        imports = [./shared.nix];
+
+        options = {
+          groups = mkOption {
+            type = types.attrs;
+            default = {};
+            example = lib.literalExpression "{ servers = { staging = {}; production = {}; }; }";
+            description = ''
+              Hierarchical groups that nodes can be a member of.
+            '';
+          };
+
+          nodes = mkOption {
+            type = types.attrsOf (types.submoduleWith (import ./submodule.nix));
+            # example = { ... }; # TODO
+            description = ''
+              Node (host systems) declarations.
+            '';
+          };
+        };
+      };
+    };
+}
diff --git a/cerulean/snow/nodes/shared.nix b/cerulean/snow/nodes/shared.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c840d22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cerulean/snow/nodes/shared.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+# Copyright 2025-2026 _cry64 (Emile Clark-Boman)
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+{lib, ...}: let
+  inherit
+    (lib)
+    mkOption
+    types
+    ;
+
+  flakeRef = types.either types.str types.path;
+in {
+  options = {
+    base = lib.mkOption {
+      # In newer Nix versions, particularly with lazy trees, outPath of
+      # flakes becomes a Nix-language path object. We deliberately allow this
+      # to gracefully come through the interface in discussion with @roberth.
+      #
+      # See: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/278522#discussion_r1460292639
+      type = types.nullOr flakeRef;
+
+      default = null;
+      defaultText = "if (using nixpkgsFlake.lib.nixosSystem) then self.outPath else null";
+
+      example = lib.literalExpression "inputs.nixpkgs";
+
+      description = ''
+        The path to the nixpkgs source used to build a system. A `base` package set
+        is required to be set, and can be specified via either:
+        1. `options.nodes.base` (default `base` used for all systems)
+        2. `options.nodes.nodes.<name>.base` (takes prescedence over `options.nodes.base`)
+
+        This can also be optionally set if the NixOS system is not built with a flake but still uses
+        pinned sources: set this to the store path for the nixpkgs sources used to build the system,
+        as may be obtained by `fetchTarball`, for example.
+
+        Note: the name of the store path must be "source" due to
+        <https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/7075>.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    modules = mkOption {
+      type = types.listOf types.raw;
+      default = [];
+      example = lib.literalExpression "[ { environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.git ]; } ]";
+      description = ''
+        Shared modules to import; equivalent to the NixOS module system's `extraModules`.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    args = mkOption {
+      type = types.attrs;
+      default = {};
+      example = lib.literalExpression "{ inherit inputs; }";
+      description = ''
+        Shared args to provided for each node; equivalent to the NixOS module system's `specialArgs`.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    homeManager = mkOption {
+      type = types.nullOr flakeRef;
+      default = null;
+      example = lib.literalExpression "inputs.home-manager";
+      description = ''
+        The path to the home-manager source. A `homeManager` flake reference
+        is required to be set for `homes/` to be evaluated, and can be specified via either:
+        1. `options.nodes.homeManager` (default `homManager` used for all systems)
+        2. `options.nodes.nodes.<name>.homeManager` (takes prescedence over `options.nodes.homeManager`)
+      '';
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/cerulean/snow/nodes/submodule.nix b/cerulean/snow/nodes/submodule.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d7ffe6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cerulean/snow/nodes/submodule.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+# Copyright 2025-2026 _cry64 (Emile Clark-Boman)
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+{
+  inputs,
+  lib,
+  ...
+}: {
+  imports = [./shared.nix];
+
+  options = let
+    inherit
+      (lib)
+      mkOption
+      types
+      ;
+  in {
+    enabled = lib.mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      default = true;
+      example = true;
+      description = ''
+        Whether to enable this node. Nodes are enabled by default.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    system = types.nullOr mkOption {
+      type = types.enum inputs.systems;
+      default = null;
+      example = "x86_64-linux";
+      description = ''
+        The target system architecture to compile for.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    groups = mkOption {
+      type = types.functionTo types.list;
+      default = [];
+      example = lib.literalExpression "( groups: [ groups.servers groups.secure-boot ] )";
+      description = ''
+        A function from the `groups` hierarchy to a list of groups this node inherits from.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    deploy = {
+      user = mkOption {
+        type = types.str;
+        default = "root";
+        example = "admin";
+        description = ''
+          The user that the system derivation will be deployed to. The command specified in
+          `<node>.deploy.sudoCmd` will be used if `<node>.deploy.user` is not the
+          same as `<node>.deploy.ssh.user` the same as above).
+        '';
+      };
+
+      sudoCmd = mkOption {
+        type = types.str;
+        default = "sudo -u";
+        example = "doas -u";
+        description = ''
+          Which sudo command to use. Must accept at least two arguments:
+          1. the user name to execute commands as
+          2. the rest is the command to execute
+        '';
+      };
+
+      interactiveSudo = mkOption {
+        type = types.bool;
+        default = false;
+        example = false;
+        description = ''
+          Whether to enable interactive sudo (password based sudo).
+          NOT RECOMMENDED. Use one of Cerulean's recommended auth methods instead.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      remoteBuild = mkOption {
+        type = types.bool;
+        default = false;
+        example = false;
+        description = ''
+          Whether to build the system derivation on the target system.
+          Will also fetch all external dependencies from the target system's substituters.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      autoRollback = mkOption {
+        type = types.bool;
+        default = true;
+        example = true;
+        description = ''
+          If the previous system derivation should be re-activated if activation fails.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      activationTimeout = mkOption {
+        type = types.int;
+        default = 500;
+        example = 30;
+        description = ''
+          Time window in seconds allowed for system derivation activation.
+          If timeout occurs, remote deployment is considered to have failed.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      confirmTimeout = mkOption {
+        type = types.int;
+        default = 30;
+        example = 15;
+        description = ''
+          Time window in seconds allowed for activation confirmation.
+          If timeout occurs, remote deployment is considered to have failed.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      ssh = {
+        host = mkOption {
+          type = types.str;
+          default = "";
+          example = "dobutterfliescry.net";
+          description = ''
+            The host to connect to over ssh during deployment
+          '';
+        };
+
+        user = mkOption {
+          type = types.str;
+          default = "cerubld";
+          example = "custom-user";
+          description = ''
+            The user to connect to over ssh during deployment.
+          '';
+        };
+
+        port = mkOption {
+          type = types.int;
+          default = 22;
+          example = 2222;
+          description = ''
+            The port to connect to over ssh during deployment.
+          '';
+        };
+
+        opts = mkOption {
+          type = types.listOf types.str;
+          default = [];
+          example = ["-i" "~/.ssh/id_rsa"];
+          description = ''
+            Extra ssh arguments to use during deployment.
+          '';
+        };
+      };
+    };
+  };
+}