diff --git a/bin/get-json-settings.py b/bin/get-json-settings.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5e973bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/get-json-settings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python3
+
+import argparse
+import logging
+
+import sys
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+TOOLBOX_HOME = os.environ.get('TOOLBOX_HOME')
+if TOOLBOX_HOME is None:
+    print("This script requires libraries that are provided by the toolbox project.")
+    print("Toolbox can be acquired from https://github.com/perftool-incubator/toolbox and")
+    print("then use 'export TOOLBOX_HOME=/path/to/toolbox' so that it can be located.")
+    exit(1)
+else:
+    p = Path(TOOLBOX_HOME) / 'python'
+    if not p.exists() or not p.is_dir():
+        print("ERROR: <TOOLBOX_HOME>/python ('%s') does not exist!" % (p))
+        exit(2)
+    sys.path.append(str(p))
+from toolbox.json import *
+from toolbox.jsonsettings import *
+
+def process_options():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Extract a settings value from a JSON config file")
+
+    parser.add_argument("--log-level",
+                        dest = "log_level",
+                        help = "Control how much logging output should be generated",
+                        default = "normal",
+                        choices = [ "normal", "verbose", "debug" ])
+
+    parser.add_argument("--settings-file",
+                        dest = "settings_file",
+                        help = "Which file should be loaded to extract a value from",
+                        required = True,
+                        type = str)
+
+    parser.add_argument("--query",
+                        dest = "query",
+                        help = "The query to run to find the desired settings property",
+                        required = True,
+                        type = str)
+
+    the_args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    return the_args
+
+
+def main():
+    log_debug_format =    '[%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(module)s %(funcName)s:%(lineno)d] %(message)s'
+    log_verbose_format =  '[%(asctime)s %(levelname)s] %(message)s'
+    log_normal_format =    '%(message)s'
+
+    if args.log_level == 'debug':
+        logging.basicConfig(level = logging.DEBUG, format = log_debug_format, stream = sys.stderr)
+    elif args.log_level == 'verbose':
+        logging.basicConfig(level = logging.INFO, format = log_verbose_format, stream = sys.stderr)
+    elif args.log_level == 'normal':
+        logging.basicConfig(level = logging.INFO, format = log_normal_format, stream = sys.stderr)
+
+    logger = logging.getLogger(__file__)
+
+    settings,err_msg = load_json_file(args.settings_file)
+    if err_msg is not None:
+        logger.error(f"ERROR: failed to load JSON settings from {args.settings_file}")
+        logger.error(f"       Reason is: {err_msg}")
+        return 1
+    else:
+        logger.info(f"Loaded JSON settings from {args.settings_file}")
+
+    value,error_no = get_json_setting(settings, args.query)
+    if error_no != 0:
+        logger.error(f"ERROR: JSON query '{args.query}' failed")
+        return 1
+    else:
+        logger.info(f"JSON query '{args.query}' returned '{value}'")
+
+    print(value);
+
+    return 0
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    args = process_options()
+    logger = None
+    
+    exit(main())
diff --git a/python/toolbox/jsonsettings.py b/python/toolbox/jsonsettings.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..348acee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/toolbox/jsonsettings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+
+import logging
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__file__)
+
+def get_json_setting(settings_ref, query):
+    # break the query into fields to attempt to use to traverse the
+    # settings
+    query_fields = query.split(".")
+    logger.debug(f"query_fields = {query_fields}")
+
+    query_rc = 0
+    query_return = None
+
+    # iterate through all supplied query fields
+    for field_idx,field in enumerate(query_fields):
+        logger.debug(f"field_idx={field_idx} field={field}")
+        logger.debug(f"settings_ref={settings_ref}")
+
+        if field in settings_ref:
+            logger.debug(f"found {field} in settings_ref")
+
+            if isinstance(settings_ref[field], dict):
+                logger.debug(f"found a dict at settings_ref[{field}]")
+                logger.debug(f"settings_ref[{field}]={settings_ref[field]}")
+
+                if field_idx == (len(query_fields) - 1):
+                    logger.debug(f"the found field is a dict but there are no more fields to search for, failing")
+                    query_rc = 1
+                    break
+                else:
+                    logger.debug(f"narrowing the scope to continue searching")
+                    settings_ref = settings_ref[field]
+            else:
+                logger.debug(f"found something besides a dict at settings_ref[{field}]")
+                logger.debug(f"settings_ref[{field}]={settings_ref[field]}")
+
+                if field_idx == (len(query_fields) - 1):
+                    logger.debug(f"this was the last query field and it does not point to a dict so assume is the desired value")
+                    query_return = settings_ref[field]
+                    logger.debug(f"query_return={query_return}")
+                else:
+                    logger.debug(f"this was not the last query field and there is no further to search, failing")
+                    query_rc = 1
+                    break
+        else:
+            logger.debug(f"did not find {field} in settings_ref")
+            query_rc = 1
+            break
+
+    return query_return,query_rc