diff --git a/.cirrus.yml b/.cirrus.yml
index 4c49655..56c31a4 100644
--- a/.cirrus.yml
+++ b/.cirrus.yml
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ cirrus_wheels_macos_arm64_task:
 
   build_script:
     - which python
+    # needed for discover_version.py
+    - git fetch --all
     # needed for submodules
     - git submodule update --init
     - uname -m
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-wheels.yml b/.github/workflows/build-wheels.yml
index 11792d6..64a39fe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-wheels.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-wheels.yml
@@ -3,40 +3,86 @@ on:
     branches: [ master ]
     tags:
       - v*
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ master ]    
 
 jobs:
   build_wheels:
-    name: Build wheels on ${{ matrix.os }}
+    name: Build wheels on ${{ matrix.os }} for Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        os: [ubuntu-20.04, macos-12, windows-2019]
+        os: [ubuntu-22.04, macos-latest, macos-15-intel]
+        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12']
+        exclude:
+          # macOS ARM64 (macos-latest) doesn't support Python 3.8
+          - os: macos-latest
+            python-version: '3.8'
+          # Windows builds disabled due to meson-python issue with .lib import libraries
+          # See: https://github.com/libAtoms/extxyz/pull/17
       fail-fast: false
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
       - name: Checkout submodules
-        run: git submodule update --init --recursive      
+        run: git submodule update --init --recursive
+
+      - name: Set Python version for cibuildwheel
+        id: set-py-version
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          PY_VERSION="${{ matrix.python-version }}"
+          CIBW_PYTHON="cp${PY_VERSION//.}"
+          echo "cibw-python=${CIBW_PYTHON}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Install PCRE2 via vcpkg (Windows only)
+        if: runner.os == 'Windows'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          # Install pkg-config lite (ensures working pkg-config before Strawberry Perl)
+          choco install pkgconfiglite -y
+
+          # Install PCRE2 using vcpkg
+          vcpkg install pcre2:x64-windows
+
+          # Set up environment for meson/pkg-config
+          VCPKG_ROOT="C:/vcpkg"
+          PCRE2_DIR="${VCPKG_ROOT}/installed/x64-windows"
+
+          # Add pkgconfiglite to PATH first (before Strawberry Perl)
+          echo "C:/ProgramData/chocolatey/lib/pkgconfiglite/tools/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+
+          echo "CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${PCRE2_DIR}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "PKG_CONFIG_PATH=${PCRE2_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "PCRE2_ROOT=${PCRE2_DIR}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "LIB=${PCRE2_DIR}/lib;$LIB" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "INCLUDE=${PCRE2_DIR}/include;$INCLUDE" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "PATH=${PCRE2_DIR}/bin;$PATH" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
       - name: Build wheels
-        uses: pypa/cibuildwheel@v2.12.1
+        uses: pypa/cibuildwheel@v2.22.0
         env:
-           CIBW_SKIP: cp27-* cp35-* pp* *musl* "*-macosx_arm64"
+           CIBW_BUILD: ${{ steps.set-py-version.outputs.cibw-python }}-*
+           CIBW_SKIP: pp* *musl*
            CIBW_ARCHS_LINUX: "auto64"
-           CIBW_ARCHS_MACOS: "x86_64"
-           CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_LINUX: "which yum && yum install -y pcre2-devel zlib-devel"
-           CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES: pytest 
-           CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: "pytest -v {package}/tests"
+           CIBW_ARCHS_MACOS: ${{ matrix.os == 'macos-latest' && 'arm64' || 'x86_64' }}
+           CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_MACOS: "MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=${{ matrix.os == 'macos-latest' && '15.0' || '14.0' }}"
+           CIBW_ARCHS_WINDOWS: "AMD64"
            
-      # # Uncomment to get SSH access for testing
+      # Uncomment to get SSH access for testing
       # - name: Setup tmate session
       #   if: failure()
       #   uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3
       #   timeout-minutes: 15
 
       - name: Upload artifacts
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
+          name: wheels-${{ matrix.os }}-py${{ matrix.python-version }}
           path: ./wheelhouse/*.whl
           
