diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/api/__init__.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/api/__init__.py
index 29b3f45b..f7bb4d1e 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/api/__init__.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/api/__init__.py
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 from collections.abc import Callable
-from typing import Any
+from typing import Any, TypeVar
+
+T = TypeVar("T")
 
 
 class _MethodRegistry:
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         self._registry: dict[str, Callable] = {}
 
-    def register(self, fn: Callable) -> Callable:
+    def register(self, fn: Callable[..., T]) -> Callable[..., T]:
         self._registry[fn.__name__] = fn
         return fn
 
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/api/util.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/api/util.py
index 9765a5fe..bd9b10a4 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/api/util.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/api/util.py
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ def type_to_dict(t: Any, scope: str = "") -> dict:
         elif issubclass(origin, dict):
             return {
                 "type": "object",
+                "additionalProperties": type_to_dict(t.__args__[1], scope),
             }
 
         raise BaseException(f"Error api type not yet supported {t!s}")
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/machines/list.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/machines/list.py
index 37ea60ac..d0966ea6 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/machines/list.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/machines/list.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import argparse
+import dataclasses
 import json
 import logging
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -11,18 +12,24 @@ from ..nix import nix_config, nix_eval
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+@dataclasses.dataclass
+class MachineInfo:
+    machine_name: str
+    machine_description: str | None
+    machine_icon: str | None
+
+
 @API.register
-def list_machines(
-    debug: bool,
-    flake_url: Path | str,
-) -> list[str]:
+def list_machines(debug: bool, flake_url: Path | str) -> dict[str, MachineInfo]:
     config = nix_config()
     system = config["system"]
     cmd = nix_eval(
         [
             f"{flake_url}#clanInternals.machines.{system}",
             "--apply",
-            "builtins.attrNames",
+            """builtins.mapAttrs (name: attrs: {
+  inherit (attrs.config.clanCore) machineDescription machineIcon machineName;
+})""",
             "--json",
         ]
     )
@@ -33,12 +40,27 @@ def list_machines(
         proc = run(cmd)
 
     res = proc.stdout.strip()
-    return json.loads(res)
+    machines_dict = json.loads(res)
+
+    return {
+        k: MachineInfo(
+            machine_name=v.get("machineName"),
+            machine_description=v.get("machineDescription", None),
+            machine_icon=v.get("machineIcon", None),
+        )
+        for k, v in machines_dict.items()
+    }
 
 
 def list_command(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
-    for machine in list_machines(args.debug, Path(args.flake)):
-        print(machine)
+    flake_path = Path(args.flake).resolve()
+    print("Listing all machines:\n")
+    print("Source: ", flake_path)
+    print("-" * 40)
+    for name, machine in list_machines(args.debug, flake_path).items():
+        description = machine.machine_description or "[no description]"
+        print(f"{name}\n: {description}\n")
+    print("-" * 40)
 
 
 def register_list_parser(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> None:
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_create_flake.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_create_flake.py
index 9a69d21d..89338430 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_create_flake.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_create_flake.py
@@ -26,6 +26,14 @@ def test_create_flake(
     cli.run(["machines", "create", "machine1"])
     capsys.readouterr()  # flush cache
 
+    # create a hardware-configuration.nix that doesn't throw an eval error
+
+    for patch_machine in ["jon", "sara"]:
+        with open(
+            flake_dir / "machines" / f"{patch_machine}/hardware-configuration.nix", "w"
+        ) as hw_config_nix:
+            hw_config_nix.write("{}")
+
     cli.run(["machines", "list"])
     assert "machine1" in capsys.readouterr().out
     flake_show = subprocess.run(
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_machines_cli.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_machines_cli.py
index 325f45e2..a06ce656 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_machines_cli.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_machines_cli.py
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ def test_machine_subcommands(
     cli.run(["--flake", str(test_flake_with_core.path), "machines", "list"])
 
     out = capsys.readouterr()
-    assert "machine1\nvm1\nvm2\n" == out.out
+
+    assert "machine1" in out.out
+    assert "vm1" in out.out
+    assert "vm2" in out.out
 
     cli.run(
         ["--flake", str(test_flake_with_core.path), "machines", "delete", "machine1"]
@@ -25,4 +28,7 @@ def test_machine_subcommands(
     capsys.readouterr()
     cli.run(["--flake", str(test_flake_with_core.path), "machines", "list"])
     out = capsys.readouterr()
-    assert "vm1\nvm2\n" == out.out
+
+    assert "machine1" not in out.out
+    assert "vm1" in out.out
+    assert "vm2" in out.out
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/app.py b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/app.py
index 18a8f4ef..f0278faf 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/app.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/app.py
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class MainApplication(Adw.Application):
     def on_activate(self, source: "MainApplication") -> None:
         if not self.window:
             self.init_style()
-            self.window = MainWindow(config=ClanConfig(initial_view="webview"))
+            self.window = MainWindow(config=ClanConfig(initial_view="list"))
             self.window.set_application(self)
 
         self.window.show()
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/views/webview.py b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/views/webview.py
index 0c28ad01..667913ea 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/views/webview.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/views/webview.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import dataclasses
 import json
 import logging
 import sys
@@ -22,6 +23,23 @@ site_index: Path = (
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def dataclass_to_dict(obj: Any) -> Any:
+    """
+    Utility function to convert dataclasses to dictionaries
+    It converts all nested dataclasses, lists, tuples, and dictionaries to dictionaries
+
+    It does NOT convert member functions.
+    """
+    if dataclasses.is_dataclass(obj):
+        return {k: dataclass_to_dict(v) for k, v in dataclasses.asdict(obj).items()}
+    elif isinstance(obj, list | tuple):
+        return [dataclass_to_dict(item) for item in obj]
+    elif isinstance(obj, dict):
+        return {k: dataclass_to_dict(v) for k, v in obj.items()}
+    else:
+        return obj
+
+
 class WebView:
     def __init__(self, methods: dict[str, Callable]) -> None:
         self.method_registry: dict[str, Callable] = methods
@@ -82,7 +100,7 @@ class WebView:
         with self.mutex_lock:
             log.debug("Executing... ", method_name)
             result = handler_fn(data)
-            serialized = json.dumps(result)
+            serialized = json.dumps(dataclass_to_dict(result))
 
