diff --git a/hosts/null/default.nix b/hosts/null/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42a6aa5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/null/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# an non-existant host for testing purposes
+{...}:{}
diff --git a/local.nix b/local.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82eee96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# link this into the dependencies/nix-mobile directory :
+# ln -rs local.nix dependencies/mobile-nixos/local.nix
+{ ... }:
+{
+	imports = [ ./default.nix ];
+}