       - name: Release wheels
@@ -50,10 +96,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Check tag
         id: check-tag
         run: |
-          if [[ ${{ github.event.ref }} =~ ^refs/tags/v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-              echo ::set-output name=match::true
+          if [[ ${{ github.ref }} =~ ^refs/tags/v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+ ]]; then
+            echo "match=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           fi
-    
+
       - name: Deploy to PyPI
         if: steps.check-tag.outputs.match == 'true'
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/python-package.yml b/.github/workflows/python-package.yml
index 27a05f4..9d0d1de 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/python-package.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/python-package.yml
@@ -16,22 +16,28 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        python-version: [3.7, 3.8, 3.9, "3.10", "3.11", "3.12"]
+        python-version: [3.8, 3.9, "3.10", "3.11", "3.12"]
 
     steps:
     - name: Checkout repository
-      uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0
     - name: Checkout submodules
       run: git submodule update --init --recursive
     - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v2
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
       with:
         python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+    - name: Install system dependencies
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update -y
+        sudo apt-get install -y libpcre2-dev
     - name: Install Python dependencies
       run: |
         python -m pip install --upgrade pip
         python -m pip install flake8 pytest
-        python -m pip install -e . --verbose
+        python -m pip install . --verbose
     - name: Lint with flake8
       run: |
         # stop the build if there are Python syntax errors or undefined names
@@ -63,7 +69,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Test with pytest
       run: |
         USE_FORTRAN=T pytest -v --ignore QUIP
-    # # Uncomment to get SSH access for testing
+    # Uncomment to get SSH access for testing
     # - name: Setup tmate session
     #   if: failure()
     #   uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 75bd60c..bccd006 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,4 +6,8 @@ extxyz.egg-info/
 .DS_Store
 *.o
 pcre2-10.37/
-venv/
\ No newline at end of file
+venv/
+
+# Claude notes (don't commit)
+MESON_BUILD_STATUS.md
+CLAUDE.md
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index dcd9747..d440586 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 [submodule "extxyz/libcleri"]
 	path = libcleri
-	url = https://github.com/transceptor-technology/libcleri
+	url = https://github.com/libAtoms/libcleri
diff --git a/discover_version.py b/discover_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d741435
--- /dev/null
+++ b/discover_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2022 Lars Pastewka
+#
+# ### MIT license
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+# of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+# in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+# to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+# copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+# furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+# AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+# SOFTWARE.
+#
+
+#
+# This is the most minimal-idiotic way of discovering the version that I
+# could come up with. It deals with the following issues:
+# * If we are installed, we can get the version from package metadata,
+#   either via importlib.metadata or from pkg_resources. This also holds for
+#   wheels that contain the metadata. We are good! Yay!
+# * If we are not installed, there are two options:
+#   - We are working within the source git repository. Then
+#        git describe --tags --always
+#     yields a reasonable version descriptor, but that is unfortunately not
+#     PEP 440 compliant (see https://peps.python.org/pep-0440/). We need to
+#     mangle the version string to yield something compatible.
+# - If we install from a source tarball, we need to parse PKG-INFO manually.
+#
+
+import re
+import subprocess
+
+class CannotDiscoverVersion(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+def get_version_from_pkg_info():
+    """
+    Discover version from PKG-INFO file.
+    """
+    f = open('PKG-INFO', 'r')
+    l = f.readline()
+    while l:
+        if l.startswith('Version:'):
+            return l[8:].strip()
+        l = f.readline()
+    raise CannotDiscoverVersion("No line starting with 'Version:' in 'PKG-INFO'.")
+
+
+def get_version_from_git():
+    """
+    Discover version from git repository.
+    """
+    try:
+        git_describe = subprocess.run(
+            ['git', 'describe', '--tags', '--dirty', '--always'],
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+    except (FileNotFoundError, OSError) as e:
+        # git command not found in PATH (common in isolated build environments like Windows cibuildwheel)
+        raise CannotDiscoverVersion(f'git command not found: {e}')
+
+    if git_describe.returncode != 0:
+        raise CannotDiscoverVersion('git execution failed.')
+    version = git_describe.stdout.decode('latin-1').strip()
+
+    dirty = version.endswith('-dirty')
+
+    # Make version PEP 440 compliant
+    if dirty:
+        version = version.replace('-dirty', '')
+    version = version.strip('v')  # Remove leading 'v' if it exists
+    version = version.replace('-', '.dev', 1)
+    version = version.replace('-', '+', 1)
+    if dirty:
+        version += '.dirty'
+
+    return version
+
+
+try:
+    version = get_version_from_git()
+except CannotDiscoverVersion:
+    try:
+        version = get_version_from_pkg_info()
+    except (CannotDiscoverVersion, FileNotFoundError):
+        # Fallback for isolated build environments (e.g., Windows cibuildwheel)
+        # where neither git nor PKG-INFO is available
+        # Use a development version that will be replaced by the build system
+        version = '0.0.0+unknown'
+
+#
+# Print version to screen
+#
+
+print(version)
diff --git a/libcleri b/libcleri
index 968759b..2944749 160000
--- a/libcleri
+++ b/libcleri
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 968759b0ffd8a41b87f9f47422fec9c97cc26ab8
+Subproject commit 2944749ba532144c3b98aa3c06965473db1c7feb
diff --git a/libcleri_meson.build b/libcleri_meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c2e59f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libcleri_meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+inc_dir = include_directories('inc')
+
+libcleri = static_library('cleri',
+  'src/children.c',
+  'src/choice.c',
+  'src/dup.c',
+  'src/expecting.c',
+  'src/grammar.c',
+  'src/keyword.c',
+  'src/kwcache.c',
+  'src/list.c',
+  'src/node.c',
+  'src/cleri.c',
+  'src/olist.c',
+  'src/optional.c',
+  'src/parse.c',
+  'src/prio.c',
+  'src/ref.c',
+  'src/regex.c',
+  'src/repeat.c',
+  'src/rule.c',
+  'src/sequence.c',
+  'src/this.c',
+  'src/token.c',
+  'src/tokens.c', 
+  'src/version.c', 
+  dependencies: pcre2, 
+  include_directories: inc_dir)
+
+cleri = declare_dependency(
+  link_with: libcleri,
+  include_directories: inc_dir)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/libextxyz/Makefile b/libextxyz/Makefile
index 0d98955..6db3ea4 100644
--- a/libextxyz/Makefile
+++ b/libextxyz/Makefile
@@ -22,13 +22,15 @@ else
 	dlext  ?= so
 endif
 
