diff --git a/make/make.mk b/make/make.mk
index f53ebf98..79c8ec75 100644
--- a/make/make.mk
+++ b/make/make.mk
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ ifeq ($(CREATE_PKG_CONFIG),true)
     CREATE_PKG_CONFIG_OPTS  += -l "-L$(PROJECT_DIRPATH)/lib -l$(PROJECT)"
   endif
 
-$(LOCAL_PKG_CONFIG): $(PROJECT_DESCR_FILE) $(JWBDIR)/make/make.mk $(JWB_SCRIPT_DIR)/create-pkg-config.sh
-	/bin/bash $(JWB_SCRIPT_DIR)/create-pkg-config.sh \
+$(LOCAL_PKG_CONFIG): $(PROJECT_DESCR_FILE) $(JWBDIR)/make/make.mk
+	$(proj_query_cmd) create-pkg-config \
 		-F $< \
 		-n $(PROJECT) \
 		-v $(DIST_VERSION) \
diff --git a/scripts/create-pkg-config.sh b/scripts/create-pkg-config.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index b246e6d5..00000000
--- a/scripts/create-pkg-config.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,161 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-log()
-{
-	echo $@
-}
-
-err()
-{
-	echo $@ >&2
-}
-
-fatal()
-{
-	err "Fatal: $@"
-	exit 1
-}
-
-try_assign_sec()
-{
-	local file="$1"
-	local sec="$2"
-	local val=`_jwbuild_cat_section "$file" "$sec"`
-	[ -n "$val" ] && eval $3=\"$val\"
-}
-
-cleanup_requires()
-{
-#	echo $@ | sed -e '
-#		s/\([a-zA-Z0-9.-]\+\)  *\([a-zA-Z0-9.-]\+\)  */\1, \2 /g
-#		#s/\([a-zA-Z-]\+\)  *\([<>=]*\)  *\([a-zA-Z0-9\.-]*\)/\1 \2 \3,/g
-#		#s/,,/,/g
-#		#s/,$//
-#	'
-	echo $@ | sed -e '
-		s/^ //g
-		s/\([ 	]\|$\)\+/, /g
-		s/, $//
-		s/, $//
-		s/ *,* *\([<>=]\+\) *,* */ \1 /g
-	'
-}
-
-usage()
-{
-	cat <<- EOT | sed 's/^	*|//'
-	|
-	|  $myname [options]
-	|
-	|  options are
-	|
-	|	-h:                  display this help message and exit sucessfully
-	|	-F filename          read project description file
-	|	-d "description"     use description
-	|
-	EOT
-	goodbye $1
-}
-
-project_descr_file="$1"
-myname=`basename $0`
-
-set -e
-
-eval set -- `getopt -- hF:d:n:s:p:v:c:l:V:r:R: "$@"`
-
-while [ "$1" != -- ]; do
-case $1 in
-	-h)
-		usage 0;;
-	-F)
-		project_descr_file="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-d)
-		description="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-n)
-		name="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-s)
-		summary="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-p)
-		prefix="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-v)
-		version="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-c)
-		cflags="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-l)
-		libflags="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-r)
-		requires_run="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-R)
-		requires_build="$2"
-		shift
-		;;
-	-V)
-		variables="$variables$2\n"
-		shift
-		;;
-	*)
-		usage 1;;
-esac
-shift
-done
-shift
-
-set +e
-
-[ -r "$project_descr_file" ] && {
-
-	build_functions_sh=jw-build-functions.sh
-	for d in `dirname $0`; do
-		[ -f "$d/$build_functions_sh" ] && {
-			build_functions_sh_path=$d/$build_functions_sh
-			break
-		}
-	done
-	[ "$build_functions_sh_path" ] || fatal "$build_functions_sh not found"
-	. $build_functions_sh_path
-
-	try_assign_sec $project_descr_file description descr
-	try_assign_sec $project_descr_file summary summary
-	try_assign_sec $project_descr_file requires_run requires_run
-	try_assign_sec $project_descr_file requires_build requires_build
-}
-
-[ "$variables" ] && echo -e "$variables"
-
-cat <<-EOT
-prefix=$prefix
-exec_prefix=\${prefix}
-includedir=\${prefix}/include
-libdir=\${exec_prefix}/lib
-
-Name: $name
-Description: $summary
-Version: $version
-EOT
