diff --git a/hosts/MaxNixosLaptop/configuration.nix b/hosts/MaxNixosLaptop/configuration.nix
index bff1477..6705571 100644
--- a/hosts/MaxNixosLaptop/configuration.nix
+++ b/hosts/MaxNixosLaptop/configuration.nix
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
   imports = [
     # Include the results of the hardware scan.
     ./hardware-configuration.nix
+    # sway as window manager
+    ../../modules/nixos/sway.nix
     inputs.home-manager.nixosModules.default
   ];
 
diff --git a/hosts/MaxNixosLaptop/home.nix b/hosts/MaxNixosLaptop/home.nix
index d909dbe..5dccb58 100644
--- a/hosts/MaxNixosLaptop/home.nix
+++ b/hosts/MaxNixosLaptop/home.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@
   lib,
   ...
 }: {
+  imports = [
+    # sway as windowmanager
+    ../../modules/home-manager/sway.nix
+  ];
+
   # Home Manager needs a bit of information about you and the paths it should
   # manage.
   home.username = "max";
@@ -26,14 +31,12 @@
     zsh
     starship
     zoxide
-    nerdfonts
     lazygit
     btop
     bat
     eza
     unzip
     rustup
-    keepassxc
     nextcloud-client
     firefox
     thunderbird
@@ -52,31 +55,8 @@
     betaflight-configurator
     loudgain
     youtube-dl
-    foot
-    grimblast
     dconf
     distrobox
-    # TODO: move into luhsoccer baguette dev environment
-    cmake
-    ninja
-    zip
-    unzip
-    curl
-    pkg-config
-    python3
-    wayland-protocols
-    libxkbcommon
-    xorg.libX11
-    xorg.libXrandr
-    xorg.libXinerama
-    xorg.libXcursor
-    xorg.libXi
-    xorg.libXext
-    xorg.xorgproto
-    libGL
-    libGLU
-    extra-cmake-modules
-    glfw
   ];
 
   # Home Manager is pretty good at managing dotfiles. The primary way to manage
@@ -113,151 +93,6 @@
     EDITOR = "nvim";
   };
 
-  wayland.windowManager.sway = {
-    enable = true;
-    systemd = {
-      enable = true;
-      xdgAutostart = true;
-    };
-    wrapperFeatures = {
-      gtk = true;
-    };
-    config = {
-      output = {
-        "HDMI-A-1" = {
-          mode = "3840x2160@60Hz";
-        };
-      };
-      input = {
-        "*" = {
-          xkb_layout = "de";
-          xkb_options = "caps:ctrl_modifier";
-          xkb_numlock = "enable";
-        };
-        "type:touchpad" = {
-          tap = "enable";
-          natural_scroll = "enable";
-        };
-      };
-      modifier = "Mod4";
-      keybindings = let
-        modifier = config.wayland.windowManager.sway.config.modifier;
-      in
-        lib.mkOptionDefault {
-          "${modifier}+F12" = "mode pause-break";
-        };
-      # use foot as default terminal
-      terminal = "foot";
-      assigns = {
-        "1" = [{app_id = "firefox";}];
-        "2" = [{app_id = "foot";}];
-      };
-      bars = [];
-      menu = "${pkgs.tofi}/bin/tofi-drun | ${pkgs.findutils}/bin/xargs swaymsg exec --";
-      fonts = {
-        names = ["FiraCode Nerd Font"];
-        size = 11.0;
-      };
-      modes = {
-        pause-break = {
-          e = "exec --no-startup-id swaymsg exit, mode default";
-          s = "exec --no-startup-id ${pkgs.dash}/bin/dash -c '${pkgs.swaylock}/bin/swaylock & systemctl suspend-then-hibernate', mode default";
-          r = "exec --no-startup-id systemctl reboot";
-          End = "exec --no-startup-id systemctl poweroff";
-          Return = "mode default";
-          Escape = "mode default";
-        };
-      };
-      startup = [
-        {command = "${pkgs.keepassxc}/bin/keepassxc";}