+.PHONY: default all libcleri install_libcleri install clean
+
 default: libextxyz.${dlext}
 
 all: libcleri extxyz_kv_grammar.c extxyz_kv_grammar.h libextxyz.${dlext}
 
 libcleri:
 	if [ -z ${LIBCLERI_PATH} ]; then echo "LIBCLERI_PATH must be defined" 1>&2; exit 1; fi
-	${MAKE} -C ${LIBCLERI_PATH} -f makefile
+	${MAKE} -C ${LIBCLERI_PATH} -f makefile libcleri.a
 
 install_libcleri: libcleri
 	${MAKE} -C ${LIBCLERI_PATH} -f makefile install INSTALL_PATH=${prefix}
@@ -53,11 +55,13 @@ install: libextxyz.${dlext}
 
 test_fortran_main.o: fextxyz.o extxyz.o extxyz_kv_grammar.o
 
-fextxyz: test_fortran_main.o fextxyz.o extxyz.o extxyz_kv_grammar.o
-	${F90} -g $^ -o $@ ${LIBCLERI_PATH}/libcleri.a  ${LDFLAGS} ${QUIP_LDFLAGS}
+FOBJS = test_fortran_main.o fextxyz.o extxyz.o extxyz_kv_grammar.o
+fextxyz: libcleri ${FOBJS}
+	${F90} -g ${FOBJS} -o $@ ${LIBCLERI_PATH}/libcleri.a  ${LDFLAGS} ${QUIP_LDFLAGS}
 
-cextxyz: test_C_main.o extxyz.o extxyz_kv_grammar.o
-	${F90} -g $^ -o $@ ${LIBCLERI_PATH}/libcleri.a  ${LDFLAGS}
+COBJS = test_C_main.o extxyz.o extxyz_kv_grammar.o
+cextxyz: libcleri ${COBJS}
+	${F90} -g ${COBJS} -o $@ ${LIBCLERI_PATH}/libcleri.a  ${LDFLAGS}
 
 clean:
-	rm -rf libextxyz.${dlext} *.o
\ No newline at end of file
+	rm -rf libextxyz.${dlext} *.o
diff --git a/libextxyz/extxyz.c b/libextxyz/extxyz.c
index 9160483..7a531a3 100644
--- a/libextxyz/extxyz.c
+++ b/libextxyz/extxyz.c
@@ -235,9 +235,9 @@ int parse_tree(cleri_node_t *node, DictEntry **cur_entry, int *in_seq, int *in_k
     }
 
