diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7348c6f..c240bea 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
 
-project(xbot2_interface LANGUAGES CXX VERSION 1.0.0)
+project(xbot2_interface LANGUAGES CXX)
+file(READ "VERSION" PROJECT_VERSION)
+
+string(REPLACE "." ";" PARTS ${PROJECT_VERSION})
+list(GET PARTS 0 xbot2_interface_VERSION_MAJOR)
+list(GET PARTS 1 xbot2_interface_VERSION_MINOR)
+list(GET PARTS 2 xbot2_interface_VERSION_PATCH)
 
 option(XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_PINOCCHIO "Build Pinocchio implementation" ON)
 option(XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_RBDL "Build RBDL implementation" OFF)
@@ -8,11 +14,17 @@ option(XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_ROS "Build ROS implementation" ON)
 option(XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_ROS2 "Build ROS2 implementation" OFF)
 option(XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_COLLISION "Build collision support (required hpp-fcl)" ON)
 option(XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_TESTS "Build tests" OFF)
+option(XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build examples" OFF)
+option(COMPILE_PYTHON_BINDINGS "Compile python bindings (requires pybind11)" ON)
+option(BUILD_BY_PYTHON "Indicate that cmake is invoked by python build tools" OFF)
+# Defaulted to ON since it would change behaviour
+option(USE_SHLIBDEPS "Use dpkg-shlibdebs for deb generation. It needs a previous install before packaging; therefore makes only sense in a CD job" ON)
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 
-set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH $ORIGIN)
+# This explicit opt path helps pyxbot2 libs to find the actual implementations from anywhere (especially a venv)
+set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "$ORIGIN;/opt/xbot/lib")
 set(CMAKE_BUILD_RPATH "$ORIGIN;$ORIGIN/pinocchio;$ORIGIN/rbdl;$ORIGIN/ros")
 
 find_package(urdf REQUIRED)
@@ -109,7 +121,6 @@ install(DIRECTORY include/xbot2_interface
     DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/xbot2_interface
     )
 
-
 if(${XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_PINOCCHIO})
     add_subdirectory(pinocchio/)
 endif()
@@ -130,9 +141,13 @@ if(${XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_COLLISION})
     add_subdirectory(src/collision/)
 endif()
 
-add_subdirectory(python)
+if(${COMPILE_PYTHON_BINDINGS})
+    add_subdirectory(python)
+endif()
 
-add_subdirectory(examples)
+if(${XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_EXAMPLES})
+    add_subdirectory(examples)
+endif()
 
 if(${XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_TESTS})
 	enable_testing()
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3eefcb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1.0.0
diff --git a/cmake/GenerateDeb.cmake b/cmake/GenerateDeb.cmake
index ae2e8de..edf5d36 100644
--- a/cmake/GenerateDeb.cmake
+++ b/cmake/GenerateDeb.cmake
@@ -11,8 +11,16 @@ set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION "Set of APIs for robot control and modeling
 
 # dependencies
 set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS "")
-set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_SHLIBDEPS ON)
-set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_GENERATE_SHLIBS ON)
+# Would be nice to have that especially because it will be hard to put the dependencies above
+# but it does not help if it does not work properly.
+# OpenCV guys have the same problem https://github.com/opencv/opencv/issues/16318
+# dpkg-shlibdeps looks into the /opt/xbot path although there is nothing, YET
+# Packaging after installing makes literally no sense.
+# This is probably (STILL) a cmake/cpack problem
+if (${USE_SHLIBDEPS})
+    set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_SHLIBDEPS ON)
+    set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_GENERATE_SHLIBS ON)
+endif()
 
