diff --git a/.github/workflows/coverage.yml b/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
index bcbadad51..91532521f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches: 
+    branches:
       - master
       - live-debug*
       - release/**
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
           python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          fetch-depth: 2    
+          fetch-depth: 2
       - name: Install Python3 dependencies
         working-directory: ${{runner.workspace}}/nmodl
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nmodl-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/nmodl-ci.yml
index 1843739ca..903107f64 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nmodl-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nmodl-ci.yml
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ jobs:
           path: ${{runner.workspace}}/nmodl/build/Testing/*/Test.xml
 
       # This step will set up an SSH connection on tmate.io for live debugging.
-      # To enable it, you have to: 
+      # To enable it, you have to:
       #   * add 'live-debug-tests' to your PR title
       #   * push something to your PR branch (note that just re-running disregards the title update)
       - name: live debug session on failure (manual steps required, check `nmodl-ci.yml`)
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nmodl-doc.yml b/.github/workflows/nmodl-doc.yml
index 28fcd606f..da1c062b3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nmodl-doc.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nmodl-doc.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches: 
+    branches:
       - master
       - release/**
   pull_request:
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: jwlawson/actions-setup-cmake@v2
         with:
           cmake-version: ${{ env.DESIRED_CMAKE_VERSION }}
-          
+
       - name: Install apt packages
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
@@ -55,11 +55,17 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Install Python3 dependencies
+      - name: Documentation
+        id: documentation
         working-directory: ${{runner.workspace}}/nmodl
         run: |
-          pip3 install -U pip setuptools
-          pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt
+          echo "------- Build Documentation -------";
+          bash docs/generate_docs.sh public $(command -v python${PYTHON_VERSION})
+          touch public/docs/.nojekyll
+          echo "<meta http-equiv=\"refresh\" content=\"0; url=./html/index.html\" />" > public/docs/index.html
+          echo "status=done" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        env:
+          CCACHE_DIR: ${{runner.workspace}}/ccache
 
       # This step will set up an SSH connection on tmate.io for live debugging.
       # To trigger it, simply add 'live-debug-docs' to your last pushed commit message.
@@ -67,37 +73,10 @@ jobs:
         if: failure() && contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'live-debug-docs')
         uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3
 
-      - name: Restore compiler cache
-        uses: actions/cache@v4
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ${{runner.workspace}}/ccache
-          key: docs-${{github.ref}}-${{github.sha}}
-          restore-keys: |
-            docs-${{github.ref}}-
-            docs-
-
-      - name: Documentation 
-        id: documentation
-        working-directory: ${{runner.workspace}}/nmodl
-        run: |
-          echo "------- Build Documentation -------";
-          ccache -z
-          ccache -s
-          python3 setup.py build_ext --inplace docs -j 2 -G Ninja \
-            -- -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache;
-          ccache -s
-          cd _skbuild/linux-x86_64-3.8/setuptools/sphinx;
-          rm -rf doctest doctrees && touch .nojekyll;
-          echo "<meta http-equiv=\"refresh\" content=\"0; url=./html/index.html\" />" > index.html;
-          echo "status=done" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-        env:
-          CCACHE_DIR: ${{runner.workspace}}/ccache
-          
       - name: Deploy 🚀
         uses: JamesIves/github-pages-deploy-action@v4
         if: steps.documentation.outputs.status == 'done' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/heads/master')
         with:
           branch: gh-pages # The branch the action should deploy to.
-          folder: ${{runner.workspace}}/nmodl/_skbuild/linux-x86_64-3.8/setuptools/sphinx # The folder the action should deploy.
+          folder: ${{runner.workspace}}/nmodl/public/docs
           clean: false # Automatically remove deleted files from the deploy branch
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4b628c4d3..4754ca822 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ set(NMODL_EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS
     ""
     CACHE STRING "Add extra compile flags for NMODL sources")
 separate_arguments(NMODL_EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS)
+option(LINK_AGAINST_PYTHON "Should the Python library be linked or not" ON)
+option(NMODL_BUILD_WHEEL "Flag to signal we are building a wheel" OFF)
+if(NMODL_BUILD_WHEEL)
+  set(LINK_AGAINST_PYTHON OFF)
+  set(NMODL_ENABLE_TESTS OFF)
+endif()
 