             # Use idle_add to queue the response call to js on the main GTK thread
             GLib.idle_add(self.return_data_to_js, method_name, serialized)
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/windows/main_window.py b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/windows/main_window.py
index 5ec1fc12..8bb0f91f 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/windows/main_window.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-vm-manager/clan_vm_manager/windows/main_window.py
@@ -62,8 +62,7 @@ class MainWindow(Adw.ApplicationWindow):
         stack_view.add_named(Logs(), "logs")
 
         webview = WebView(methods=API._registry)
-
-        stack_view.add_named(webview.get_webview(), "list")
+        stack_view.add_named(webview.get_webview(), "webview")
 
         stack_view.set_visible_child_name(config.initial_view)
 
diff --git a/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/Config.tsx b/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/Config.tsx
index 3dd3c374..a2ccaf3b 100644
--- a/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/Config.tsx
+++ b/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/Config.tsx
@@ -1,8 +1,16 @@
-import { createSignal, createContext, useContext, JSXElement } from "solid-js";
-import { pyApi } from "./message";
+import {
+  createSignal,
+  createContext,
+  useContext,
+  JSXElement,
+  createEffect,
+} from "solid-js";
+import { OperationResponse, pyApi } from "./message";
 
 export const makeCountContext = () => {
-  const [machines, setMachines] = createSignal<string[]>([]);
+  const [machines, setMachines] = createSignal<
+    OperationResponse<"list_machines">
+  >({});
   const [loading, setLoading] = createSignal(false);
 
   pyApi.list_machines.receive((machines) => {
@@ -10,6 +18,10 @@ export const makeCountContext = () => {
     setMachines(machines);
   });
 
+  createEffect(() => {
+    console.log("The count is now", machines());
+  });
+
   return [
     { loading, machines },
     {
@@ -25,7 +37,10 @@ export const makeCountContext = () => {
 type CountContextType = ReturnType<typeof makeCountContext>;
 
 export const CountContext = createContext<CountContextType>([
-  { loading: () => false, machines: () => [] },
+  {
+    loading: () => false,
+    machines: () => ({}),
+  },
   {
     getMachines: () => {},
   },
diff --git a/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/message.ts b/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/message.ts
index fdf5339b..ee059a38 100644
--- a/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/message.ts
+++ b/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/message.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import { FromSchema } from "json-schema-to-ts";
 import { schema } from "@/api";
 
-type API = FromSchema<typeof schema>;
+export type API = FromSchema<typeof schema>;
 
-type OperationNames = keyof API;
-type OperationArgs<T extends OperationNames> = API[T]["argument"];
-type OperationResponse<T extends OperationNames> = API[T]["return"];
+export type OperationNames = keyof API;
+export type OperationArgs<T extends OperationNames> = API[T]["argument"];
+export type OperationResponse<T extends OperationNames> = API[T]["return"];
 
 declare global {
   interface Window {
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ function createFunctions<K extends OperationNames>(
       });
     },
     receive: (fn: (response: OperationResponse<K>) => void) => {
-      window.clan.list_machines = deserialize(fn);
+      window.clan[operationName] = deserialize(fn);
     },
   };
 }
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ const deserialize =
   <T>(fn: (response: T) => void) =>
   (str: string) => {
     try {
+      console.debug("Received data: ", str);
       fn(JSON.parse(str) as T);
     } catch (e) {
       alert(`Error parsing JSON: ${e}`);
diff --git a/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/nested.tsx b/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/nested.tsx
index 7f1e9ecd..ebbd0bca 100644
--- a/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/nested.tsx
+++ b/pkgs/webview-ui/app/src/nested.tsx
@@ -1,24 +1,34 @@
-import { For, Match, Switch, type Component } from "solid-js";
+import { For, Match, Switch, createEffect, type Component } from "solid-js";
 import { useCountContext } from "./Config";
 
 export const Nested: Component = () => {
   const [{ machines, loading }, { getMachines }] = useCountContext();
+
+  const list = () => Object.values(machines());
+
+  createEffect(() => {
+    console.log("1", list());
+  });
+  createEffect(() => {
+    console.log("2", machines());
+  });
   return (
     <div>
       <button onClick={() => getMachines()} class="btn btn-primary">
         Get machines
       </button>
-      <hr />
+      <div></div>
       <Switch>
         <Match when={loading()}>Loading...</Match>
-        <Match when={!loading() && machines().length === 0}>
+        <Match when={!loading() && Object.entries(machines()).length === 0}>
           No machines found
         </Match>
-        <Match when={!loading() && machines().length}>
-          <For each={machines()}>
-            {(machine, i) => (
+        <Match when={!loading()}>
+          <For each={list()}>
+            {(entry, i) => (
               <li>
-                {i() + 1}: {machine}
+                {i() + 1}: {entry.machine_name}{" "}
+                {entry.machine_description || "No description"}
               </li>
             )}
           </For>