     //DEBUG printf("looping over children\n"); //DEBUG
-    for (cleri_children_t *child = node->children; child; child = child->next) {
+    for (cleri_node_t *child = node->children; child; child = child->next) {
         //DEBUG printf("child\n"); //DEBUG
-        int err = parse_tree(child->node, cur_entry, in_seq, in_kv_pair, in_old_one_d, error_message);
+        int err = parse_tree(child, cur_entry, in_seq, in_kv_pair, in_old_one_d, error_message);
         if (err) {
             return err;
         }
@@ -319,8 +319,8 @@ void dump_tree(cleri_node_t *node, char *prefix) {
         printf("%snode NULL\n", prefix);
     }
 
-    for (cleri_children_t *child = node->children; child; child = child->next) {
-        dump_tree(child->node, new_prefix);
+    for (cleri_node_t *child = node->children; child; child = child->next) {
+        dump_tree(child, new_prefix);
     }
 
     free(new_prefix);
diff --git a/libextxyz/meson.build b/libextxyz/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e097227
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libextxyz/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Use 'python' which works cross-platform inside cibuildwheel
+python_for_codegen = find_program('python', required: true)
+
+run_command(
+    python_for_codegen,
+    '..' / 'python' / 'extxyz' / 'extxyz_kv_grammar.py',
+    check: true
+)
+
+# Build and install the extension module
+module = python.extension_module(
+    '_extxyz', # Name of the module
+    ['extxyz.c', 'extxyz_kv_grammar.c'],
+    install: true,  # Install it
+    subdir: 'extxyz',
+    gnu_symbol_visibility: 'default', # keep symbols public
+    dependencies: [cleri, pcre2]
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0062754
--- /dev/null
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# https://mesonbuild.com/
+project(
+    'extxyz', # Project name
+    'c',
+    # Use 'python' which works cross-platform inside cibuildwheel
+    version: run_command('python', 'discover_version.py', check: true).stdout().strip(), # Project version
+)
+
+# https://mesonbuild.com/Python-module.html
+pymod = import('python')
+# Don't specify 'python3' - let Meson find the Python used to run itself
+python = pymod.find_installation(
+    required: true,
+    pure: false
+)
+
+host_system = host_machine.system()
+cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
+
+# Determine MSVC runtime library (for PCRE2 library name)
+vs_crt = 'release'
+vs_crt_opt = get_option('b_vscrt')
+if vs_crt_opt in ['mdd', 'mtd']
+  vs_crt = 'debug'
+elif vs_crt_opt == 'from_buildtype'
+  if get_option('buildtype') == 'debug'
+    vs_crt = 'debug'
+  endif
+endif
+
+# adapted from https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/glib/-/blob/cd9a5c173a154e326a3ebaa28cfe41a7444625c5/meson.build#L2020-L2052
+pcre2 = dependency('libpcre2-8', version: '>= 10.23', required : false)
+if not pcre2.found()
+  if cc.get_id() == 'msvc' or cc.get_id() == 'clang-cl'
+  # MSVC: Search for the PCRE2 library by the configuration, which corresponds
+  # to the output of CMake builds of PCRE2.  Note that debugoptimized
+  # is really a Release build with .PDB files.
+    if vs_crt == 'debug'
+      pcre2 = cc.find_library('pcre2d-8', required : false)
+    else
+      pcre2 = cc.find_library('pcre2-8', required : false)
+    endif
+  elif host_system == 'windows'
+    # MinGW/GCC on Windows: Try to find the library directly
+    pcre2 = cc.find_library('pcre2-8', required : false)
+  endif
+endif
+
+# Try again with the fallback
+if not pcre2.found()
+  pcre2 = dependency('libpcre2-8', required : true, fallback : ['pcre2', 'libpcre2_8'])
+  use_pcre2_static_flag = true
+elif host_system == 'windows'
+  pcre2_static = cc.links('''#define PCRE2_STATIC
+                             #define PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH 8
+                             #include <pcre2.h>
+                             int main() {
+                               void *p = NULL;
+                               pcre2_code_free(p);
+                               return 0;
+                             }''',
+                         dependencies: pcre2,
+                         name : 'Windows system PCRE2 is a static build')
+  use_pcre2_static_flag = pcre2_static
+else
+  use_pcre2_static_flag = false
+endif
+
+subdir('libcleri')
+subdir('libextxyz')
+subdir('python/extxyz')
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a55b09a..35ddbae 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,4 +1,58 @@
 [build-system]
-# Minimum requirements for the build system to execute.
-requires = ["setuptools", "wheel", "pyleri>=1.3.3"]
-build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+requires = ["meson>=1.0.0", "meson-python>=0.13.0", "ninja", "pyleri>=1.3.0", "oldest-supported-numpy"]
+build-backend = "mesonpy"
+
+[project]
+name = "extxyz"
+description = "Extended XYZ file format tools"
+readme = "README.md"
+license = { file = "LICENSE" }
+authors = [
+    { name = "James Kermode", email = "james.kermode@gmail.com"},
+]
+classifiers = [
+    "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",
+    "Programming Language :: Python"
+]
+requires-python = ">=3.8.0"
+dynamic = [ "version" ]
+dependencies = [
+    "numpy>=1.13.0",
+    'pyleri>=1.3.3',
+    'ase>=3.17',
+    "pip>=24.0",
+]
+
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+test = [
+    "pytest",
+
+]
+
+[project.scripts]
+extxyz = "extxyz.cli:main"
+
+[project.urls]
+documentation = "http://libatoms.github.io/extxyz/"
+repository = "https://github.com/libAtoms/extxyz"
+
+[tool.cibuildwheel]
+test-requires = "pytest"
+test-command = "pytest -v {package}/tests"
+
+[tool.cibuildwheel.linux]
+before-all = "which yum && yum install -y pcre2-devel zlib-devel"
+
+[tool.cibuildwheel.macos]
+before-all = "brew install pcre2 pkg-config"
+
+[tool.cibuildwheel.macos.environment]
+PKG_CONFIG_PATH = "/opt/homebrew/lib/pkgconfig:/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig"
+
+[tool.cibuildwheel.windows.environment]
+CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH = "C:/vcpkg/installed/x64-windows"
+PKG_CONFIG_PATH = "C:/vcpkg/installed/x64-windows/lib/pkgconfig"
+PCRE2_ROOT = "C:/vcpkg/installed/x64-windows"
+LIB = "C:/vcpkg/installed/x64-windows/lib"
+INCLUDE = "C:/vcpkg/installed/x64-windows/include"
+PATH = "C:/vcpkg/installed/x64-windows/bin;C:/Program Files/Git/bin;C:/Windows/System32;C:/Windows;$PATH"
diff --git a/python/extxyz/__init__.py b/python/extxyz/__init__.py
index 8d9ec45..f640f2f 100644
--- a/python/extxyz/__init__.py
+++ b/python/extxyz/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 from .extxyz import iread, read, write, ExtXYZTrajectoryWriter
+from ._version import __version__
 