 # =============================================================================
 # Settings to enable project as submodule
@@ -166,12 +172,6 @@ endif()
 message(STATUS "CHECKING FOR PYTHON")
 find_package(PythonInterp 3.8 REQUIRED)
 cpp_cc_strip_python_shims(EXECUTABLE "${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}" OUTPUT PYTHON_EXECUTABLE)
-include(cmake/hpc-coding-conventions/cpp/cmake/bbp-find-python-module.cmake)
-cpp_cc_find_python_module(jinja2 2.9.3 REQUIRED)
-cpp_cc_find_python_module(pytest 3.3.0 REQUIRED)
-cpp_cc_find_python_module(sympy 1.3 REQUIRED)
-cpp_cc_find_python_module(textwrap 0.9 REQUIRED)
-cpp_cc_find_python_module(yaml 3.12 REQUIRED)
 
 # =============================================================================
 # Compiler specific flags for external submodules
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.rst b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
index e61710636..6f21b8aaa 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.rst
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
@@ -210,9 +210,8 @@ the Python API:
 1. setup a sandbox environment with either *virtualenv*, *pyenv*, or
    *pipenv*. For instance with *virtualenv*:
    ``python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate``
-2. build the Python package with the command: ``python setup.py build``
-3. install *pytest* Python package: ``pip install pytest``
-4. execute the unit-tests: ``pytest``
+2. build the Python wheel with the command: ``python -m pip wheel . --no-deps``
+3. execute the unit-tests for the wheel: ``bash packaging/test_wheel.bash $(command -v python) WHEEL``, where ``WHEEL`` is the path to the wheel generated in the previous step.
 
 Memory Leaks and clang-tidy
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/INSTALL.rst b/INSTALL.rst
index 72fff92bd..9c4fc6af4 100644
--- a/INSTALL.rst
+++ b/INSTALL.rst
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ of all dependencies we recommend using `homebrew <https://brew.sh/>`__:
 
    brew install flex bison cmake python3
 
-The necessary Python packages can then easily be added using the pip3
-command.
+All of the Python dependencies (build, run, and development) can be installed
+using:
 
 .. code:: sh
 
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@ installed along with the system toolchain:
 
    apt-get install flex bison gcc python3 python3-pip
 
-The Python dependencies are installed using:
+All of the Python dependencies (build, run, and development) can be installed
+using:
 
 .. code:: sh
 
@@ -124,8 +125,8 @@ to cmake as:
             -DBISON_EXECUTABLE=/usr/local/opt/bison/bin/bison \
             -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/nmodl
 
-Using Python setuptools
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Using the Python build system
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 If you are mainly interested in the NMODL Framework parsing and analysis
 tools and wish to use them from Python, we recommend building and
@@ -139,6 +140,19 @@ This should build the NMODL framework and install it into your pip user
 ``site-packages`` folder such that it becomes available as a Python
 module.
 
+Building a wheel
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+You can also build a wheel you can test and install in another environment using:
+
+.. code:: sh
+
+   pip3 wheel . --no-deps [-C OPTION1=VALUE1 -C OPTION2=VALUE2...] [--wheel-dir DIRECTORY]
+
+where the various ``OPTION`` values describe the build options (for a list of
+all available options, please consult the `reference <https://scikit-build-core.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html>`_).
+Notably, due to a bug in CMake, on MacOS one should pass ``-C build-dir=DIRECTORY`` to the above.
+
 When building without linking against libpython
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
@@ -210,6 +224,16 @@ example in your Python 3 interpeter as follows:
        SUFFIX hh
    }
 
+You can also run all of the Python tests for a given wheel using:
+
+.. code:: sh
+
+   bash packaging/test_wheel.bash PYTHON_EXECUTABLE WHEEL
+
+where ``PYTHON_EXECUTABLE`` should be replaced by the path to the Python
+executable, and ``WHEEL`` should be replaced by the path to the wheel you wish
+to test.
+
 NMODL is now setup correctly!
 
 Generating Documentation
@@ -219,9 +243,14 @@ In order to build the documentation you must have additionally
 ``pandoc`` installed. Use your system’s package manager to do this
 (e.g. ``sudo apt-get install pandoc``).
 
