diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ccaa9d2..ccb3fb8 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ name = "scyjava"
 version = "1.12.2.dev0"
 description = "Supercharged Java access from Python"
 license = "Unlicense"
-authors = [{name = "SciJava developers", email = "ctrueden@wisc.edu"}]
+authors = [{ name = "SciJava developers", email = "ctrueden@wisc.edu" }]
 readme = "README.md"
 keywords = ["java", "maven", "cross-language"]
 classifiers = [
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "jpype1 >= 1.3.0",
     "jgo",
     "cjdk",
+    "stubgenj",
 ]
 
 [dependency-groups]
@@ -50,6 +51,9 @@ dev = [
     "validate-pyproject[all]",
 ]
 
+[project.scripts]
+scyjava-stubgen = "scyjava._stubs._cli:main"
+
 [project.urls]
 homepage = "https://github.com/scijava/scyjava"
 documentation = "https://github.com/scijava/scyjava/blob/main/README.md"
@@ -58,7 +62,7 @@ download = "https://pypi.org/project/scyjava/"
 tracker = "https://github.com/scijava/scyjava/issues"
 
 [tool.setuptools]
-package-dir = {"" = "src"}
+package-dir = { "" = "src" }
 include-package-data = false
 
 [tool.setuptools.packages.find]
diff --git a/src/scyjava/_jvm.py b/src/scyjava/_jvm.py
index 224ac61..2f0e4a8 100644
--- a/src/scyjava/_jvm.py
+++ b/src/scyjava/_jvm.py
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ def is_awt_initialized() -> bool:
         return False
     Thread = scyjava.jimport("java.lang.Thread")
     threads = Thread.getAllStackTraces().keySet()
-    return any(t.getName().startsWith("AWT-") for t in threads)
+    return any(str(t.getName()).startswith("AWT-") for t in threads)
 
 
 def when_jvm_starts(f) -> None:
diff --git a/src/scyjava/_stubs/__init__.py b/src/scyjava/_stubs/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6a5e7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scyjava/_stubs/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from ._dynamic_import import setup_java_imports
+from ._genstubs import generate_stubs
+
+__all__ = ["setup_java_imports", "generate_stubs"]
diff --git a/src/scyjava/_stubs/_cli.py b/src/scyjava/_stubs/_cli.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7936529
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scyjava/_stubs/_cli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+"""The scyjava-stubs executable.
+
+Provides cli access to the `scyjava._stubs.generate_stubs` function.
+
+The only interesting additional things going on here is the choice of *where* the stubs
+go by default.  When using the CLI, they land in `scyjava.types` by default; see the
+`_get_ouput_dir` helper function for details on how the output directory is resolved
+from the CLI arguments.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import importlib
+import importlib.util
+import logging
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from ._genstubs import generate_stubs
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    """The main entry point for the scyjava-stubs executable."""
+    logging.basicConfig(level="INFO")
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="Generate Python Type Stubs for Java classes."
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "endpoints",
+        type=str,
+        nargs="+",
+        help="Maven endpoints to install and use (e.g. org.myproject:myproject:1.0.0)",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--prefix",
+        type=str,
+        help="package prefixes to generate stubs for (e.g. org.myproject), "
+        "may be used multiple times. If not specified, prefixes are gleaned from the "
+        "downloaded artifacts.",
+        action="append",
+        default=[],
+        metavar="PREFIX",
+        dest="prefix",
+    )
+    path_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
+    path_group.add_argument(
+        "--output-dir",
+        type=str,
+        default=None,
+        help="Filesystem path to write stubs to.",
+    )
+    path_group.add_argument(
+        "--output-python-path",
+        type=str,
+        default=None,
+        help="Python path to write stubs to (e.g. 'scyjava.types').",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--convert-strings",
+        dest="convert_strings",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="convert java.lang.String to python str in return types. "
+        "consult the JPype documentation on the convertStrings flag for details",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--no-javadoc",
+        dest="with_javadoc",
+        action="store_false",
+        default=True,
+        help="do not generate docstrings from JavaDoc where available",
+    )
+
+    rt_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
+    rt_group.add_argument(
+        "--runtime-imports",
