diff --git a/deploy/colmena.nix b/deploy/colmena.nix
index 981a85a..9581027 100644
--- a/deploy/colmena.nix
+++ b/deploy/colmena.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 }:
 
 let
+  inherit (inputs.nixpkgs) lib;
+  utils = import ../utils { inherit lib; };
+  hostDirNames = utils.dirNames ../hosts;
+
   mkNode = hostname: tags: {
     imports = [ ../hosts/${hostname} ];
     deployment = {
@@ -13,6 +17,10 @@ let
       inherit tags;
     };
   };
+
+  nodes = lib.genAttrs hostDirNames (hostname:
+    mkNode hostname (utils.hostMeta ../hosts/${hostname}).deployment.tags
+  );
 in
 inputs.colmena.lib.makeHive {
   meta = {
@@ -24,9 +32,5 @@ inputs.colmena.lib.makeHive {
     nodeSpecialArgs = builtins.mapAttrs (_: v: v._module.specialArgs or { }) self.nixosConfigurations;
   };
 
-  astyanax = mkNode "astyanax" [ "local" ];
-  andromache = mkNode "andromache" [ "local" ];
-  vm = mkNode "vm" [ "local" ];
-  hecuba = mkNode "hecuba" [ "cloud" ];
-  eetion = mkNode "eetion" [ "arm" ];
+  inherit nodes;
 }
diff --git a/hosts/andromache/meta.nix b/hosts/andromache/meta.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0139f26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/andromache/meta.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  deployment.tags = [ "local" ];
+  role = "desktop";
+}
diff --git a/hosts/astyanax/meta.nix b/hosts/astyanax/meta.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0c4fcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/astyanax/meta.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  deployment.tags = [ "local" ];
+  role = "laptop";
+}
diff --git a/hosts/eetion-02/meta.nix b/hosts/eetion-02/meta.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c064d2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/eetion-02/meta.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  deployment.tags = [ "arm" ];
+  role = "embedded";
+}
diff --git a/hosts/eetion/meta.nix b/hosts/eetion/meta.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c064d2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/eetion/meta.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  deployment.tags = [ "arm" ];
+  role = "embedded";
+}
diff --git a/hosts/hecuba/meta.nix b/hosts/hecuba/meta.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d11d1cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/hecuba/meta.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  deployment.tags = [ "cloud" ];
+  role = "server";
+}
diff --git a/hosts/vm/meta.nix b/hosts/vm/meta.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9123f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/vm/meta.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  deployment.tags = [ "local" ];
+  role = "vm";
+}
diff --git a/utils/default.nix b/utils/default.nix
index f0e9c4a..372e7a5 100644
--- a/utils/default.nix
+++ b/utils/default.nix
@@ -3,4 +3,9 @@
 {
   dirNames =
     path: builtins.attrNames (lib.filterAttrs (_: type: type == "directory") (builtins.readDir path));
+
+  hostMeta = hostDir:
+    if builtins.pathExists (hostDir + "/meta.nix")
+    then import (hostDir + "/meta.nix")
+    else throw "meta.nix required in ${hostDir}";
 }