-You can build the entire documentation simply by using sphinx from
-``setup.py``:
+You can build the entire documentation simply by using the ``generate_docs.sh``
+script:
 
 .. code:: sh
 
-   python3 setup.py build_ext --inplace docs
+   bash docs/generate_docs.sh DIRECTORY [PYTHON_EXECUTABLE]
+
+where ``DIRECTORY`` is where you want to put the output files. The HTML
+documentation will then be available in ``DIRECTORY/docs``, and the temporary
+build will be stored in ``DIRECTORY/build``. You can also specify the path to
+the Python executable if it is not picked up automatically.
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index 0f46c8548..663a792dc 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ stages:
         sudo apt-get install -y python3.8 python3.8-dev python3.8-venv ninja-build
         sudo apt-get remove -y python3-importlib-metadata
         python3.8 -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
-        python3.8 -m pip install --user -r $(Build.Repository.LocalPath)/requirements.txt
+        python3.8 -m pip install --user -r requirements.txt
         # we manually get version 3.15.0 to make sure that changes in the cmake
         # files do not require unsupported versions of cmake in our package.
         wget --quiet --output-document=- "https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/$CMAKE_VER/$CMAKE_PKG.tar.gz" | tar xzpf -
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ stages:
     - script: |
         brew install flex bison cmake python@3
         python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
-        python3 -m pip install --user -r $(Build.Repository.LocalPath)/requirements.txt
+        python3 -m pip install --user -r requirements.txt
       displayName: 'Install Dependencies'
     - script: |
         export PATH=/usr/local/opt/flex/bin:/usr/local/opt/bison/bin:$PATH;
@@ -222,10 +222,16 @@ stages:
         else
           export TAG=""
         fi
+        # the following 2 lines are a workaround for PEP 621 not allowing a
+        # dynamic `name` in `pyproject.toml`
+        python3 -m pip install --user tomli tomli-w
+        python3 packaging/change_name.py pyproject.toml "NMODL${TAG}"
+        export SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION="$(git describe --tags | cut -d '-' -f 1,2 | tr - .)"
         docker run --rm \
           -w /root/nmodl \
           -v $PWD:/root/nmodl \
           -e NMODL_NIGHTLY_TAG=$TAG \
+          -e SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION=$SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION \
           'bluebrain/nmodl:wheel' \
           packaging/build_wheels.bash linux $(python.version)
       condition: succeeded()
@@ -295,7 +301,11 @@ stages:
         else
           export NMODL_NIGHTLY_TAG=""
         fi
-        packaging/build_wheels.bash osx $(python.version)
+        # the following 2 lines are a workaround for PEP 621 not allowing a
+        # dynamic `name` in `pyproject.toml`
+        python3 -m pip install tomli tomli-w
+        python3 packaging/change_name.py pyproject.toml "NMODL${NMODL_NIGHTLY_TAG}"
+        SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION="$(git describe --tags | cut -d '-' -f 1,2 | tr - .)" packaging/build_wheels.bash osx $(python.version)
       condition: succeeded()
       displayName: 'Build macos Wheel'
     - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index e2695fb9e..ff9c2afbc 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -12,29 +12,14 @@
 #
 # All configuration values have a default; values that are commented out
 # serve to show the default.
-
 # If extensions (or modules to document with autodoc) are in another directory,
 # add these directories to sys.path here. If the directory is relative to the
 # documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute, like shown here.
 #
-
-
-
-import os
-import subprocess
-import sys
 import textwrap
 
-# The project needs to be built before documentation in the usual build folder
-sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('..'))
-
 import nmodl  # isort:skip
 
-os.environ['PYTHONPATH'] = ':'.join(sys.path)
-
-# Run doxygen
-subprocess.call('doxygen Doxyfile', shell=True)
-
 # -- General configuration ------------------------------------------------
 
 # If your documentation needs a minimal Sphinx version, state it here.
@@ -134,11 +119,11 @@
 # Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
 # relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
 # so a file named "default.css" will overwrite the builtin "default.css".
-#html_static_path = ["_static"]
+# html_static_path = ["_static"]
 
