diff --git a/requirements/extra-PHAL.txt b/requirements/extra-PHAL.txt
index 862bafe96761..2742eacc727c 100644
--- a/requirements/extra-PHAL.txt
+++ b/requirements/extra-PHAL.txt
@@ -1,2 +1 @@
-ovos_PHAL~=0.0, >=0.0.2
-ovos-phal-plugin-connectivity-events~=0.0, >=0.0.1
\ No newline at end of file
+ovos_PHAL~=0.0, >=0.0.2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-audiobackend.txt b/requirements/extra-audiobackend.txt
index 0d044d91a30a..aa67c79957a0 100644
--- a/requirements/extra-audiobackend.txt
+++ b/requirements/extra-audiobackend.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,2 @@
-ovos_plugin_common_play~=0.0.3
-ovos-ocp-youtube-plugin
-ovos-ocp-m3u-plugin
-ovos-ocp-rss-plugin
-ovos-ocp-files-plugin
-ovos-ocp-news-plugin
+# audio service
+ovos-audio
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-bus.txt b/requirements/extra-bus.txt
index 345b4d719d0a..5f79efc7bdbc 100644
--- a/requirements/extra-bus.txt
+++ b/requirements/extra-bus.txt
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-tornado~=6.0, >=6.0.3
\ No newline at end of file
+# messagebus service
+ovos-messagebus
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-deprecated.txt b/requirements/extra-deprecated.txt
index aca94fd183d2..4eeddc8e0884 100644
--- a/requirements/extra-deprecated.txt
+++ b/requirements/extra-deprecated.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# only required if importing from mycroft.deprecated module
+# not used internally
 msm
 mock_msm~=0.9
 ovos_cli_client
diff --git a/requirements/extra-gui.txt b/requirements/extra-gui.txt
index 345b4d719d0a..58ed93621677 100644
--- a/requirements/extra-gui.txt
+++ b/requirements/extra-gui.txt
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-tornado~=6.0, >=6.0.3
\ No newline at end of file
+# gui service
+ovos-gui
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-lgpl.txt b/requirements/extra-lgpl.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cbfbc32c0e75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements/extra-lgpl.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# LGPL dependencies (optional)
+padatious~=0.4.8
+fann2==1.0.7
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-mark1.txt b/requirements/extra-mark1.txt
index 681c2ab0a6d7..1badfaa3fc92 100644
--- a/requirements/extra-mark1.txt
+++ b/requirements/extra-mark1.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# todo - replace with mk1 PHAL plugin dependency
 pyalsaaudio~=0.8
 pyserial~=3.0
 pillow~=8.3
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-skills-lgpl.txt b/requirements/extra-skills-lgpl.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index a3bd25b55179..000000000000
--- a/requirements/extra-skills-lgpl.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-adapt-parser~=0.5
-padacioso~=0.1.2
-ovos-lingua-franca~=0.4, >=0.4.2
-PyYAML~=5.4
-ovos_workshop~=0.0.10
-padatious~=0.4.8
-fann2==1.0.7
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-skills.txt b/requirements/extra-skills.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 2a9337632c28..000000000000
--- a/requirements/extra-skills.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-adapt-parser~=0.5
-padacioso~=0.1.2
-ovos-lingua-franca>=0.4.6
-PyYAML~=5.4
-ovos_workshop~=0.0.10
-ovos-phal-plugin-connectivity-events~=0.0.1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-stt.txt b/requirements/extra-stt.txt
index dae2340c7ded..6b575d87ebd9 100644
--- a/requirements/extra-stt.txt
+++ b/requirements/extra-stt.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-SpeechRecognition~=3.8
-PyAudio~=0.2
+# speech client + stt plugins
+ovos-listener
+
 ovos-vad-plugin-webrtcvad
 ovos-ww-plugin-pocketsphinx~=0.1, >=0.1.3
+# TODO - remove precise
 ovos-ww-plugin-precise~=0.1
 ovos-stt-plugin-selene>=0.0.3a3
 ovos-stt-plugin-vosk~=0.1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/extra-tts.txt b/requirements/extra-tts.txt
index 9acb65338960..4cfa2bac1367 100644
--- a/requirements/extra-tts.txt
+++ b/requirements/extra-tts.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# extra plugins for TTS
 ovos-tts-plugin-mimic~=0.2, >=0.2.6
 ovos-tts-plugin-mimic2~=0.1, >=0.1.5
 ovos-tts-plugin-google-tx~=0.0, >=0.0.3
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/minimal.txt b/requirements/minimal.txt
index 1ce16a3fabe8..007eac9fbf3c 100644
--- a/requirements/minimal.txt
+++ b/requirements/minimal.txt
@@ -8,4 +8,11 @@ python-dateutil~=2.6
 ovos-lingua-franca~=0.4, >=0.4.6
 ovos_backend_client~=0.0, >=0.0.5
 ovos_workshop~=0.0, >=0.0.11a4
-watchdog
\ No newline at end of file
+watchdog
+
+adapt-parser~=0.5
+padacioso~=0.1.2
+ovos-lingua-franca>=0.4.6
+PyYAML~=5.4
+ovos_workshop~=0.0.10
+ovos-phal-plugin-connectivity-events~=0.0, >=0.0.1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements/requirements.txt b/requirements/requirements.txt
index ee13edace198..4c4222b140a5 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements.txt
@@ -1,43 +1,27 @@
+# misc
 requests~=2.26
-PyAudio~=0.2
-SpeechRecognition~=3.8
-tornado~=6.0, >=6.0.3
-psutil~=5.6.6
-python-dateutil~=2.6
 combo-lock~=0.2
 PyYAML~=5.4
+python-dateutil~=2.6
 watchdog
 