-        {command = "${pkgs.waybar}/bin/waybar";}
-        {command = "${pkgs.foot}/bin/foot";}
-        {command = "${pkgs.firefox}/bin/firefox";}
-      ];
-    };
-  };
-
-  programs.waybar = {
-    enable = true;
-    settings = {
-      mainBar = {
-        layer = "top";
-        position = "top";
-        height = 26;
-        modules-left = ["sway/workspaces" "sway/mode"];
-        modules-right = ["sway/language" "clock" "battery"];
-
-        "sway/language" = {
-          format = "{shortDescription}";
-          tooltip = false;
-        };
-
-        "clock" = {
-          interval = 60;
-          format = "{:%a %d.%m %I:%M}";
-        };
-      };
-    };
-    style = ''
-      * {
-        border: none;
-        border-radius: 0;
-        padding: 0;
-        margin: 0;
-        font-size: 11px;
-      }
-
-      window#waybar {
-        background: #292828;
-        color: #ffffff;
-      }
-
-      #workspaces button {
-        margin-right: 10px;
-        color: #ffffff;
-      }
-      #workspaces button:hover, #workspaces button:active {
-        background-color: #292828;
-        color: #ffffff;
-      }
-      #workspaces button.focused {
-        background-color: #383737;
-      }
-
-      #language {
-        margin-right: 7px;
-      }
-
-      #battery {
-        margin-left: 7px;
-        margin-right: 3px;
-      }
-    '';
-  };
-
-  services.kanshi = {
-    enable = true;
-    profiles = {
-      docker_luhbots = {
-        outputs = [
-          {
-            criteria = "eDP-1";
-            position = "0,1080";
-          }
-          {
-            criteria = "Dell Inc. DELL U2422HE GRCPH83";
-            position = "0,0";
-          }
-          {
-            criteria = "NEC Corporation E243WMi 7X313185NB";
-            transform = "90";
-            position = "1920,0";
-          }
-        ];
-      };
-    };
-  };
-
   programs.zsh = {
     enable = true;
     enableAutosuggestions = true;
@@ -319,46 +154,6 @@
     options = ["--cmd cd"];
   };
 
-  # Theming
-  gtk = {
-    enable = true;
-    cursorTheme = {
-      package = pkgs.capitaine-cursors;
-      name = "capitaine-cursors-white";
-      size = 24;
-    };
-    iconTheme = {
-      package = pkgs.whitesur-icon-theme;
-      name = "WhiteSur-dark";
-    };
-    theme = {
-      package = pkgs.whitesur-gtk-theme;
-      name = "WhiteSur-Dark";
-    };
-    gtk3.extraConfig = {
-      gtk-dialogs-use-header = false;
-      gtk-cursor-theme-size = 0;
-      gtk-toolbar-style = "GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH_HORIZ";
-      gtk-toolbar-icon-style = "GTK_ICON_SIZE_LARGE_TOOLBAR";
-      gtk-button-images = 0;
-      gtk-menu-images = 0;
-      gtk-enable-event-sounds = 0;
-      gtk-enable-input-feedback-sounds = 1;
-      gtk-xft-antialias = 1;
-      gtk-xft-hinting = 1;
-      gtk-xft-hintstyle = "hintslight";
-      gtk-xft-rgba = "none";
-    };
-  };
-  home.pointerCursor = {
-    package = pkgs.capitaine-cursors;
-    name = "capitaine-cursors-white";
-    size = 24;
-    x11.enable = true;
-    x11.defaultCursor = "capitaine-cursors-white";
-  };
-  xsession.enable = true;
-
   services.nextcloud-client.enable = true;
 
   services.mpd = {
diff --git a/modules/home-manager/sway.nix b/modules/home-manager/sway.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6cd9186
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/home-manager/sway.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,211 @@
+{
+  config,
+  pkgs,
+  lib,
+  ...