-# A list of paths that contain extra files not directly related to the 
-# documentation, such as robots.txt or .htaccess. Relative paths are taken 
-# as relative to the configuration directory. They are copied to the output 
+# A list of paths that contain extra files not directly related to the
+# documentation, such as robots.txt or .htaccess. Relative paths are taken
+# as relative to the configuration directory. They are copied to the output
 # directory. They will overwrite any existing file of the same name.
 html_extra_path = ["sphinx_doxygen"]
 
diff --git a/docs/generate_docs.sh b/docs/generate_docs.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..c0a756d32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/generate_docs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# script for generating documentation for NMODL
+
+set -eu
+
+if [ $# -lt 1 ]
+then
+    echo "Usage: $(basename "$0") output_dir [python_exe]"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# the dir where we put the temporary build and the docs
+output_dir="$1"
+# path to the Python executable
+python_exe="${2:-"$(command -v python3)"}"
+
+if ! [ -d "${output_dir}" ]
+then
+    mkdir -p "${output_dir}"
+fi
+
+build_dir="build"
+docs_dir="docs"
+
+echo "== Building documentation files in: ${output_dir}/${docs_dir} =="
+echo "== Temporary project build directory is: ${output_dir}/${build_dir} =="
+
+venv_name="${output_dir}/env"
+${python_exe} -m venv "${venv_name}"
+. "${venv_name}/bin/activate"
+python_exe="$(command -v python)"
+${python_exe} -m pip install -U pip
+${python_exe} -m pip install ".[docs]" -C build-dir="${output_dir}/${build_dir}"
+
+# the abs dir where this script is located (so we can call it from wherever)
+script_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")"; pwd -P)"
+
+cd "${script_dir}"
+doxygen Doxyfile
+cd -
+sphinx-build docs/ "${output_dir}/${docs_dir}"
+
+deactivate
diff --git a/packaging/build_requirements.txt b/packaging/build_requirements.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 9f6f031d0..000000000
--- a/packaging/build_requirements.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-Jinja2>=2.9.3
-PyYAML>=3.13
-pytest
-sympy>=1.3
-find_libpython
-scikit-build
diff --git a/packaging/build_wheels.bash b/packaging/build_wheels.bash
index 961033f3f..5dfb0fc49 100755
--- a/packaging/build_wheels.bash
+++ b/packaging/build_wheels.bash
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ set -xe
 #  - python (>=3.8)
 #  - C/C++ compiler
 
-if [ ! -f setup.py ]; then
-    echo "Error: setup.py not found. Please launch $0 from the nmodl root dir"
+if ! [ -f pyproject.toml ]; then
+    echo "Error: pyproject.toml not found. Please launch $0 from the nmodl root dir"
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -47,14 +47,13 @@ build_wheel_linux() {
     (( $skip )) && return 0
 
     echo " - Installing build requirements"
-    pip install pip auditwheel setuptools
-    pip install -r packaging/build_requirements.txt
+    pip install pip auditwheel
 
     echo " - Building..."
-    rm -rf dist _skbuild
+    rm -rf dist _build
     # Workaround for https://github.com/pypa/manylinux/issues/1309
     git config --global --add safe.directory "*"
-    python setup.py bdist_wheel
+    python -m pip wheel . --wheel-dir dist/ --no-deps
 
     echo " - Repairing..."
     auditwheel repair dist/*.whl
@@ -70,11 +69,13 @@ build_wheel_osx() {
     (( $skip )) && return 0
 
     echo " - Installing build requirements"
-    pip install --upgrade delocate -r packaging/build_requirements.txt
+    pip install --upgrade delocate
 
     echo " - Building..."
-    rm -rf dist _skbuild
-    python setup.py bdist_wheel
+    rm -rf dist _build
+    # the custom `build-dir` is a workaround for this issue:
+    # https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/-/issues/20107
+    python -m pip wheel . --wheel-dir dist/ -C build-dir=_build --no-deps
 
     echo " - Repairing..."
     delocate-wheel -w wheelhouse -v dist/*.whl  # we started clean, there's a single wheel
@@ -82,34 +83,31 @@ build_wheel_osx() {
     deactivate
 }
 
-# platform for which wheel to be build
-platform=$1
+# platform for which wheel we are building
+platform="$1"
 
-# python version for which wheel to be built; 3* (default) means all python 3 versions
-python_wheel_version=3*
-if [ "$2" ]; then
-  python_wheel_version=$2
-fi
+# python version for which wheel we are building; 3* (default) means all python 3 versions
+python_wheel_version="${2:-3*}"
 
