diff --git a/ops/nixos/lib/common.nix b/ops/nixos/lib/common.nix
index a5de702953..0b44726cf9 100644
--- a/ops/nixos/lib/common.nix
+++ b/ops/nixos/lib/common.nix
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ in
 
     environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
       vim rxvt_unicode.terminfo tmux rebuilder tailscale rsync libarchive tcpdump restic
+      iftop htop jq
       (mercurial.overridePythonAttrs (origAttrs: {
         propagatedBuildInputs = [python3Packages.hg-evolve depot.nix.pkgs.hg-git];
       }))
diff --git a/ops/nixos/lib/home-manager/common.nix b/ops/nixos/lib/home-manager/common.nix
index 0f3762a4e1..b263686157 100644
--- a/ops/nixos/lib/home-manager/common.nix
+++ b/ops/nixos/lib/home-manager/common.nix
@@ -74,12 +74,13 @@ in
     whois
     dnsutils
   ] ++ lib.optionals (configName != null) [
+    # This only applies to "external" users of this config.
     (writeShellScriptBin "home-manager" ''
       #!/bin/sh
       exec "${home-manager}/bin/home-manager" -f "${config.home.homeDirectory}/depot/home-manager-ext.nix" -A "${configName}" "$@"
     '')
     rxvt_unicode.terminfo tmux rsync libarchive tcpdump restic
-    iftop htop
+    iftop htop jq
     (mercurial.overridePythonAttrs (origAttrs: {
       propagatedBuildInputs = [python3Packages.hg-evolve depot.nix.pkgs.hg-git];
     }))