diff --git a/fediversity/default.nix b/fediversity/default.nix
index 379b1b2..5ff0883 100644
--- a/fediversity/default.nix
+++ b/fediversity/default.nix
@@ -31,6 +31,19 @@ in {
       pixelfed.enable = mkEnableOption "default Fediversity Pixelfed configuration";
       peertube.enable = mkEnableOption "default Fediversity PeerTube configuration";
 
+      temp = mkOption {
+        description = "options that are only used while developing; should be removed eventually";
+        default = {};
+        type = types.submodule {
+          options = {
+            cores = mkOption {
+              description = "number of cores; should be obtained from NixOps4";
+              type = types.int;
+            };
+          };
+        };
+      };
+
       internal = mkOption {
         description = "options that are only meant to be used internally; change at your own risk";
         default = {};
diff --git a/fediversity/mastodon.nix b/fediversity/mastodon.nix
index d19edca..14568a7 100644
--- a/fediversity/mastodon.nix
+++ b/fediversity/mastodon.nix
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ lib.mkIf (config.fediversity.enable && config.fediversity.mastodon.enable) {
     localDomain = config.fediversity.internal.mastodon.domain;
     configureNginx = true;
 
+    # from the documentation: recommended is the amount of your CPU cores minus
+    # one. but it also must be a positive integer
+    streamingProcesses = lib.max 1 (config.fediversity.temp.cores - 1);
+
     # TODO: configure a mailserver so this works
     smtp = {
       fromAddress = "noreply@${config.fediversity.internal.mastodon.domain}";
diff --git a/vm/mastodon-vm.nix b/vm/mastodon-vm.nix
index b9d28b1..ecf880c 100644
--- a/vm/mastodon-vm.nix
+++ b/vm/mastodon-vm.nix
@@ -8,16 +8,14 @@
         enable = true;
         domain = "localhost";
         mastodon.enable = true;
+
+        temp.cores = config.virtualisation.cores;
       };
 
       services.mastodon = {
         extraConfig = {
           EMAIL_DOMAIN_ALLOWLIST = "example.com";
         };
-
-        # from the documentation: recommended is the amount of your CPU cores
-        # minus one. but it also must be a positive integer
-        streamingProcesses = lib.max 1 (config.virtualisation.cores - 1);
       };
 
       security.acme = lib.mkVMOverride {