diff --git a/nix/crate2nix.nix b/nix/crate2nix.nix
index c343fca9..1d7d7ff1 100644
--- a/nix/crate2nix.nix
+++ b/nix/crate2nix.nix
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   crate2nix,
   name,
   src,
+  patchPhase,
   postInstall,
   nativeBuildInputs,
   desktopItems,
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@
             // {
               # Crate dependency overrides go here
               zellij = attrs: {
-                inherit postInstall desktopItems meta name nativeBuildInputs;
+                inherit postInstall desktopItems meta name nativeBuildInputs patchPhase;
               };
             };
         };
diff --git a/nix/default.nix b/nix/default.nix
index c1d5a886..4f967bfc 100644
--- a/nix/default.nix
+++ b/nix/default.nix
@@ -40,10 +40,12 @@ flake-utils.lib.eachSystem [
 
   src = pkgs.nix-gitignore.gitignoreSource ignoreSource root;
 
+  cargoToml = builtins.fromTOML (builtins.readFile (src + ./Cargo.toml));
   rustToolchainToml = pkgs.rust-bin.fromRustupToolchainFile (src + "/rust-toolchain.toml");
+
   cargoLock = {
     lockFile = builtins.path {
-      path = ../Cargo.lock;
+      path = src + "/Cargo.lock";
       name = "Cargo.lock";
     };
   };
@@ -56,10 +58,14 @@ flake-utils.lib.eachSystem [
   ];
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [
-    rustToolchainToml
     # for openssl/openssl-sys
     pkgs.pkg-config
 
+    # default plugins
+    plugins.status-bar
+    plugins.tab-bar
+    plugins.strider
+
     # generates manpages
     pkgs.mandown
 
@@ -67,7 +73,15 @@ flake-utils.lib.eachSystem [
     pkgs.copyDesktopItems
   ];
 
+  pluginNativeBuildInputs = [
+    pkgs.pkg-config
+    # optimizes wasm binaries
+    pkgs.binaryen
+  ];
+
   devInputs = [
+    rustToolchainToml
+
     pkgs.cargo-make
     pkgs.rust-analyzer
 
@@ -83,6 +97,11 @@ flake-utils.lib.eachSystem [
     pkgs.treefmt
   ];
 
+  plugins = import ./plugins.nix {
+    inherit root pkgs cargo rustc cargoLock buildInputs;
+    nativeBuildInputs = pluginNativeBuildInputs;
+  };
+
   postInstall = ''
     mandown ./docs/MANPAGE.md > ./zellij.1
     installManPage ./zellij.1
@@ -99,6 +118,11 @@ flake-utils.lib.eachSystem [
 
     copyDesktopItems
   '';
+  patchPhase = ''
+    cp ${plugins.tab-bar}/bin/tab-bar.wasm assets/plugins/tab-bar.wasm
+    cp ${plugins.status-bar}/bin/status-bar.wasm assets/plugins/status-bar.wasm
+    cp ${plugins.strider}/bin/strider.wasm assets/plugins/strider.wasm
+  '';
 
   desktopItems = [
     (pkgs.makeDesktopItem {
@@ -124,10 +148,11 @@ in rec {
     inherit
       name
       src
-      nativeBuildInputs
       crate2nix
+      nativeBuildInputs
       desktopItems
       postInstall
+      patchPhase
       meta
       ;
   };
@@ -138,26 +163,20 @@ in rec {
       src
       name
       cargoLock
-      buildInputs
       nativeBuildInputs
+      buildInputs
       postInstall
+      patchPhase
       desktopItems
       meta
       ;
   };
-  # musl cross-compilation - static binary
-  packages.zellij-musl = (pkgsMusl.makeRustPlatform {inherit rustc cargo;}).buildRustPackage {
-    inherit
-      src
-      name
-      cargoLock
-      postInstall
-      buildInputs
-      nativeBuildInputs
-      desktopItems
-      meta
-      ;
-  };
+  packages.default = packages.zellij;
+
+  packages.plugins-status-bar = plugins.status-bar;
+  packages.plugins-tab-bar = plugins.tab-bar;
+  packages.plugins-strider = plugins.strider;
+
   defaultPackage = packages.zellij;
 
   # nix run
diff --git a/nix/plugins.nix b/nix/plugins.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b20f673d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/plugins.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+{
+  pkgs,
+  root,
+  cargo,
+  rustc,
+  cargoLock,
+  nativeBuildInputs,
+  buildInputs,
+}: let
+  ignoreSource = [
+    ".git"
+    ".github"
+    "assets"
+    "docs"
+    "example"
+    "target"
+    ".editorconfig"
+    ".envrc"
+    ".git-blame-ignore-revs"
+    "CHANGELOG.md"
+    "CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md"
+    "CONTRIBUTING.md"
+    "GOVERNANCE.md"
+    "LICENSE.md"
+    "docker-compose.yml"
+  ];
+  src = pkgs.nix-gitignore.gitignoreSource ignoreSource root;
+
+  makeDefaultPlugin = name:
+    (pkgs.makeRustPlatform {inherit cargo rustc;}).buildRustPackage {
+      inherit
+        src
+        name
+        cargoLock
+        buildInputs
+        nativeBuildInputs
+        ;
+      buildPhase = ''
+        cargo build --package ${name} --release --target=wasm32-wasi
+        mkdir -p $out/bin;
+        #cp target/wasm32-wasi/release/${name}.wasm $out/bin/${name}.wasm
+        wasm-opt \
+        -O target/wasm32-wasi/release/${name}.wasm \
+        -o $out/bin/${name}.wasm
+      '';
+      installPhase = ":";
+      checkPhase = ":";
+    };
+in {
+  status-bar = makeDefaultPlugin "status-bar";
+  tab-bar = makeDefaultPlugin "tab-bar";
+  strider = makeDefaultPlugin "strider";
+}