 # get short sha1 of current commit from git
 find_program(GIT_SCM git DOC "Git version control")
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa884da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+[build-system]
+requires = ["scikit-build-core>=0.3.0", "pybind11", "numpy~=1.26"]
+build-backend = "scikit_build_core.build"
+
+[project]
+name = "xbot2_interface"
+dynamic = ["version"]
+dependencies = ["numpy~=1.26"]
+
+[tool.scikit-build]
+install.components = ["python-bindings"]
+cmake.source-dir = "."
+cmake.build-type = "Release"
+build.targets = ["pyxbot2_interface", "pyaffine3"]
+cmake.define = { "BUILD_BY_PYTHON"="ON" }
+
+[tool.scikit-build.metadata.version]
+provider = "scikit_build_core.metadata.regex"
+input = "VERSION"
+regex = "(?P<major>\\d+).(?P<minor>\\d+).(?P<patch>\\d+)"
+result = "{major}.{minor}.{patch}"
diff --git a/python/CMakeLists.txt b/python/CMakeLists.txt
index e20b2f1..9b74e60 100644
--- a/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,20 +1,22 @@
 cmake_policy(SET CMP0094 NEW)
-find_package(Python3 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development)
+find_package(Python3 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development.Module NumPy)
 find_package(pybind11 QUIET)
 
-option(COMPILE_PYTHON_BINDINGS "Compile python bindings (requires pybind11)" TRUE)
-
-if(${pybind11_FOUND} AND ${COMPILE_PYTHON_BINDINGS})
+if(${pybind11_FOUND})
 
     message(STATUS "Found python (${Python3_EXECUTABLE}) will compile python bindings")
 
-    # get python install path
-    execute_process(
-        COMMAND ${Python3_EXECUTABLE} -c "import site, os; print(os.path.relpath(site.USER_SITE, site.USER_BASE))"
-        OUTPUT_VARIABLE PYTHON_SITE
-        OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
+    if("${BUILD_BY_PYTHON}")
+        set(PYTHON_SITE ".")
+    else()
+        # get python install path
+        execute_process(
+            COMMAND ${Python3_EXECUTABLE} -c "import site, os; print(os.path.relpath(site.USER_SITE, site.USER_BASE))"
+            OUTPUT_VARIABLE PYTHON_SITE
+            OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
 
-    message(STATUS "Python install dir: ${PYTHON_SITE}")
+        message(STATUS "Python install dir: ${PYTHON_SITE}")
+    endif()
 
     include_directories(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
 
@@ -24,7 +26,9 @@ if(${pybind11_FOUND} AND ${COMPILE_PYTHON_BINDINGS})
     target_link_libraries(pyxbot2_interface PUBLIC xbot2_interface)
 
     install(TARGETS pyxbot2_interface
-        DESTINATION ${PYTHON_SITE}/xbot2_interface)
+        DESTINATION ${PYTHON_SITE}/xbot2_interface
+        COMPONENT python-bindings
+        )
 
 
     pybind11_add_module(pyaffine3 pyaffine3.cpp)
@@ -32,7 +36,9 @@ if(${pybind11_FOUND} AND ${COMPILE_PYTHON_BINDINGS})
     target_link_libraries(pyaffine3 PUBLIC Eigen3::Eigen)
 
     install(TARGETS pyaffine3
-        DESTINATION ${PYTHON_SITE}/xbot2_interface)
+        DESTINATION ${PYTHON_SITE}/xbot2_interface
+        COMPONENT python-bindings
+        )
 
     if (${XBOT2_IFC_BUILD_COLLISION})
         pybind11_add_module(pyxbot2_collision pyxbot2_collision.cpp)
@@ -40,9 +46,16 @@ if(${pybind11_FOUND} AND ${COMPILE_PYTHON_BINDINGS})
         target_link_libraries(pyxbot2_collision PUBLIC xbot2_interface::collision)
 
         install(TARGETS pyxbot2_collision
-            DESTINATION ${PYTHON_SITE}/xbot2_interface)
+            DESTINATION ${PYTHON_SITE}/xbot2_interface
+            COMPONENT python-bindings
+            )
     endif()
 
-    install(FILES __init__.py DESTINATION ${PYTHON_SITE}/xbot2_interface)
+    install(FILES __init__.py DESTINATION ${PYTHON_SITE}/xbot2_interface COMPONENT python-bindings)
 
+else()
+    if(${BUILD_BY_PYTHON})
+        # Fail explicitely as python bindings are needed for building by python
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "pybind11 not found - cannot build library")
+    endif()
 endif()