-__all__ = ['iread', 'read', 'write', 'ExtXYZTrajectoryWriter']
+__all__ = ['iread', 'read', 'write', 'ExtXYZTrajectoryWriter', '__version__']
diff --git a/python/extxyz/_version.py.in b/python/extxyz/_version.py.in
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed0561c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/extxyz/_version.py.in
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2017 Lars Pastewka (U. Freiburg)
+#
+# matscipy - Materials science with Python at the atomic-scale
+# https://github.com/libAtoms/matscipy
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+# This file helps to compute a version number in source trees obtained from
+# git-archive tarball (such as those provided by githubs download-from-tag
+# feature). Distribution tarballs (built by setup.py sdist) and build
+# directories (produced by setup.py build) will contain a much shorter file
+# that just contains the computed version number.
+
+__version__ = '@VERSION@'
diff --git a/python/extxyz/cextxyz.py b/python/extxyz/cextxyz.py
index ae94866..ec5689b 100644
--- a/python/extxyz/cextxyz.py
+++ b/python/extxyz/cextxyz.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import ctypes
 from ctypes.util import find_library
+import sysconfig
 
 import copy
 
@@ -42,9 +43,8 @@ class Dict_entry_struct(ctypes.Structure):
 
 Dict_entry_ptr = ctypes.POINTER(Dict_entry_struct)
 