 # MAIN
 
-case "$1" in
+case "${platform}" in
 
   linux)
-    python_wheel_version=${python_wheel_version//[-._]/}
-    for py_bin in /opt/python/cp${python_wheel_version}*/bin/python; do
+    python_wheel_version="${python_wheel_version//[-._]/}"
+    for py_bin in /opt/python/cp${python_wheel_version}-cp${python_wheel_version}/bin/python; do
         build_wheel_linux "$py_bin"
     done
     ;;
 
   osx)
-    for py_bin in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/${python_wheel_version}*/bin/python3; do
+    for py_bin in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/${python_wheel_version}/bin/python3; do
         build_wheel_osx "$py_bin"
     done
     ;;
 
   *)
-    echo "Usage: $(basename $0) <linux|osx> [version]"
+    echo "Usage: $(basename "$0") <linux|osx> [version]"
     exit 1
     ;;
 
diff --git a/packaging/change_name.py b/packaging/change_name.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..478eb30c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/change_name.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Barebones utility for changing the name of the package in `pyproject.toml`.
+"""
+import re
+from argparse import ArgumentParser
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import tomli
+import tomli_w
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = ArgumentParser(
+        description="Script for changing the name of a project in a pyproject.toml file",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument("pyproject_file", help="The path to the pyproject.toml file")
+    parser.add_argument("name", help="The new name of the project")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    if not Path(args.pyproject_file).exists():
+        raise FileNotFoundError(f"File {args.pyproject_file} not found")
+
+    with open(args.pyproject_file, "rb") as f:
+        toml_dict = tomli.load(f)
+
+    # check name is conforms to the naming convention
+    # see:
+    # https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/specifications/name-normalization/
+
+    if not re.match(
+        r"^([A-Z0-9]|[A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9._-]*[A-Z0-9])$",
+        args.name,
+        flags=re.IGNORECASE,
+    ):
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"The package name {args.name} does not conform to the standard Python package naming convention"
+        )
+
+    toml_dict["project"]["name"] = args.name
+
+    with open(args.pyproject_file, "wb") as f:
+        tomli_w.dump(toml_dict, f)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/packaging/test_wheel.bash b/packaging/test_wheel.bash
index 71abad95a..ac99d7bdf 100755
--- a/packaging/test_wheel.bash
+++ b/packaging/test_wheel.bash
@@ -23,16 +23,14 @@ test_wheel () {
     # sample mod file for nrnivmodl check
     TEST_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
     OUTPUT_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
-    cp "${this_dir}/../nmodl/ext/example/"*.mod "$TEST_DIR/"
+    cp "${this_dir}/../python/nmodl/ext/example/"*.mod "$TEST_DIR/"
     cp "${this_dir}/../test/integration/mod/cabpump.mod" "${this_dir}/../test/integration/mod/var_init.inc" "$TEST_DIR/"
-    cd "${this_dir}"
     for mod in "${TEST_DIR}/"*.mod
     do
         nmodl -o "${OUTPUT_DIR}" "${mod}" sympy --analytic
         $python_exe -c "import nmodl; driver = nmodl.NmodlDriver(); driver.parse_file('${mod}')"
     done
     $python_exe -m pytest -vvv "${this_dir}/../test/"
-    cd -
 }
 
 echo "== Testing $python_wheel using $python_exe ($python_ver) =="
@@ -51,7 +49,7 @@ fi
 
 # install nmodl
 $python_exe -m pip install -U pip
-$python_exe -m pip install "${python_wheel}" pytest
+$python_exe -m pip install "${python_wheel}[test]"
 $python_exe -m pip show nmodl || $python_exe -m pip show nmodl-nightly
 