+        dest="runtime_imports",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=True,
+        help="Add runtime imports to the generated stubs. ",
+    )
+    rt_group.add_argument(
+        "--no-runtime-imports", dest="runtime_imports", action="store_false"
+    )
+
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--remove-namespace-only-stubs",
+        dest="remove_namespace_only_stubs",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="Remove stubs that export no names beyond a single __module_protocol__. "
+        "This leaves some folders as PEP420 implicit namespace folders.",
+    )
+
+    if len(sys.argv) == 1:
+        parser.print_help()
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    output_dir = _get_ouput_dir(args.output_dir, args.output_python_path)
+    if not output_dir.exists():
+        output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    generate_stubs(
+        endpoints=args.endpoints,
+        prefixes=args.prefix,
+        output_dir=output_dir,
+        convert_strings=args.convert_strings,
+        include_javadoc=args.with_javadoc,
+        add_runtime_imports=args.runtime_imports,
+        remove_namespace_only_stubs=args.remove_namespace_only_stubs,
+    )
+
+
+def _get_ouput_dir(output_dir: str | None, python_path: str | None) -> Path:
+    if out_dir := output_dir:
+        return Path(out_dir)
+    if pp := python_path:
+        return _glean_path(pp)
+    try:
+        import scyjava
+
+        return Path(scyjava.__file__).parent / "types"
+    except ImportError:
+        return Path("stubs")
+
+
+def _glean_path(pp: str) -> Path:
+    try:
+        importlib.import_module(pp.split(".")[0])
+    except ModuleNotFoundError:
+        # the top level module doesn't exist:
+        raise ValueError(f"Module {pp} does not exist. Cannot install stubs there.")
+
+    try:
+        spec = importlib.util.find_spec(pp)
+    except ModuleNotFoundError as e:
+        # at least one of the middle levels doesn't exist:
+        raise NotImplementedError(f"Cannot install stubs to {pp}: {e}")
+
+    new_ns = None
+    if not spec:
+        # if we get here, it means everything but the last level exists:
+        parent, new_ns = pp.rsplit(".", 1)
+        spec = importlib.util.find_spec(parent)
+
+    if not spec:
+        # if we get here, it means the last level doesn't exist:
+        raise ValueError(f"Module {pp} does not exist. Cannot install stubs there.")
+
+    search_locations = spec.submodule_search_locations
+    if not spec.loader and search_locations:
+        # namespace package with submodules
+        return Path(search_locations[0])
+    if spec.origin:
+        return Path(spec.origin).parent
+    if new_ns and search_locations:
+        # namespace package with submodules
+        return Path(search_locations[0]) / new_ns
+
+    raise ValueError(f"Error finding module {pp}. Cannot install stubs there.")
diff --git a/src/scyjava/_stubs/_dynamic_import.py b/src/scyjava/_stubs/_dynamic_import.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16e27d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scyjava/_stubs/_dynamic_import.py
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+"""Logic for using generated type stubs as runtime importable, with lazy JVM startup.
+
+Most often, the functionality here will be used as follows:
+
+```
+from scyjava._stubs import setup_java_imports
+
+__all__, __getattr__ = setup_java_imports(
+    __name__,
+    __file__,
+    endpoints=["org.scijava:parsington:3.1.0"],
+    base_prefix="org"
+)
+```
+
+...and that little snippet is written into the generated stubs modules by the
+`scyjava._stubs.generate_stubs` function.
+
+See docstring of `setup_java_imports` for details on how it works.
+"""
+
+import ast
+from logging import warning
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any, Callable, Sequence
+
+
+def setup_java_imports(
+    module_name: str,
+    module_file: str,
+    endpoints: Sequence[str] = (),
+    base_prefix: str = "",
+) -> tuple[list[str], Callable[[str], Any]]:
+    """Setup a module to dynamically import Java class names.
+
+    This function creates a `__getattr__` function that, when called, will dynamically
+    import the requested class from the Java namespace corresponding to the calling
+    module.
+
+    :param module_name: The dotted name/identifier of the module that is calling this
+        function (usually `__name__` in the calling module).
+    :param module_file: The path to the module file (usually `__file__` in the calling
+        module).
+    :param endpoints: A list of Java endpoints to add to the scyjava configuration.
+        (Note that `scyjava._stubs.generate_stubs` will automatically add the necessary
+        endpoints for the generated stubs.)
