diff --git a/build-files.txt b/build-files.txt
index ffc06e0..58e2808 100644
--- a/build-files.txt
+++ b/build-files.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 source/dub/generators/cmake.d
 source/dub/generators/generator.d
 source/dub/generators/sublimetext.d
+source/dub/generators/targetdescription.d
 source/dub/generators/visuald.d
 source/dub/internal/libInputVisitor.d
 source/dub/internal/sdlang/ast.d
diff --git a/source/dub/commandline.d b/source/dub/commandline.d
index 4a2605c..d5c202a 100644
--- a/source/dub/commandline.d
+++ b/source/dub/commandline.d
@@ -811,7 +811,7 @@
 		} else if (m_stringImportPaths) {
 			dub.listStringImportPaths(m_buildPlatform, config);
 		} else {
-			auto desc = dub.project.describe(m_buildPlatform, config);
+			auto desc = dub.project.describe(m_buildPlatform, config, m_buildType);
 			writeln(desc.serializeToPrettyJson());
 		}
 
diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d b/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
index 0708615..83e9322 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 /// BuildPlatform specific settings, like needed libraries or additional
 /// include paths.
 struct BuildSettings {
+	import dub.internal.vibecompat.data.serialization;
+
 	TargetType targetType;
 	string targetPath;
 	string targetName;
@@ -39,8 +41,8 @@
 	string[] postGenerateCommands;
 	string[] preBuildCommands;
 	string[] postBuildCommands;
-	BuildRequirements requirements;
-	BuildOptions options;
+	@byName BuildRequirements requirements;
+	@byName BuildOptions options;
 
 	BuildSettings dup()
 	const {
diff --git a/source/dub/description.d b/source/dub/description.d
index 64eda56..ea8cc10 100644
--- a/source/dub/description.d
+++ b/source/dub/description.d
@@ -22,10 +22,12 @@
 	string rootPackage;
 	alias mainPackage = rootPackage; /// Compatibility alias
 	string configuration;
+	string buildType;
 	string compiler;
 	string[] architecture;
 	string[] platform;
-	PackageDescription[] packages;
+	PackageDescription[] packages; /// All packages in the dependency tree
+	TargetDescription[] targets; /// Build targets
 }
 
 
@@ -66,6 +68,15 @@
 	SourceFileDescription[] files;
 }
 
+struct TargetDescription {
+	string rootPackage;
+	string[] packages;
+	string rootConfiguration;
+	BuildSettings buildSettings;
+	string[] dependencies;
+	string[] linkDependencies;
+}
+
 /**
 	Description for a single source file.
 */
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/targetdescription.d b/source/dub/generators/targetdescription.d
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5010952
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/dub/generators/targetdescription.d
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/**
+	Pseudo generator to output build descriptions.
+
+	Copyright: © 2015 rejectedsoftware e.K.
+	License: Subject to the terms of the MIT license, as written in the included LICENSE.txt file.
+	Authors: Sönke Ludwig
+*/
+module dub.generators.targetdescription;
+
+import dub.description;
+import dub.generators.generator;
+import dub.project;
+
+class TargetDescriptionGenerator : ProjectGenerator {
+	TargetDescription[] targetDescriptions;
+
+	this(Project project)
+	{
+		super(project);
+	}
+
+	protected override void generateTargets(GeneratorSettings settings, in TargetInfo[string] targets)
+	{
+		targetDescriptions.length = targets.length;
+		size_t i = 0;
+		foreach (t; targets) {
+			TargetDescription d;
+			d.rootPackage = t.pack.name;
+			d.packages = t.packages.map!(p => p.name).array;
+			d.rootConfiguration = t.config;
+			d.buildSettings = t.buildSettings.dup;
+			d.dependencies = t.dependencies.dup;
+			d.linkDependencies = t.linkDependencies.dup;
+			targetDescriptions[i++] = d;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/source/dub/project.d b/source/dub/project.d
index 36a1ab6..058cf99 100644
--- a/source/dub/project.d
+++ b/source/dub/project.d
@@ -573,24 +573,42 @@
 	}*/
 
 	/// Outputs a build description of the project, including its dependencies.
-	ProjectDescription describe(BuildPlatform platform, string config)
+	ProjectDescription describe(BuildPlatform platform, string config, string build_type = null)
 	{
+		import dub.generators.targetdescription;
+
+		// store basic build parameters
 		ProjectDescription ret;
 		ret.rootPackage = m_rootPackage.name;
 		ret.configuration = config;
+		ret.buildType = build_type;
 		ret.compiler = platform.compiler;
 		ret.architecture = platform.architecture;
 		ret.platform = platform.platform;
 
+		// collect high level information about projects (useful for IDE display)
 		auto configs = getPackageConfigs(platform, config);
-
-		// FIXME: use the generator system to collect the list of actually used build dependencies and source files
-
 		ret.packages ~= m_rootPackage.describe(platform, config);
-
 		foreach (dep; m_dependencies)
 			ret.packages ~= dep.describe(platform, configs[dep.name]);
 
+		if (build_type.length) {
+			// collect build target information (useful for build tools)
+			GeneratorSettings settings;
+			settings.platform = platform;
+			settings.compiler = getCompiler(platform.compilerBinary);
+			settings.config = config;
+			settings.buildType = build_type;
+			auto gen = new TargetDescriptionGenerator(this);
+			try {
+				gen.generate(settings);
+				ret.targets = gen.targetDescriptions;
+			} catch (Exception e) {
+				logDiagnostic("Skipping targets description: %s", e.msg);
+				logDebug("Full error: %s", e.toString().sanitize);
+			}
+		}
+
 		return ret;
 	}
 	/// ditto