 # run tests
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0d057c2f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+[project]
+name = "NMODL"
+authors = [
+    {name = "Blue Brain Project", email = "bbp-ou-hpc@groupes.epfl.ch"},
+]
+description = "NEURON Modeling Language Source-to-Source Compiler Framework"
+license = {file = "LICENSE"}
+readme = {file = "README.rst", content-type = "text/x-rst"}
+dynamic = ["version"]
+dependencies = [
+    "find_libpython",
+    "sympy>=1.3",
+    "importlib-metadata;python_version<'3.9'",
+    "importlib-resources;python_version<'3.9'",
+]
+scripts = {nmodl = "nmodl._binwrapper:main"}
+requires-python = ">=3.8"
+
+optional-dependencies.test = ["pytest>=3.3.0", "pytest-cov", "numpy"]
+optional-dependencies.docs = [
+        "jupyter-client",
+        "jupyter",
+        "myst_parser<2.0.0",
+        "mistune<3",
+        "nbconvert",
+        "nbsphinx>=0.3.2",
+        "sphinxcontrib-applehelp<1.0.3", # After this version it needs a toml file to work, no more setup.py
+        "sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp<=2.0.0", # After this version it needs a toml file to work, no more setup.py
+        "sphinx<6",
+        "sphinx-rtd-theme", # needs sphinx < 7
+        "docutils<0.20", # needed by sphinx
+]
+
+[build-system]
+requires = [
+    "scikit-build-core",
+    "setuptools-scm>=8.0",
+    "Jinja2>=2.9.3",
+    "PyYAML>=3.13",
+]
+build-backend = "scikit_build_core.build"
+
+[tool.scikit-build]
+metadata.version.provider = "scikit_build_core.metadata.setuptools_scm"
+wheel.packages = ["python/nmodl"]
+logging.level = "DEBUG"
+
+[tool.scikit-build.cmake]
+verbose = true
+version = ">=3.15.0"
+
+[tool.scikit-build.cmake.define]
+NMODL_BUILD_WHEEL = "ON"
+
+[tool.setuptools_scm]
+
+[tool.pytest.ini_options]
+testpaths = "test/unit/pybind"
diff --git a/nmodl/__init__.py b/python/nmodl/__init__.py
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/__init__.py
rename to python/nmodl/__init__.py
diff --git a/pywheel/shim/_binwrapper.py b/python/nmodl/_binwrapper.py
similarity index 86%
rename from pywheel/shim/_binwrapper.py
rename to python/nmodl/_binwrapper.py
index f85086431..036334ceb 100755
--- a/pywheel/shim/_binwrapper.py
+++ b/python/nmodl/_binwrapper.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 import stat
 import sys
 
-
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 9):
     from importlib.metadata import metadata, PackageNotFoundError
     from importlib.resources import files
@@ -18,7 +17,7 @@
 from find_libpython import find_libpython
 
 
-def _config_exe(exe_name):
+def main():
     """Sets the environment to run the real executable (returned)"""
 
     try:
@@ -42,12 +41,7 @@ def _config_exe(exe_name):
         str(NMODL_PREFIX.parent) + ":" + os.environ.get("PYTHONPATH", "")
     )
 