+    :param base_prefix: The base prefix for the Java package name. This is used when
+        determining the Java class path for the requested class. The java class path
+        will be truncated to only the part including the base_prefix and after.  This
+        makes it possible to embed a module in a subpackage (like `scyjava.types`) and
+        still have the correct Java class path.
+
+    :return: A 2-tuple containing:
+        - A list of all classes in the module (as defined in the stub file), to be
+            assigned to `__all__`.
+        - A callable that takes a class name and returns a proxy for the Java class.
+            This callable should be assigned to `__getattr__` in the calling module.
+            The proxy object, when called, will start the JVM, import the Java class,
+            and return an instance of the class.  The JVM will *only* be started when
+            the object is called.
+
+    Example:
+    If the module calling this function is named `scyjava.types.org.scijava.parsington`,
+    then it should invoke this function as:
+
+    .. code-block:: python
+
+        from scyjava._stubs import setup_java_imports
+
+        __all__, __getattr__ = setup_java_imports(
+            __name__,
+            __file__,
+            endpoints=["org.scijava:parsington:3.1.0"],
+            base_prefix="org"
+        )
+    """
+    import scyjava
+    import scyjava.config
+
+    for ep in endpoints:
+        if ep not in scyjava.config.endpoints:
+            scyjava.config.endpoints.append(ep)
+
+    # list intended to be assigned to `__all__` in the generated module.
+    module_all = []
+    try:
+        my_stub = Path(module_file).with_suffix(".pyi")
+        stub_ast = ast.parse(my_stub.read_text())
+        module_all = sorted(
+            {
+                node.name
+                for node in stub_ast.body
+                if isinstance(node, ast.ClassDef) and not node.name.startswith("__")
+            }
+        )
+    except (OSError, SyntaxError):
+        warning(
+            f"Failed to read stub file {my_stub!r}. Falling back to empty __all__.",
+            stacklevel=3,
+        )
+
+    def module_getattr(name: str, mod_name: str = module_name) -> Any:
+        """Function intended to be assigned to __getattr__ in the generate module."""
+        if module_all and name not in module_all:
+            raise AttributeError(f"module {module_name!r} has no attribute {name!r}")
+
+        # cut the mod_name to only the part including the base_prefix and after
+        if base_prefix in mod_name:
+            mod_name = mod_name[mod_name.index(base_prefix) :]
+
+        class_path = f"{mod_name}.{name}"
+
+        # Generate a proxy type (with a nice repr) that
+        # delays the call to `jimport` until the last moment when type.__new__ is called
+
+        class ProxyMeta(type):
+            def __repr__(self) -> str:
+                return f"<scyjava class {class_path!r}>"
+
+        class Proxy(metaclass=ProxyMeta):
+            def __new__(_cls_, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
+                cls = scyjava.jimport(class_path)
+                return cls(*args, **kwargs)
+
+        Proxy.__name__ = name
+        Proxy.__qualname__ = name
+        Proxy.__module__ = module_name
+        Proxy.__doc__ = f"Proxy for {class_path}"
+        return Proxy
+
+    return module_all, module_getattr
diff --git a/src/scyjava/_stubs/_genstubs.py b/src/scyjava/_stubs/_genstubs.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3df24cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scyjava/_stubs/_genstubs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,225 @@
+"""Type stub generation utilities using stubgen.
+
+This module provides utilities for generating type stubs for Java classes
+using the stubgenj library.  `stubgenj` must be installed for this to work
+(it, in turn, only depends on JPype).
+
+See `generate_stubs` for most functionality.  For the command-line tool,
+see `scyjava._stubs.cli`, which provides a CLI interface for the `generate_stubs`
+function.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import ast
+import logging
+import os
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from importlib import import_module
+from itertools import chain
+from pathlib import Path, PurePath
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
+from unittest.mock import patch
+from zipfile import ZipFile
+
+import scyjava
+import scyjava.config
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Sequence
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def generate_stubs(
+    endpoints: Sequence[str],
+    prefixes: Sequence[str] = (),
+    output_dir: str | Path = "stubs",
+    convert_strings: bool = True,
+    include_javadoc: bool = True,
+    add_runtime_imports: bool = True,
+    remove_namespace_only_stubs: bool = False,
+) -> None:
+    """Generate stubs for the given maven endpoints.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    endpoints : Sequence[str]
+        The maven endpoints to generate stubs for. This should be a list of GAV
+        coordinates, e.g. ["org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:3.12.0"].