+}: {
+  home.packages = with pkgs; [
+    sway
+    waybar # status bar
+    swaylock # screen locking
+    swayidle # automatic screen locking after system idle time
+    kanshi # hotswap displays
+    foot # terminal
+    keepassxc # used for secrets instead of gnome-keyring
+  ];
+
+  wayland.windowManager.sway = {
+    enable = true;
+    systemd = {
+      enable = true;
+      xdgAutostart = true;
+    };
+
+    wrapperFeatures = {
+      gtk = true;
+    };
+
+    config = {
+      input = {
+        "*" = {
+          xkb_layout = "de";
+          xkb_options = "caps:ctrl_modifier";
+          xkb_numlock = "enable";
+        };
+        "type:touchpad" = {
+          tap = "enable";
+          natural_scroll = "enable";
+        };
+      };
+      modifier = "Mod4";
+      keybindings = let
+        modifier = config.wayland.windowManager.sway.config.modifier;
+      in
+        lib.mkOptionDefault {
+          # brightness
+          "XF86MonBrightnessDown" = "exec ${pkgs.light}/bin/light -U 5";
+          "XF86MonBrightnessUp" = "exec ${pkgs.light}/bin/light -A 5";
+          # volume
+          "XF86AudioRaiseVolume" = "exec '${pkgs.pulseaudio}/bin/pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ +1%'";
+          "XF86AudioLowerVolume" = "exec '${pkgs.pulseaudio}/bin/pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ -1%'";
+          "XF86AudioMute" = "exec '${pkgs.pulseaudio}/bin/pactl set-sink-mute @DEFAULT_SINK@ toggle'";
+
+          # custom pause mode similar to typical system shutdown menus
+          "${modifier}+F12" = "mode pause-break";
+        };
+      # use foot as default terminal
+      terminal = "foot";
+      assigns = {
+        "1" = [{app_id = "firefox";}];
+        "2" = [{app_id = "foot";}];
+      };
+      bars = [];
+      menu = "${pkgs.tofi}/bin/tofi-drun | ${pkgs.findutils}/bin/xargs swaymsg exec --";
+      fonts = {
+        names = ["FiraCode Nerd Font"];
+        size = 11.0;
+      };
+      modes = {
+        pause-break = {
+          e = "exec --no-startup-id swaymsg exit, mode default";
+          s = "exec --no-startup-id ${pkgs.dash}/bin/dash -c '${pkgs.swaylock}/bin/swaylock & systemctl suspend-then-hibernate', mode default";
+          r = "exec --no-startup-id systemctl reboot";
+          End = "exec --no-startup-id systemctl poweroff";
+          Return = "mode default";
+          Escape = "mode default";
+        };
+      };
+      startup = [
+        {command = "${pkgs.keepassxc}/bin/keepassxc";}
+        {command = "${pkgs.waybar}/bin/waybar";}
+        {command = "${pkgs.foot}/bin/foot";}
+        {command = "${pkgs.firefox}/bin/firefox";}
+      ];
+    };
+  };
+
+  programs.waybar = {
+    enable = true;
+    settings = {
+      mainBar = {
+        layer = "top";
+        position = "top";
+        height = 26;
+        modules-left = ["sway/workspaces" "sway/mode"];
+        modules-right = ["sway/language" "clock" "battery"];
+
+        "sway/language" = {
+          format = "{shortDescription}";
+          tooltip = false;
+        };
+
+        "clock" = {
+          interval = 60;
+          format = "{:%a %d.%m %I:%M}";
+        };
+      };
+    };
+    style = ''
+      * {
+        border: none;
+        border-radius: 0;
+        padding: 0;
+        margin: 0;
+        font-size: 11px;
+      }
+
+      window#waybar {
+        background: #292828;
+        color: #ffffff;
+      }
+
+      #workspaces button {
+        margin-right: 10px;
+        color: #ffffff;
+      }
+      #workspaces button:hover, #workspaces button:active {
+        background-color: #292828;
+        color: #ffffff;
+      }
+      #workspaces button.focused {
+        background-color: #383737;
+      }
+
+      #language {
+        margin-right: 7px;
+      }
+
+      #battery {
+        margin-left: 7px;
+        margin-right: 3px;
+      }
+    '';
+  };
+
+  services.kanshi = {
+    enable = true;
+    profiles = {
+      laptop.outputs = [
+        {
+          criteria = "eDP-1";
+          position = "0,0";
+        }
+      ];
+      dock_luhbots.outputs = [
+        {
+          criteria = "eDP-1";
+          position = "0,1080";
+        }
+        {
+          criteria = "Dell Inc. DELL U2422HE GRCPH83";
+          position = "0,0";
+        }
+        {
+          criteria = "NEC Corporation E243WMi 7X313185NB";