-    return os.path.join(NMODL_BIN, exe_name)
-
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    """Set the pointed file as executable"""
-    exe = _config_exe(os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]))
+    exe = NMODL_BIN / os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])
     st = os.stat(exe)
     os.chmod(exe, st.st_mode | stat.S_IEXEC)
     os.execv(exe, sys.argv)
diff --git a/nmodl/ast.py b/python/nmodl/ast.py
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ast.py
rename to python/nmodl/ast.py
diff --git a/nmodl/dsl.py b/python/nmodl/dsl.py
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/dsl.py
rename to python/nmodl/dsl.py
diff --git a/nmodl/ext/example/exp2syn.mod b/python/nmodl/ext/example/exp2syn.mod
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ext/example/exp2syn.mod
rename to python/nmodl/ext/example/exp2syn.mod
diff --git a/nmodl/ext/example/expsyn.mod b/python/nmodl/ext/example/expsyn.mod
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ext/example/expsyn.mod
rename to python/nmodl/ext/example/expsyn.mod
diff --git a/nmodl/ext/example/hh.mod b/python/nmodl/ext/example/hh.mod
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ext/example/hh.mod
rename to python/nmodl/ext/example/hh.mod
diff --git a/nmodl/ext/example/passive.mod b/python/nmodl/ext/example/passive.mod
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ext/example/passive.mod
rename to python/nmodl/ext/example/passive.mod
diff --git a/nmodl/ext/viz/css/tree.css b/python/nmodl/ext/viz/css/tree.css
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ext/viz/css/tree.css
rename to python/nmodl/ext/viz/css/tree.css
diff --git a/nmodl/ext/viz/index.html b/python/nmodl/ext/viz/index.html
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ext/viz/index.html
rename to python/nmodl/ext/viz/index.html
diff --git a/nmodl/ext/viz/js/d3.min.js b/python/nmodl/ext/viz/js/d3.min.js
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ext/viz/js/d3.min.js
rename to python/nmodl/ext/viz/js/d3.min.js
diff --git a/nmodl/ext/viz/js/tree.js b/python/nmodl/ext/viz/js/tree.js
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ext/viz/js/tree.js
rename to python/nmodl/ext/viz/js/tree.js
diff --git a/nmodl/ode.py b/python/nmodl/ode.py
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/ode.py
rename to python/nmodl/ode.py
diff --git a/nmodl/symtab.py b/python/nmodl/symtab.py
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/symtab.py
rename to python/nmodl/symtab.py
diff --git a/nmodl/visitor.py b/python/nmodl/visitor.py
similarity index 100%
rename from nmodl/visitor.py
rename to python/nmodl/visitor.py
diff --git a/pywheel/shim/nmodl b/pywheel/shim/nmodl
deleted file mode 120000
index cf9ff4fba..000000000
--- a/pywheel/shim/nmodl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-_binwrapper.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 804efaa69..665e4f40c 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,10 +1,26 @@
+# build time dependencies
+scikit-build-core
+setuptools-scm>=8.0
 Jinja2>=2.9.3
 PyYAML>=3.13
-pytest
+# runtime dependencies
+find_libpython
+sympy>=1.3
+importlib-metadata;python_version<'3.9'
+importlib-resources;python_version<'3.9'
+# dependencies for test
+pytest>=3.3.0
 pytest-cov
-sympy
 numpy
-find_libpython
-scikit-build
-importlib_resources;python_version<'3.9'
-importlib_metadata;python_version<'3.9'
\ No newline at end of file
+# dependencies for docs
+jupyter-client
+jupyter
+myst_parser<2.0.0
+mistune<3
+nbconvert
+nbsphinx>=0.3.2
+sphinxcontrib-applehelp<1.0.3
+sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp<=2.0.0
+sphinx<6
+sphinx-rtd-theme
+docutils<0.20
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 9de58dd72..54a600626 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-[tool:pytest]
-testpaths = test/unit/pybind
-
 [doctest]
 builder = doctest
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
deleted file mode 100644
index c55bdc2a7..000000000
--- a/setup.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,135 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2023 Blue Brain Project, EPFL.
-# See the top-level LICENSE file for details.
-#
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-import inspect
-import os
-import subprocess
-import sys
-
-from setuptools import Command
-from skbuild import setup
-
-"""
-A generic wrapper to access nmodl binaries from a python installation
-Please create a softlink with the binary name to be called.
-"""
-import stat
-from find_libpython import find_libpython
-
-
-# Main source of the version. Dont rename, used by Cmake
-try:
-    v = (
-        subprocess.run(["git", "describe", "--tags"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-        .stdout.strip()
-        .decode()
-    )
-    __version__ = v[: v.rfind("-")].replace("-", ".") if "-" in v else v
-    # allow to override version during development/testing
-    if "NMODL_WHEEL_VERSION" in os.environ:
-        __version__ = os.environ['NMODL_WHEEL_VERSION']
-except Exception as e:
-    raise RuntimeError("Could not get version from Git repo") from e
-
-
-class lazy_dict(dict):
-    """When the value associated to a key is a function, then returns
-    the function call instead of the function.
-    """
-
-    def __getitem__(self, item):
-        value = dict.__getitem__(self, item)
-        if inspect.isfunction(value):
-            return value()
-        return value
-
-
-def get_sphinx_command():
-    """Lazy load of Sphinx distutils command class
-    """
