diff --git a/packaging/dev-shell.nix b/packaging/dev-shell.nix
index 153e7a3eb..d50cab759 100644
--- a/packaging/dev-shell.nix
+++ b/packaging/dev-shell.nix
@@ -3,10 +3,118 @@
   devFlake,
 }:
 
+let
+  # Some helper functions
+
+  /**
+    Compute a filtered closure of build inputs.
+
+    Specifically, `buildInputsClosure cond startSet` computes the closure formed
+    by recursive application of `p: filter cond p.buildInputs ++ filter cond p.propagatedBuildInputs`
+    to `startSet`.
+
+    Example:
+    ```nix
+    builtInputsClosure isInternal [ pkg1 pkg2 ]
+    => [ pkg1 pkg3 pkg2 pkg10 ]
+    ```
+
+    Note: order tbd
+
+    Note: `startSet` is *NOT* filtered.
+  */
+  buildInputsClosureCond =
+    cond: startSet:
+    let
+      closure = builtins.genericClosure {
+        startSet = map (d: {
+          key = d.drvPath;
+          value = d;
+        }) startSet;
+        operator =
+          d:
+          let
+            r =
+              map
+                (d': {
+                  key = d'.drvPath;
+                  value = d';
+                })
+                (
+                  lib.filter cond d.value.buildInputs or [ ] ++ lib.filter cond d.value.propagatedBuildInputs or [ ]
+                );
+          in
+          r;
+      };
+    in
+    map (item: item.value) closure;
+
+  /**
+    `[ pkg1 pkg2 ]` -> `{ "...-pkg2.drv" = null; "...-pkg1.drv" = null }`
+
+    Note: fairly arbitrary order (hash based). Use for efficient set membership test only.
+  */
+  byDrvPath =
+    l:
+    lib.listToAttrs (
+      map (c: {
+        name =
+          # Just a lookup key
+          builtins.unsafeDiscardStringContext c.drvPath;
+        value = null;
+      }) l
+    );
+
+  /**
+    Stable dedup.
+
+    Unlike `listToAttrs` -> `attrValues`, this preserves the input ordering,
+    which is more predictable ("deterministic") than e.g. sorting store paths,
+    whose hashes affect the ordering on every change.
+  */
+  # TODO: add to Nixpkgs lib, refer from uniqueStrings
+  dedupByString =
+    key: l:
+    let
+      r =
+        lib.foldl'
+          (
+            a@{ list, set }:
+            elem:
+            let
+              k = builtins.unsafeDiscardStringContext (key elem);
+            in
+            if set ? ${k} then
+              a
+            else
+              let
+                # Note: O(n²) copying. Use linkedLists to concat them in one go at the end.
+                # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/452088
+                newList = [ elem ] ++ list;
+                newSet = set // {
+                  ${k} = null;
+                };
+              in
+              builtins.seq newList builtins.seq newSet {
+                list = newList;
+                set = newSet;
+              }
+          )
+          {
+            list = [ ];
+            set = { };
+          }
+          l;
+    in
+    r.list;
+
+in
+
 { pkgs }:
 
+# TODO: don't use nix-util for this?
 pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-util.overrideAttrs (
-  attrs:
+  finalAttrs: prevAttrs:
 
   let
     stdenv = pkgs.nixDependencies2.stdenv;
@@ -21,13 +129,89 @@ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-util.overrideAttrs (
       "-D${prefix}:${rest}";
     havePerl = stdenv.buildPlatform == stdenv.hostPlatform && stdenv.hostPlatform.isUnix;
     ignoreCrossFile = flags: builtins.filter (flag: !(lib.strings.hasInfix "cross-file" flag)) flags;
+
+    activeComponents = buildInputsClosureCond isInternal (
+      lib.attrValues (finalAttrs.passthru.config.getComponents allComponents)
+    );
+
+    allComponents = lib.filterAttrs (k: v: lib.isDerivation v) pkgs.nixComponents2;
+    internalDrvs = byDrvPath (
+      # Drop the attr names (not present in buildInputs anyway)
+      lib.attrValues allComponents
+      ++ lib.concatMap (c: lib.attrValues c.tests or { }) (lib.attrValues allComponents)
+    );
+
+    isInternal =
+      dep: internalDrvs ? ${builtins.unsafeDiscardStringContext dep.drvPath or "_non-existent_"};
+
   in
   {
-    pname = "shell-for-" + attrs.pname;
+    pname = "shell-for-nix";
+
+    passthru = {
+      inherit activeComponents;
+
+      # We use this attribute to store non-derivation values like functions and
+      # perhaps other things that are primarily for overriding and not the shell.
+      config = {
+        # Default getComponents
+        getComponents =
+          c:
+          builtins.removeAttrs c (
+            lib.optionals (!havePerl) [ "nix-perl-bindings" ]
+            ++ lib.optionals (!buildCanExecuteHost) [ "nix-manual" ]
+          );
+      };
+
+      /**
+        Produce a devShell for a given set of nix components
+
+        Example:
+
+        ```nix
+        shell.withActiveComponents (c: {
+          inherit (c) nix-util;
+        })
+        ```
+      */
+      withActiveComponents =
+        f2:
+        finalAttrs.finalPackage.overrideAttrs (
+          finalAttrs: prevAttrs: {
+            passthru = prevAttrs.passthru // {
+              config = prevAttrs.passthru.config // {
+                getComponents = f2;
+              };
+            };
+          }
+        );
+
+      small =
+        (finalAttrs.finalPackage.withActiveComponents (c: {
+          inherit (c)
+            nix-cli
+            nix-util-tests
+            nix-store-tests
+            nix-expr-tests
+            nix-fetchers-tests
+            nix-flake-tests
+            nix-functional-tests
+            # Currently required
+            nix-perl-bindings
+            ;
+        })).overrideAttrs
+          (o: {
+            mesonFlags = o.mesonFlags ++ [
+              # TODO: infer from activeComponents or vice versa
+              "-Dkaitai-struct-checks=false"
+              "-Djson-schema-checks=false"
+            ];
+          });
+    };
 