-# _extxyz.so is actually created as a python extension, but custom builder is
-# used to make the name just _extxyz.so, rather than _extxyz.cpython-<vers>-<os>.so
-extxyz_so = os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), '_extxyz.so')
+suffix = sysconfig.get_config_var('EXT_SUFFIX')
+extxyz_so = os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), f'_extxyz{suffix}')
 extxyz = ctypes.CDLL(extxyz_so)
 
 extxyz.compile_extxyz_kv_grammar.restype = cleri_grammar_t_ptr
diff --git a/python/extxyz/extxyz.py b/python/extxyz/extxyz.py
index 2fd27f7..14bf61c 100644
--- a/python/extxyz/extxyz.py
+++ b/python/extxyz/extxyz.py
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@
 from io import StringIO
 
 import numpy as np
-from numpy.core.arrayprint import (get_printoptions,
-                                   _get_format_function)
 
 import ase.units as units
 from ase.utils import lazyproperty
diff --git a/python/extxyz/meson.build b/python/extxyz/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fc4607
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/extxyz/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+conf_data = configuration_data()
+conf_data.set('VERSION', meson.project_version())
+version_file = configure_file(
+    input: '_version.py.in',
+    output: '_version.py',
+    configuration: conf_data
+)
+
+# Pure Python sources
+python_sources = [
+    '__init__.py',
+    '__main__.py',
+    version_file,
+    'cli.py',
+    'extxyz.py',
+    'cextxyz.py',
+    'extxyz_kv_grammar.py',
+    'utils.py'
+]
+
+# Install pure Python
+python.install_sources(
+    python_sources,
+    subdir: 'extxyz'
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 2eea0f9..0000000
--- a/setup.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,139 +0,0 @@
-import sys
-import tempfile
-import atexit
-import shutil
-import sysconfig
-import pathlib
-import os
-import subprocess
-from setuptools import setup, Extension
-# as per https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19569557/pip-not-picking-up-a-custom-install-cmdclass
-from setuptools.command.install import install as setuptools__install
-from setuptools.command.develop import develop as setuptools__develop
-from setuptools.command.egg_info import egg_info as setuptools__egg_info
-from setuptools.command.build_ext import build_ext as setuptools__build_ext
-
-def build_grammar():
-    # check if we need to run the grammar definition to regenerate .c and .h
-    py_grammar_file = pathlib.Path('./grammar/extxyz_kv_grammar.py')
-    c_grammar_file = pathlib.Path('./libext/extxyz_kv_grammar.c')
-
-    if not c_grammar_file.exists() or (py_grammar_file.stat().st_mtime > c_grammar_file.stat().st_mtime):
-        sys.path.insert(0, './python/extxyz')
-        import extxyz_kv_grammar
-        del sys.path[0]
-        extxyz_kv_grammar.write_grammar('./libextxyz')
-
-def which(program):
-    import os
-
-    def is_exe(fpath):
-        return os.path.isfile(fpath) and os.access(fpath, os.X_OK)
-
-    fpath, fname = os.path.split(program)
-    if fpath:
-        if is_exe(program):
-            return program
-    else:
-        for path in os.environ["PATH"].split(os.pathsep):
-            exe_file = os.path.join(path, program)
-            if is_exe(exe_file):
-                return exe_file
-
-    return None
-
-def build_pcre2():
-    pcre2_config = which('pcre2-config')
-    print(f'which(pcre2-config) = {pcre2_config}')
-    if pcre2_config is None:
-        pcre2_version = '10.42'
-        download_url = f"https://github.com/PCRE2Project/pcre2/releases/download/pcre2-{pcre2_version}/pcre2-{pcre2_version}.tar.gz"
-        print(f'pcre2-config not found so downloading and installing PCRE2-{pcre2_version} from {download_url}')
-
-        tempdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        # atexit.register(lambda: shutil.rmtree(tempdir)) # cleanup tempdir when Python exits
-        build_dir = os.path.abspath(f"{tempdir}/pcre2-{pcre2_version}/build")
-        pcre2_config = os.path.join(build_dir, 'bin', 'pcre2-config')
-
-        orig_dir = os.getcwd()
-        os.chdir(tempdir)
-        try:
