diff --git a/build.conf.nix b/build.conf.nix
index a7594e3..de251e4 100644
--- a/build.conf.nix
+++ b/build.conf.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 with builtins;
 {
-  wm = "plasma";
+  wm = "i3";
 
   # very, very non-exhaustive of course
-  is-x11     = wm: elem wm ["plasma" "xmonad"];
+  is-x11     = wm: elem wm ["plasma" "xmonad" "i3"];
   is-wayland = wm: elem wm ["hyprland" "sway"];
 }
diff --git a/configuration.nix b/configuration.nix
index 6a64792..feb51d7 100644
--- a/configuration.nix
+++ b/configuration.nix
@@ -57,17 +57,30 @@ in
     LC_TIME = "en_US.UTF-8";
   };
 
-  # Enable the X11 windowing system.
-  services.xserver.enable = x11;
-
-  # Enable the KDE Plasma Desktop Environment.
-  services.xserver.displayManager.sddm.enable = conf.wm == "plasma" || conf.wm == "xmonad";
-  services.xserver.desktopManager.plasma5.enable = conf.wm == "plasma";
-
-  # Configure keymap in X11
+  # x11 stuff
   services.xserver = {
+    enable = x11;
+
     layout = "us";
     xkbVariant = "";
+
+    desktopManager = {
+      plasma5.enable = conf.wm == "plasma";
+      xterm.enable = false;
+    };
+    displayManager = {
+      sddm.enable = conf.wm == "plasma" || conf.wm == "xmonad";
+    };
+    windowManager = {
+      i3.enable = conf.wm == "i3";
+      extraPackages = if conf.wm == "i3"
+      then with pkgs; [
+        dmenu
+        i3status
+        i3lock
+        i3blocks
+      ] else [];
+    };
   };
 
   # Enable CUPS to print documents.