-[ "$cflags" ] && echo "Cflags: $cflags"
-[ "$libflags" ] && echo "Libs: $libflags"
-[ "$requires_run" ] && echo "Requires: `cleanup_requires $requires_run`"
-[ "$requires_build" ] && echo "Requires.private: `cleanup_requires $requires_build`"
-# [ "$requires_devel" ] && ?? # not sure what to do with this
-
-exit 0
-
diff --git a/scripts/jw-build-functions.sh b/scripts/jw-build-functions.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index bed21ddb..00000000
--- a/scripts/jw-build-functions.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,394 +0,0 @@
-export PATH=$PATH:/opt/jwbuild/bin
-
-# -- private stuff not intended for use outside of this script
-_jwbuild_check_config_present()
-{
-	if [ -z "$jwbuild_config_files" ]; then
-		if [ "$1" = true ]; then
-			jwbuild_log "warning: $0 tries to access configuration witout having a config file"
-		fi
-		return 1;
-	fi
-	return 0;
-}
-
-
-_jwbuild_check_config_files_readable()
-{
-	local new=""
-	for f in $jwbuild_config_files; do
-		[ -f "$f" -a -r "$f" ] && new="$new $f"
-	done
-	jwbuild_config_files="$new"
-}
-
-_jwbuild_probe_config_paths()
-{
-	local f new exp dir
-	[ ! "$jwbuild_config_files" ] && jwbuild_config_files="
-		/etc/opt/$jwbuild_project/$jwbuild_basename.conf
-		$HOME/.$jwbuild_project/$jwbuild_basename.conf
-		$HOME/.$jwbuild_project/$rc
-		$HOME/.$jwbuild_basename/$jwbuild_basename.conf
-		$HOME/.$jwbuild_basename/$rc
-		$HOME/.$rc
-	"
-	_jwbuild_check_config_files_readable
-
-	# add includes
-	new=""
-	for f in $jwbuild_config_files; do
-
-		exp=`sed '
-			/^[ 	]*include[ 	]/ !d
-			s/^[ 	]*include[ 	]*//g
-		' $f`
-
-		if [ "$exp" ]; then
-			if [ "${exp:0:1}" != '/' ]; then
-				dir=`dirname $f`
-				exp=$dir/$exp
-			fi
-			exp=`ls -d $exp 2>/dev/null`
-			new="$new $f $exp"
-		fi
-	done
-
-	[ "$new" ] && jwbuild_config_files="$new"
-
-	_jwbuild_check_config_files_readable
-}
-
-_jwbuild_cat_section()
-{
-	if [ "$2" ]; then
-		sed -n "/\[$2\]/,/[^ 	]*\[/ p" $1 | sed '/[^ 	]*\[/ d; /^[ 	]*include[ 	]/ d'
-		return
-	fi
-
-	sed -n '0,/[^ 	]*\[/ p' $1 | sed '/[^ 	]*\[/ d; /^[ 	]*include[ 	]/ d'
-}
-
-_jwbuild_format_config()
-{
-	sed '/^ *$/d; s/$/;/g' | sed 's/ *= */=/'
-}
-
-_jwbuild_format_section()
-{
-	_jwbuild_cat_section $* | _jwbuild_format_config
-}
-
-_jwbuild_source_section()
-{
-	eval `_jwbuild_cat_section $* | _jwbuild_format_config`
-}
-
-_uniq()
-{
-	sed -n 'G; s/\n/&&/; /^\([ -~]*\n\).*\n\1/d; s/\n//; h; P'
-}
-
-# -- exported utilities
-jwbuild_log_err()
-{
-	echo "# $@" >&2
-}
-
-jwbuild_log_stdout()
-{
-	echo "# $@"
-}
-
-jwbuild_log_stderr()
-{
-	echo "# $@" >&2
-}
-
-jwbuild_log_syslog()
-{
-	logger -t $jwbuild_basename "$*"
-}
-
-jwbuild_log()
-{
-	local logger
-	for logger in $jwbuild_loggers; do
-		eval jwbuild_log_$logger "$@"
-	done
-}
-
-jwbuild_empty_config()
-{
-	local o_verbose=""
-	local o_section
-
-	set -- `getopt 'vs:' $*`
-
-	while [ "$1" != -- ]; do
-		case $1 in
-			-v)
-				o_verbose=true;;
-			-s)
-				o_section=$2; shift;;
-			*)
-				jwbuild_log_err unknown option $1
-				exit 1;;
-		esac
-		shift
-	done
-	shift
-
-	_jwbuild_check_config_present $o_verbose || return 1
-
-	[ ! -r "$1" ] && return
-	[ "$o_verbose" ] && jwbuild_log o resetting config "\"$1\""
-	if [ "$o_section" ]; then
-		[ "$o_verbose" ] && jwbuild_log o resetting section "[$o_section]" of config "\"$1\""
-	fi
-
-	eval `_jwbuild_format_section $1 $o_section | sed 's/=[^;]*;/=;/g'`
-}
-
-jwbuild_empty_configs()
-{
-	local section
-	local c
-	local o_verbose=""
-	local o_section