-            subprocess.call(["curl", "-L", download_url, "-o", "pcre2.tar.gz"])
-            subprocess.call(["tar", "xvzf", "pcre2.tar.gz"])
-            subprocess.call(["./configure", f"--prefix={build_dir}"], cwd=f"pcre2-{pcre2_version}")
-            subprocess.call("make", cwd=f"pcre2-{pcre2_version}")
-            subprocess.call(["make", "install"], cwd=f"pcre2-{pcre2_version}")
-        finally:
-            os.chdir(orig_dir)
-
-    pcre2_cflags = subprocess.check_output([f'{pcre2_config}', '--cflags'], encoding='utf-8').strip().split()
-    pcre2_include_dirs = [i.replace('-I', '', 1) for i in pcre2_cflags if i.startswith('-I')]
-    # should we also capture other flags to pass to extra_compile_flags?
-
-    pcre2_libs = subprocess.check_output([f'{pcre2_config}', '--libs8'], encoding='utf-8').strip().split()
-    pcre2_library_dirs = [l.replace('-L', '', 1) for l in pcre2_libs if l.startswith('-L')]
-    pcre2_libraries = [l.replace('-l', '', 1) for l in pcre2_libs if l.startswith('-l')]
-
-    return pcre2_cflags, pcre2_include_dirs, pcre2_library_dirs, pcre2_libraries
-
-    
-def build_libcleri(pcre2_cflags):
-    with open('libcleri/Release/makefile', 'r') as f_in, open('libcleri/Release/makefile.extxyz', 'w') as f_out:
-        contents = f_in.read()
-        contents += """
-
-libcleri.a: $(OBJS) $(USER_OBJS)
-\tar rcs libcleri.a $(OBJS) $(USER_OBJS)
-"""
-        f_out.write(contents)
-    env = os.environ.copy()
-    env['CFLAGS'] = ' '.join(pcre2_cflags)
-    subprocess.call(['make', '-C', 'libcleri/Release', '-f', 'makefile.extxyz', 'libcleri.a'], env=env)
-
-class install(setuptools__install):
-    def run(self):
-        build_libcleri(pcre2_cflags)
-        setuptools__install.run(self)
-
-
-class develop(setuptools__develop):
-    def run(self):
-        build_libcleri(pcre2_cflags)
-        setuptools__develop.run(self)
-
-
-class egg_info(setuptools__egg_info):
-    def run(self):
-        build_libcleri(pcre2_cflags)
-        setuptools__egg_info.run(self)
-
-# https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60284403/change-output-filename-in-setup-py-distutils-extension
-class NoSuffixBuilder(setuptools__build_ext):
-    def get_ext_filename(self, ext_name):
-        filename = super().get_ext_filename(ext_name)
-        suffix = sysconfig.get_config_var('EXT_SUFFIX')
-        ext = os.path.splitext(filename)[1]
-        return filename.replace(suffix, "") + ext
-
-pcre2_cflags, pcre2_include_dirs, pcre2_library_dirs, pcre2_libraries = build_pcre2()        
-
-_extxyz_ext = Extension('extxyz._extxyz', sources=['libextxyz/extxyz_kv_grammar.c', 'libextxyz/extxyz.c'],
-                        include_dirs=['libcleri/inc', 'extxyz'] + pcre2_include_dirs,
-                        library_dirs=pcre2_library_dirs, libraries=pcre2_libraries,
-                        extra_compile_args=['-fPIC'], extra_objects=['libcleri/Release/libcleri.a'])
-
-build_grammar()
-
-setup(
-    name='extxyz',
-    version='0.1.3',
-    author='various',
-    packages=['extxyz'],
-    package_dir={'': 'python'},
-    cmdclass={'install': install, 'develop': develop, 'egg_info': egg_info, 'build_ext': NoSuffixBuilder},
-    include_package_data=True,
-    install_requires=['numpy>=1.13', 'pyleri>=1.3.3', 'ase>=3.17'],
-    ext_modules=[_extxyz_ext],
-    entry_points={'console_scripts': ['extxyz=extxyz.cli:main']}
-)
-
diff --git a/subprojects/pcre2.wrap b/subprojects/pcre2.wrap
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e27ba86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/subprojects/pcre2.wrap
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+[wrap-file]
+directory = pcre2-10.44
+source_url = https://github.com/PCRE2Project/pcre2/releases/download/pcre2-10.44/pcre2-10.44.tar.gz
+source_filename = pcre2-10.44.tar.gz
+source_hash = 86b9cb0aa3bcb7994faa88018292bc704cdbb708e785f7c74352ff6ea7d3175b
+patch_filename = pcre2_10.44-1_patch.zip
+patch_url = https://wrapdb.mesonbuild.com/v2/pcre2_10.44-1/get_patch
+patch_hash = 02c980e9f59b83f7ab2c7e8e02e2b5af11e23733e960f2e9bb531c68e2f04ca1
+
+[provide]
+libpcre2-8 = libpcre2_8_dep
+libpcre2-16 = libpcre2_16_dep
+libpcre2-32 = libpcre2_32_dep
+libpcre2-posix = libpcre2_posix_dep