     # Remove the version suffix to avoid unnecessary attempts to substitute in nix develop
     version = lib.fileContents ../.version;
-    name = attrs.pname;
+    name = finalAttrs.pname;
 
     installFlags = "sysconfdir=$(out)/etc";
     shellHook = ''
@@ -98,17 +282,9 @@ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-util.overrideAttrs (
     nativeBuildInputs =
       let
         inputs =
-          attrs.nativeBuildInputs or [ ]
-          ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-util.nativeBuildInputs
-          ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-store.nativeBuildInputs
-          ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-fetchers.nativeBuildInputs
-          ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-expr.nativeBuildInputs
-          ++ lib.optionals havePerl pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-perl-bindings.nativeBuildInputs
-          ++ lib.optionals buildCanExecuteHost pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-manual.externalNativeBuildInputs
-          ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-internal-api-docs.nativeBuildInputs
-          ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-external-api-docs.nativeBuildInputs
-          ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-functional-tests.externalNativeBuildInputs
-          ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-json-schema-checks.externalNativeBuildInputs
+          dedupByString (v: "${v}") (
+            lib.filter (x: !isInternal x) (lib.lists.concatMap (c: c.nativeBuildInputs) activeComponents)
+          )
           ++ lib.optional (
             !buildCanExecuteHost
             # Hack around https://github.com/nixos/nixpkgs/commit/bf7ad8cfbfa102a90463433e2c5027573b462479
@@ -117,9 +293,7 @@ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-util.overrideAttrs (
             && lib.meta.availableOn stdenv.buildPlatform (stdenv.hostPlatform.emulator pkgs.buildPackages)
           ) pkgs.buildPackages.mesonEmulatorHook
           ++ [
-            pkgs.buildPackages.cmake
             pkgs.buildPackages.gnused
-            pkgs.buildPackages.changelog-d
             modular.pre-commit.settings.package
             (pkgs.writeScriptBin "pre-commit-hooks-install" modular.pre-commit.settings.installationScript)
             pkgs.buildPackages.nixfmt-rfc-style
@@ -136,18 +310,22 @@ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-util.overrideAttrs (
       # from making its way into NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE.
       lib.filter (p: !lib.hasInfix "separate-debug-info" p) inputs;
 
+    propagatedNativeBuildInputs = dedupByString (v: "${v}") (
+      lib.filter (x: !isInternal x) (
+        lib.lists.concatMap (c: c.propagatedNativeBuildInputs) activeComponents
+      )
+    );
+
     buildInputs = [
       pkgs.gbenchmark
     ]
-    ++ attrs.buildInputs or [ ]
-    ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-util.buildInputs
-    ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-store.buildInputs
-    ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-store-tests.externalBuildInputs
-    ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-fetchers.buildInputs
-    ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-expr.buildInputs
-    ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-expr.externalPropagatedBuildInputs
-    ++ pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-cmd.buildInputs
-    ++ lib.optionals havePerl pkgs.nixComponents2.nix-perl-bindings.externalBuildInputs
+    ++ dedupByString (v: "${v}") (
+      lib.filter (x: !isInternal x) (lib.lists.concatMap (c: c.buildInputs) activeComponents)
+    )
     ++ lib.optional havePerl pkgs.perl;
+
+    propagatedBuildInputs = dedupByString (v: "${v}") (
+      lib.filter (x: !isInternal x) (lib.lists.concatMap (c: c.propagatedBuildInputs) activeComponents)
+    );
   }
 )