-	local opts=""
-
-	set -- `getopt 'vs:' $*`
-	while [ "$1" != -- ]; do
-		case $1 in
-			-v)
-				o_verbose=true
-				opts="$opts -v"
-				;;
-			-s)
-				o_section="-s $2"; shift;;
-			*)
-				jwbuild_log_err unknown option $1
-				exit 1;;
-		esac
-		shift
-	done
-	shift
-
-	_jwbuild_check_config_present $o_verbose || return 1
-
-	for section in "" `jwbuild_config_sections`; do
-
-		for c in $jwbuild_config_files; do
-
-			jwbuild_empty_config -s "$section" section $opts $c
-
-			if [ -d $c.d ]; then
-
-				local dirconfs=`find $c.d  -maxdepth 1 -type f`
-				local f
-				for f in $dirconfs; do
-					jwbuild_empty_config -s "$section" $opts $f
-				done
-			fi
-		done
-	done
-
-	return 0
-}
-
-jwbuild_source_config()
-{
-	local o_verbose=""
-	local o_section
-
-	set -- `getopt 'vs:' $*`
-
-	while [ "$1" != -- ]; do
-		case $1 in
-			-v)
-				o_verbose=true
-				;;
-			-s)
-				o_section=$2; shift;;
-			*)
-				jwbuild_log_err unknown option $1
-				exit 1;;
-		esac
-		shift
-	done
-	shift
-
-	_jwbuild_check_config_present $o_verbose || return 1
-
-	if [ "$o_verbose" = true ]; then
-		if [ "$o_section" ]; then
-			jwbuild_log o sourcing section "[$o_section]" from config file "\"$1\""
-		else
-			jwbuild_log o sourcing config "\"$1\""
-		fi
-
-		_jwbuild_cat_section $1 $o_section
-	fi
-
-	_jwbuild_source_section $1 $o_section
-}
-
-jwbuild_source_configs()
-{
-	local c
-	local source_opts=""
-	local o_verbose=""
-
-	set -- `getopt 'vs:' $*`
-
-	while [ "$1" != -- ]; do
-		case $1 in
-			-v)
-				o_verbose=true
-				source_opts="$source_opts -v"
-				;;
-			-s)
-				source_opts="$source_opts -s $2"
-				shift;;
-			*)
-				jwbuild_log_err unknown option $1
-				exit 1;;
-		esac
-		shift
-	done
-	shift
-
-	_jwbuild_check_config_present $o_verbose || return 1
-
-	for c in $jwbuild_config_files; do
-		jwbuild_source_config $source_opts $c
-		if [ -d $c.d ]; then
-			local dirconfs=`find $c.d  -maxdepth 1 -type f`
-			local f
-			for f in $dirconfs; do
-				jwbuild_source_config $source_opts $f
-			done
-		fi
-	done
-}
-
-jwbuild_config_sections()
-{
-	local o_verbose=""
-	local o_section
-	local o_file
-	local o_exact=false
-
-	OPTIND=1
-	while getopts ves:f: flag; do
-
-		case $flag in
-		v)
-			o_verbose=true;;
-		s)
-			o_section="$OPTARG";;
-		f)
-			o_file="$OPTARG";;
-		e)
-			o_exact=true;;
-		*)
-			jwbuild_log_err "unknown option -$flag"
-			exit 1;;
-		esac
-
-	done
-
-	shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
-
-	_jwbuild_check_config_present $o_verbose || return 1
-
-	[ "$o_file" ] || o_file="$jwbuild_config_files"
-
-	if [ "$o_exact" = false ]; then
-
-		if [ "$o_section" ]; then
-			sed "
-				/^[ 	]*\[$o_section\.\(.*\)\]/ !d
-				s/^[ 	]*\[$o_section\.\(.*\)\].*/\1/
-			" $o_file 2>/dev/null | _uniq
-		else
-			sed "
-				/^[ 	]*\[\(.*\)\]/ !d
-				s/^[ 	]*\[\(.*\)\].*/\1/
-			" $o_file 2>/dev/null | _uniq
-		fi
-
-	else
-
-		if [ "$o_section" ]; then
-			sed "
-				/^[ 	]*\[$o_section\.\([^.]*\)\]/ !d
-				s/^[ 	]*\[$o_section\.\([^.]*\)\].*/\1/
-			" $o_file 2>/dev/null | _uniq
-		else
-			sed "
-				/^[ 	]*\[\([^.]*\)\]/ !d
-				s/^[ 	]*\[\([^.]*\)\].*/\1/
-			" $o_file 2>/dev/null | _uniq
-		fi
-	fi
-
-	return
-}
-
-jwbuild_cat()
-{
-	cat | sed 's/^[ 	]*|//'
-}
-
-jwbuild_waitpid()
-{
-	local pid=$1
-	local t=5
-	[ "$2" ] && t=$2
-
-	while ((t > 0)); do
-		[ -f /proc/$pid/status ] || {
-			wait $pid
-			return 0
-		}
-		sleep 1
-		((t -= 1))
-	done
-	return 1
-}
-
-jwbuild_terminate()
-{
-	local pid
-	for pid in $@; do