+    prefixes : Sequence[str], optional
+        The prefixes to generate stubs for. This should be a list of Java class
+        prefixes that you expect to find in the endpoints. For example,
+        ["org.apache.commons"].  If not provided, the prefixes will be
+        automatically determined from the jar files provided by endpoints (see the
+        `_list_top_level_packages` helper function).
+    output_dir : str | Path, optional
+        The directory to write the generated stubs to. Defaults to "stubs" in the
+        current working directory.
+    convert_strings : bool, optional
+        Whether to cast Java strings to Python strings in the stubs. Defaults to True.
+        NOTE: This leads to type stubs that may not be strictly accurate at runtime.
+        The actual runtime type of strings is determined by whether jpype.startJVM is
+        called with the `convertStrings` argument set to True or False.  By setting
+        this `convert_strings` argument to true, the type stubs will be generated as if
+        `convertStrings` is set to True: that is, all string types will be listed as
+        `str` rather than `java.lang.String | str`.  This is a safer default (as `str`)
+        is a subtype of `java.lang.String`), but may lead to type errors in some cases.
+    include_javadoc : bool, optional
+        Whether to include Javadoc in the generated stubs. Defaults to True.
+    add_runtime_imports : bool, optional
+        Whether to add runtime imports to the generated stubs. Defaults to True.
+        This is useful if you want to actually import the stubs as a runtime package
+        with type safety.  The runtime import "magic" depends on the
+        `scyjava._stubs.setup_java_imports` function.  See its documentation for
+        more details.
+    remove_namespace_only_stubs : bool, optional
+        Whether to remove stubs that export no names beyond a single
+        `__module_protocol__`. This leaves some folders as PEP420 implicit namespace
+        folders. Defaults to False.  Setting this to `True` is useful if you want to
+        merge the generated stubs with other stubs in the same namespace.  Without this,
+        the `__init__.pyi` for any given module will be whatever whatever the *last*
+        stub generator wrote to it (and therefore inaccurate).
+    """
+    try:
+        import stubgenj
+    except ImportError as e:
+        raise ImportError(
+            "stubgenj is not installed, but is required to generate java stubs. "
+            "Please install it with `pip/conda install stubgenj`."
+        ) from e
+
+    import jpype
+
+    startJVM = jpype.startJVM
+
+    scyjava.config.endpoints.extend(endpoints)
+
+    def _patched_start(*args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> None:
+        kwargs.setdefault("convertStrings", convert_strings)
+        startJVM(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    with patch.object(jpype, "startJVM", new=_patched_start):
+        scyjava.start_jvm()
+
+    _prefixes = set(prefixes)
+    if not _prefixes:
+        cp = jpype.getClassPath(env=False)
+        ep_artifacts = tuple(ep.split(":")[1] for ep in endpoints)
+        for j in cp.split(os.pathsep):
+            if Path(j).name.startswith(ep_artifacts):
+                _prefixes.update(_list_top_level_packages(j))
+
+    prefixes = sorted(_prefixes)
+    logger.info(f"Using endpoints: {scyjava.config.endpoints!r}")
+    logger.info(f"Generating stubs for: {prefixes}")
+    logger.info(f"Writing stubs to: {output_dir}")
+
+    metapath = sys.meta_path
+    try:
+        import jpype.imports
+
+        jmodules = [import_module(prefix) for prefix in prefixes]
+    finally:
+        # remove the jpype.imports magic from the import system
+        # if it wasn't there to begin with
+        sys.meta_path = metapath
+
+    stubgenj.generateJavaStubs(
+        jmodules,
+        useStubsSuffix=False,
+        outputDir=str(output_dir),
+        jpypeJPackageStubs=False,
+        includeJavadoc=include_javadoc,
+    )
+
+    output_dir = Path(output_dir)
+    if add_runtime_imports:
+        logger.info("Adding runtime imports to generated stubs")
+
+    for stub in output_dir.rglob("*.pyi"):
+        stub_ast = ast.parse(stub.read_text())
+        members = {node.name for node in stub_ast.body if hasattr(node, "name")}
+        if members == {"__module_protocol__"}:
+            # this is simply a module stub... no exports
+            if remove_namespace_only_stubs:
+                logger.info("Removing namespace only stub %s", stub)
+                stub.unlink()
+            continue
+        if add_runtime_imports:
+            real_import = stub.with_suffix(".py")
+            base_prefix = stub.relative_to(output_dir).parts[0]
+            real_import.write_text(
+                INIT_TEMPLATE.format(
+                    endpoints=repr(endpoints),
+                    base_prefix=repr(base_prefix),
+                )
+            )
+
+    ruff_check(output_dir.absolute())
+
+
+# the "real" init file that goes into the stub package
+INIT_TEMPLATE = """\
+# this file was autogenerated by scyjava-stubgen
+# it creates a __getattr__ function that will dynamically import
+# the requested class from the Java namespace corresponding to this module.
