diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/templates/appinfo/index.mako b/src/wuttaweb/templates/appinfo/index.mako
index 342617e..0997544 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/templates/appinfo/index.mako
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/templates/appinfo/index.mako
@@ -46,12 +46,53 @@
     </div>
   </nav>
 
+  <${b}-collapse class="panel"
+                 :open="false"
+                 @open="openInstalledPackages">
+
+    <template #trigger="props">
+      <div class="panel-heading"
+           style="cursor: pointer;"
+           role="button">
+
+        ## TODO: for some reason buefy will "reuse" the icon
+        ## element in such a way that its display does not
+        ## refresh.  so to work around that, we use different
+        ## structure for the two icons, so buefy is forced to
+        ## re-draw
+
+        <b-icon v-if="props.open"
+                pack="fas"
+                icon="angle-down" />
+
+        <span v-if="!props.open">
+          <b-icon pack="fas"
+                  icon="angle-right" />
+        </span>
+
+        <strong>Installed Packages</strong>
+      </div>
+    </template>
+
+    <div class="panel-block">
+      <div style="width: 100%;">
+        ${grid.render_vue_tag(ref='packagesGrid')}
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  </${b}-collapse>
+
 </%def>
 
 <%def name="modify_vue_vars()">
   ${parent.modify_vue_vars()}
   <script>
+
     ThisPageData.configFiles = ${json.dumps([dict(path=p, priority=i) for i, p in enumerate(config.get_prioritized_files(), 1)])|n}
+
+    ThisPage.methods.openInstalledPackages = function() {
+        this.$refs.packagesGrid.fetchFirstData()
+    }
+
   </script>
 </%def>
 
diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/templates/grids/vue_template.mako b/src/wuttaweb/templates/grids/vue_template.mako
index b161d9f..cb4f7a8 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/templates/grids/vue_template.mako
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/templates/grids/vue_template.mako
@@ -134,6 +134,9 @@
       data: ${grid.vue_component}CurrentData,
       loading: false,
 
+      ## nb. this tracks whether grid.fetchFirstData() happened
+      fetchedFirstData: false,
+
       ## sorting
       % if grid.sortable:
           sorters: ${json.dumps(grid.get_vue_active_sorters())|n},
@@ -230,6 +233,17 @@
               return params
           },
 
+          ## nb. this is meant to call for a grid which is hidden at
+          ## first, when it is first being shown to the user.  and if
+          ## it was initialized with empty data set.
+          async fetchFirstData() {
+              if (this.fetchedFirstData) {
+                  return
+              }
+              await this.fetchData()
+              this.fetchedFirstData = true
+          },
+
           async fetchData() {
 
               let params = new URLSearchParams(this.getBasicParams())
diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/views/master.py b/src/wuttaweb/views/master.py
index d43de9e..3422fe1 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/views/master.py
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/views/master.py
@@ -1208,8 +1208,10 @@ class MasterView(View):
 
         self.set_labels(grid)
 
-        for key in self.get_model_key():
-            grid.set_link(key)
+        # TODO: i thought this was a good idea but if so it
+        # needs a try/catch in case of no model class
+        # for key in self.get_model_key():
+        #     grid.set_link(key)
 
     def grid_render_notes(self, record, key, value, maxlen=100):
         """
diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/views/settings.py b/src/wuttaweb/views/settings.py
index 087a7df..0cea55b 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/views/settings.py
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/views/settings.py
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@
 Views for app settings
 """
 
+import json
+import os
+import sys
+import subprocess
+
 from collections import OrderedDict
 
 from wuttjamaican.db.model import Setting
@@ -47,13 +52,47 @@ class AppInfoView(MasterView):
     model_name = 'AppInfo'
     model_title_plural = "App Info"
     route_prefix = 'appinfo'
-    has_grid = False
+    sort_on_backend = False
+    sort_defaults = 'name'
+    paginated = False
     creatable = False
     viewable = False
     editable = False
     deletable = False
     configurable = True
 
+    grid_columns = [
+        'name',
+        'version',
+        'editable_project_location',
+    ]
+
+    def get_grid_data(self, columns=None, session=None):
+        """ """
+
+        # nb. init with empty data, only load it upon user request
+        if not self.request.GET.get('partial'):
+            return []
+
+        # TODO: pretty sure this is not cross-platform.  probably some
+        # sort of pip methods belong on the app handler?  or it should
+        # have a pip handler for all that?
+        pip = os.path.join(sys.prefix, 'bin', 'pip')
+        output = subprocess.check_output([pip, 'list', '--format=json'], text=True)
+        data = json.loads(output.strip())
+
+        # must avoid null values for sort to work right
+        for pkg in data:
+            pkg.setdefault('editable_project_location', '')
+
+        return data
+
+    def configure_grid(self, g):
+        """ """
+        super().configure_grid(g)
+
+        g.sort_multiple = False
+
     def configure_get_simple_settings(self):
         """ """
         return [
diff --git a/tests/views/test_master.py b/tests/views/test_master.py
index 5cf60db..21da2e5 100644
--- a/tests/views/test_master.py
+++ b/tests/views/test_master.py
@@ -424,7 +424,10 @@ class TestMasterView(WebTestCase):
                             url_prefix='/appinfo',
                             creatable=False):
             view = master.MasterView(self.request)
-            response = view.render_to_response('index', {})
+            response = view.render_to_response('index', {
+                # nb. grid is required for this template
+                'grid': MagicMock(),
+            })
             self.assertIsInstance(response, Response)
 
         # bad template name causes error
diff --git a/tests/views/test_settings.py b/tests/views/test_settings.py
index f0485c1..208d0f2 100644
--- a/tests/views/test_settings.py
+++ b/tests/views/test_settings.py
@@ -18,6 +18,19 @@ class TestAppInfoView(WebTestCase):
     def make_view(self):
         return mod.AppInfoView(self.request)
 
+    def test_get_grid_data(self):
+        view = self.make_view()
+
+        # empty data by default
+        data = view.get_grid_data()
+        self.assertEqual(data, [])
+
+        # 'partial' request returns data
+        self.request.GET = {'partial': '1'}
+        data = view.get_grid_data()
+        self.assertIsInstance(data, list)
+        self.assertTrue(data)
+
     def test_index(self):
         # sanity/coverage check
         view = self.make_view()