+          transform = "90";
+          position = "1920,0";
+        }
+      ];
+    };
+  };
+
+  # Theming
+  gtk = {
+    enable = true;
+    cursorTheme = {
+      package = pkgs.capitaine-cursors;
+      name = "capitaine-cursors-white";
+      size = 24;
+    };
+    iconTheme = {
+      package = pkgs.whitesur-icon-theme;
+      name = "WhiteSur-dark";
+    };
+    theme = {
+      package = pkgs.whitesur-gtk-theme;
+      name = "WhiteSur-Dark";
+    };
+    gtk3.extraConfig = {
+      gtk-dialogs-use-header = false;
+      gtk-cursor-theme-size = 0;
+      gtk-toolbar-style = "GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH_HORIZ";
+      gtk-toolbar-icon-style = "GTK_ICON_SIZE_LARGE_TOOLBAR";
+      gtk-button-images = 0;
+      gtk-menu-images = 0;
+      gtk-enable-event-sounds = 0;
+      gtk-enable-input-feedback-sounds = 1;
+      gtk-xft-antialias = 1;
+      gtk-xft-hinting = 1;
+      gtk-xft-hintstyle = "hintslight";
+      gtk-xft-rgba = "none";
+    };
+  };
+  home.pointerCursor = {
+    package = pkgs.capitaine-cursors;
+    name = "capitaine-cursors-white";
+    size = 24;
+    x11.enable = true;
+    x11.defaultCursor = "capitaine-cursors-white";
+  };
+  xsession.enable = true;
+}
diff --git a/modules/nixos/sway.nix b/modules/nixos/sway.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9f69e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/nixos/sway.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+{
+  config,
+  pkgs,
+  lib,
+  ...
+}: let
+  # bash script to let dbus know about impotant env variables and
+  # propagate them to relevent services run at the end of sway config
+  dbus-sway-environment = pkgs.writeTextFile {
+    name = "dubs-sway-environment";
+    destination = "/bin/dbus-sway-environment";
+    executable = true;
+    text = ''
+      dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd WAYLAND_DISPLAY XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=sway
+      systemctl --user stop pipewire pipewire-media-session xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-wlr
+      systemctl --user start pipewire pipewire-media-session xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-wlr
+    '';
+  };
+
+  # currently, there is some friction between sway and gtk:
+  # https://github.com/swaywm/sway/wiki/GTK-3-settings-on-Wayland
+  configure-gtk = pkgs.writeTextFile {
+    name = "configure-gtk";
+    destination = "/bin/configure-gtk";
+    executable = true;
+    text = let
+      schema = pkgs.gsettings-desktop-schemas;
+      datadir = "${schema}/share/gsettings-schemas/${schema.name}";
+    in ''
+      gnome_schema=org.gnome.desktop.interface
+      gsettings set $gnome_schema gtk-theme 'Dracula'
+    '';
+  };
+in {
+  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
+    dbus # make dbus-update-activation-environment available in the path
+    dbus-sway-environment
+    configure-gtk
+    wayland
+    xdg-utils # for opening default programs when clicking links
+    glib # gsettings
+    dracula-theme # gtk theme
+    gnome3.adwaita-icon-theme # default gnome cursors
+    swaylock
+    swayidle
+    grim # screenshot functionality
+    slurp # screenshot functionality
+    wl-clipboard # wl-copy and wl-paste for copy/paste from stdin/stdout
+    mako # notification system developed by swaywm maintainer
+    wdisplays # tool to configure displays
+  ];
+
+  services.pipewire = {
+    enable = true;
+    alsa.enable = true;
+    pulse.enable = true;
+    jack.enable = true;
+  };
+
+  # xdg-desktop-portal works by exposing a series of D-Bus interfaces
+  # known as portals under a well-known name
+  # (org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop) and object path
+  # (/org/freedesktop/portal/desktop).
+  # The portal interfaces include APIs for file access, opening URIs,
+  # printing and others.
+  services.dbus.enable = true;
+  xdg.portal = {
+    enable = true;
+    wlr.enable = true;
+    # gtk portal needed to make gtk apps happy
+    extraPortals = [pkgs.xdg-desktop-portal-gtk];
+  };
+
+  programs.sway = {
+    enable = true;
+    wrapperFeatures.gtk = true;
+  };
+
+  # make brightness keys work
+  users.users.max.extraGroups = ["video"];
+  programs.light.enable = true;
+
+  # make swaylock work
+  security.pam.services.swaylock = {};
+}