+# see scyjava._stubs for implementation details.
+from scyjava._stubs import setup_java_imports
+
+__all__, __getattr__ = setup_java_imports(
+    __name__,
+    __file__,
+    endpoints={endpoints},
+    base_prefix={base_prefix},
+)
+"""
+
+
+def ruff_check(output: Path, select: str = "E,W,F,I,UP,C4,B,RUF,TC,TID") -> None:
+    """Run ruff check and format on the generated stubs."""
+    if not shutil.which("ruff"):
+        return
+
+    py_files = [str(x) for x in chain(output.rglob("*.py"), output.rglob("*.pyi"))]
+    logger.info(
+        "Running ruff check on %d generated stubs in % s",
+        len(py_files),
+        str(output),
+    )
+    subprocess.run(
+        [
+            "ruff",
+            "check",
+            *py_files,
+            "--quiet",
+            "--fix-only",
+            "--unsafe-fixes",
+            f"--select={select}",
+        ]
+    )
+    logger.info("Running ruff format")
+    subprocess.run(["ruff", "format", *py_files, "--quiet"])
+
+
+def _list_top_level_packages(jar_path: str) -> set[str]:
+    """Inspect a JAR file and return the set of top-level Java package names."""
+    packages: set[str] = set()
+    with ZipFile(jar_path, "r") as jar:
+        # find all classes
+        class_dirs = {
+            entry.parent
+            for x in jar.namelist()
+            if (entry := PurePath(x)).suffix == ".class"
+        }
+
+        roots: set[PurePath] = set()
+        for p in sorted(class_dirs, key=lambda p: len(p.parts)):
+            # If none of the already accepted roots is a parent of p, keep p
+            if not any(root in p.parents for root in roots):
+                roots.add(p)
+        packages.update({str(p).replace(os.sep, ".") for p in roots})
+
+    return packages
diff --git a/src/scyjava/types/.gitignore b/src/scyjava/types/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e7d273
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scyjava/types/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Ignore everything in this directory
+*
+# Except this file
+!.gitignore
diff --git a/tests/test_stubgen.py b/tests/test_stubgen.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad4a74a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_stubgen.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import sys
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import jpype
+import pytest
+
+import scyjava
+from scyjava._stubs import _cli
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    scyjava.config.mode != scyjava.config.Mode.JPYPE,
+    reason="Stubgen not supported in JEP",
+)
+def test_stubgen(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    # run the stubgen command as if it was run from the command line
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        sys,
+        "argv",
+        [
+            "scyjava-stubgen",
+            "org.scijava:parsington:3.1.0",
+            "--output-dir",
+            str(tmp_path),
+        ],
+    )
+    _cli.main()
+
+    # remove the `jpype.imports` magic from the import system if present
+    mp = [x for x in sys.meta_path if not isinstance(x, jpype.imports._JImportLoader)]
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "meta_path", mp)
+
+    # add tmp_path to the import path
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "path", [str(tmp_path)])
+
+    # first cleanup to make sure we are not importing from the cache
+    sys.modules.pop("org", None)
+    sys.modules.pop("org.scijava", None)
+    sys.modules.pop("org.scijava.parsington", None)
+    # make sure the stubgen command works and that we can now impmort stuff
+
+    with patch.object(scyjava._jvm, "start_jvm") as mock_start_jvm:
+        from org.scijava.parsington import Function
+
+        assert Function is not None
+        # ensure that no calls to start_jvm were made
+        mock_start_jvm.assert_not_called()
+
+        # only after instantiating the class should we have a call to start_jvm
+        func = Function(1)
+        mock_start_jvm.assert_called_once()
+        assert isinstance(func, jpype.JObject)