-    # If nbconvert is installed to .eggs on the fly when running setup.py then
-    # templates from it will not be found. This is a workaround.
-    if 'JUPYTER_PATH' not in os.environ:
-        import nbconvert
-        os.environ['JUPYTER_PATH'] = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(nbconvert.__file__), '..', 'share', 'jupyter'))
-        print("Setting JUPYTER_PATH={}".format(os.environ['JUPYTER_PATH']))
-
-    from sphinx.setup_command import BuildDoc
-
-    return BuildDoc
-
-
-class Docs(Command):
-    description = "Generate & optionally upload documentation to docs server"
-    user_options = []
-    finalize_options = lambda self: None
-    initialize_options = lambda self: None
-
-    def run(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.run_command("doctest")
-        self.run_command("buildhtml")
-
-
-install_requirements = [
-    "PyYAML>=3.13",
-    "sympy>=1.3",
-    "find_libpython",
-    "importlib_resources;python_version<'3.9'",
-    "importlib_metadata;python_version<'3.9'",
-]
-
-
-cmake_args = ["-DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE=" + sys.executable]
-if "bdist_wheel" in sys.argv:
-    cmake_args.append("-DLINK_AGAINST_PYTHON=FALSE")
-    cmake_args.append("-DNMODL_ENABLE_TESTS=FALSE")
-
-# For CI, we want to build separate wheel
-package_name = "NMODL"
-if "NMODL_NIGHTLY_TAG" in os.environ:
-    package_name += os.environ["NMODL_NIGHTLY_TAG"]
-
-# Parse long description from README.rst
-with open('README.rst', 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-    long_description = f.read()
-
-setup(
-    name=package_name,
-    version=__version__,
-    author="Blue Brain Project",
-    author_email="bbp-ou-hpc@groupes.epfl.ch",
-    description="NEURON Modeling Language Source-to-Source Compiler Framework",
-    long_description=long_description,
-    long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
-    packages=["nmodl"],
-    scripts=["pywheel/shim/nmodl"],
-    include_package_data=True,
-    cmake_minimum_required_version="3.15.0",
-    cmake_args=cmake_args,
-    cmdclass=lazy_dict(
-        docs=Docs, doctest=get_sphinx_command, buildhtml=get_sphinx_command,
-    ),
-    zip_safe=False,
-    # myst_parser 2.0.0 want sphinx >= 6 but it leads to incompatibily with sphinxcontrib-applehelp and 
-    # sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp that want PEP-517 support instead of setup.py (name clash with '-' and '.')
-    # So we pin low versions of packages
-    setup_requires=[
-        "jinja2>=2.9.3",
-        "jupyter-client",
-        "jupyter",
-        "myst_parser<2.0.0",
-        "mistune<3",
-        "nbconvert",
-        "nbsphinx>=0.3.2",
-        "pytest>=3.7.2",
-        "sphinxcontrib-applehelp<1.0.3", # After this version it needs a toml file to work, no more setup.py
-        "sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp<=2.0.0", # After this version it needs a toml file to work, no more setup.py
-        "sphinx<6",
-        "sphinx-rtd-theme", # needs sphinx < 7
-        "docutils<0.20", # needed by sphinx
-    ]
-    + install_requirements,
-    install_requires=install_requirements,
-)
diff --git a/src/language/code_generator.cmake b/src/language/code_generator.cmake
index 0c6ccae18..a3dea0767 100644
--- a/src/language/code_generator.cmake
+++ b/src/language/code_generator.cmake
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@ set(CODE_GENERATOR_JINJA_FILES
 set(CODE_GENERATOR_PY_FILES
     ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/language/argument.py
     ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/language/code_generator.py
+    ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/language/language_parser.py
     ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/language/node_info.py
     ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/language/nodes.py
-    ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/language/language_parser.py
     ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/language/utils.py
 )
 
diff --git a/src/pybind/CMakeLists.txt b/src/pybind/CMakeLists.txt
index 9600515e1..0d7516874 100644
--- a/src/pybind/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/pybind/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -70,14 +70,14 @@ endif()
 # =============================================================================
 file(
   GLOB NMODL_PYTHON_FILES
-  RELATIVE "${NMODL_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/nmodl/"
-  CONFIGURE_DEPENDS "${NMODL_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/nmodl/*.py")
+  RELATIVE "${NMODL_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/python/nmodl/"
+  CONFIGURE_DEPENDS "${NMODL_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/python/nmodl/*.py")
 
 foreach(file IN LISTS NMODL_PYTHON_FILES)
-  cpp_cc_build_time_copy(INPUT ${NMODL_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/nmodl/${file} OUTPUT
+  cpp_cc_build_time_copy(INPUT ${NMODL_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/python/nmodl/${file} OUTPUT
                          ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib/nmodl/${file})
 endforeach()
-file(COPY ${NMODL_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/nmodl/ext DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib/nmodl/)
+file(COPY ${NMODL_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/python/nmodl/ext DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib/nmodl/)
 
 # =============================================================================
 # Install python binding components