-		[ -f /proc/$pid/status ] && {
-			echo terminating process $pid
-			kill $pid
-			jwbuild_waitpid $pid || {
-
-				echo "failed to normally terminate process $pid, killing it" >&2
-				kill -9 $pid
-
-				jwbuild_waitpid $pid || {
-					echo "failed to kill process $pid" >&2
-					return 1
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	done
-	return 0
-}
-
-# -- exported variables
-if [ "$jwbuild_functions_sourced" != "yes" ]; then
-
-	jwbuild_functions_sourced="yes"
-
-	[ -z "$jwbuild_basename" ] && jwbuild_basename=`echo "$0" | sed 's/^-*//' | xargs basename | sed 's/\.sh$//'`
-	[ -z "$jwbuild_project" ] && jwbuild_project="jwbuild"
-	[ -z "$jwbuild_rc" ] && jwbuild_rc="$jwbuild_basename"rc
-	_jwbuild_probe_config_paths
-	[ -z "$jwbuild_loggers" ] && jwbuild_loggers="stdout"
-fi
diff --git a/src/python/jw/build/cmds/CmdCreatePkgConfig.py b/src/python/jw/build/cmds/CmdCreatePkgConfig.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a60d0a6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/python/jw/build/cmds/CmdCreatePkgConfig.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+import textwrap
+from argparse import Namespace, ArgumentParser
+
+from ..Cmd import Cmd
+
+class CmdCreatePkgConfig(Cmd): # export
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        super().__init__('create-pkg-config', help='Generate a pkg-config file for a module')
+
+    def add_arguments(self, parser: ArgumentParser) -> None:
+        super().add_arguments(parser)
+        parser.add_argument('-F', '--project-descr-file', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-d', '--description', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-n', '--name', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-s', '--summary', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-p', '--prefix', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-v', '--version', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-c', '--cflags', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-l', '--libflags', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-r', '--requires_run', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-R', '--requires_build', default=None)
+        parser.add_argument('-V', '--variables', nargs='*')
+
+    def _run(self, args: Namespace) -> None:
+        project_conf_var_keys = ['description', 'summary', 'requires_run', 'requires_build']
+        merged: dict[str, str] = {}
+        for key in project_conf_var_keys:
+            val = getattr(args, key)
+            if val is not None and args.project_descr_file:
+                val = self.app.get_value(args.name, key, None)
+            merged[key] = val
+
+        contents = textwrap.dedent(f"""\
+        prefix={args.prefix}
+        exec_prefix={{prefix}}
+        includedir={{prefix}}/include
+        libdir={{exec_prefix}}/lib
+
+        Name: {args.name}
+        Description: {merged['summary']}
+        Version: {args.version}
+        """)
+
+        if args.cflags is not None:
+            contents += f"Cflags: {args.cflags}\n"
+        if args.libflags is not None:
+            contents += f"Libs: {args.libflags}\n"
+        if merged['requires_run'] is not None:
+            contents += f"Requires: {cleanup_requires(merged['requires_run'])}"
+        if merged['requires_build'] is not None:
+            contents += f"Requires.private: {cleanup_requires(merged['requires_build'])}"
+        # not sure what to do with requires_devel
+
+        print(contents)