-mycroft-messagebus-client~=0.9,!=0.9.2,!=0.9.3
+# skills service requirements
 adapt-parser~=0.5
-padatious~=0.4.8
 padacioso~=0.1.2
-fann2==1.0.7
-padaos~=0.1
-
-ovos_backend_client~=0.0, >=0.0.5
-ovos-config~=0.0,>=0.0.5
 ovos-utils~=0.0, >=0.0.29
-ovos-plugin-manager~=0.0, >=0.0.19
+ovos-plugin-manager~=0.0, >=0.0.20
+ovos-config~=0.0,>=0.0.5
+ovos-lingua-franca~=0.4, >=0.4.6
+ovos_backend_client~=0.0, >=0.0.5
 ovos_workshop~=0.0, >=0.0.11a4
-ovos_PHAL~=0.0, >=0.0.2
-ovos-lingua-franca>=0.4.6
-
-ovos-stt-plugin-server~=0.0, >=0.0.2
-ovos-tts-plugin-mimic~=0.2, >=0.2.6
-ovos-tts-plugin-mimic2~=0.1, >=0.1.5
-ovos-tts-plugin-google-tx~=0.0, >=0.0.3
-ovos-ww-plugin-pocketsphinx~=0.1
-ovos-ww-plugin-precise~=0.1
-ovos-vad-plugin-webrtcvad
+ovos-phal-plugin-connectivity-events~=0.0, >=0.0.1
 
-ovos_plugin_common_play~=0.0.3
-# ovos-ocp-youtube-plugin
-ovos-ocp-m3u-plugin
-ovos-ocp-rss-plugin
-ovos-ocp-files-plugin
-ovos-ocp-news-plugin
+# services
+ovos-listener
+ovos-audio
+ovos-messagebus
+ovos-gui
 
-ovos-skill-volume~=0.0.1
+# essential skills
 ovos-skill-fallback-unknown~=0.0.2
 ovos-skill-stop~=0.2
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 069ad35b31cd..4317df5a4321 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -67,8 +67,7 @@ def required(requirements_file):
         'PHAL': required('requirements/extra-PHAL.txt'),
         'stt': required('requirements/extra-stt.txt'),
         'tts': required('requirements/extra-tts.txt'),
-        "skills_lgpl": required('requirements/extra-skills-lgpl.txt'),
-        'skills': required('requirements/extra-skills.txt'),
+        "lgpl": required('requirements/extra-lgpl.txt'),
         'gui': required('requirements/extra-gui.txt'),
         'bus': required('requirements/extra-bus.txt'),
         'deprecated': required('requirements/extra-deprecated.txt'),