diff --git a/playbooks/setup_nodes.yml b/playbooks/setup_nodes.yml
index a78f72b..7998f06 100644
--- a/playbooks/setup_nodes.yml
+++ b/playbooks/setup_nodes.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   become: true
   vars_files:
     - ../vars/secrets.yml
+    - ../vars/packages.yml
   tasks:
     - name: create user ansible on managed nodes
       user:
@@ -20,3 +21,10 @@
         user: ansible
         state: present
         key: "{{ lookup('file', '/home/mango/.ssh/id_rsa.pub') }}"
+
+    - name: Core packages
+      apt:
+        name: "{{ item }}"
+        state: present
+      loop: "{{ minimal_debian_packages }}"
+
diff --git a/playbooks/update_upgrade.yml b/playbooks/update_upgrade.yml
index 6aad2bb..d3d7738 100644
--- a/playbooks/update_upgrade.yml
+++ b/playbooks/update_upgrade.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     - name: update package index on all machines
       ansible.builtin.apt:
         update_cache: yes
+
     - name: Upgrade all packages to latest version
       ansible.builtin.apt:
         name: "*"
diff --git a/vars/packages.yml b/vars/packages.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da680f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vars/packages.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+minimal_debian_packages:
+  - gcc
+  - g++
+  - git
+  - vim-nox
+  - zip
+  - unzip
+  - zsh
+  - ack-grep
+  - automake
+  - weechat-curses
+  - mutt
+  - ufw
+  - htop
+  - golang
+  - silversearcher-ag
+  - ncdu
+  - tmux
+  - taskwarrior
+  - clang
+  - screenfetch
+  - build-essential