diff --git a/.autorelease/autorelease.yml b/.autorelease/autorelease.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d35090
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.autorelease/autorelease.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+# project configuration
+project:
+  project_name: Autorelease
+  repo_owner: dwhswenson
+  repo_name: autorelease
+
+# repo configuration: how you organize releases and the repo
+repo:
+  # these are relative to where you run the script from
+  repo-path:  '.'
+  setup-path: '.'
+  release-branches:
+    - stable
+  release-tag: "v{BASE_VERSION}"
+
+# writing release notes
+notes:
+  labels:
+    - label: enhancement
+      heading: New features
+    - label: bugfix
+      heading: Bugs fixed
+    - label: misc PR
+      heading: Miscellaneous improvements
+
+  standard_contributors:
+    - dwhswenson
+
+# running release checks
+release-check:
+  versions:
+    - setup-cfg
+    - conda: devtools/conda-recipe/meta.yaml
+  skip: []
+
+
+# TODO: this replaces various environment variables
+env:
+  package-import-name: 'autorelease'
+  dry: ""
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
index ca7bbb9..3fbf0d2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
@@ -23,10 +23,11 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         CONDA_PY:
-          - 3.9
-          - 3.8
-          - 3.7
-          - 2.7
+          - "3.11"
+          - "3.10"
+          - "3.9"
+          - "3.8"
+          - "3.7"
            
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
@@ -59,3 +60,4 @@ jobs:
           python -c "import autorelease"
           autorelease-release -h
           python release_check.py
+          autorelease check
diff --git a/autorelease-travis.yml b/autorelease-travis.yml
index b8fc25f..86ee2c1 100644
--- a/autorelease-travis.yml
+++ b/autorelease-travis.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# AUTORELEASE v0.3.2
+# AUTORELEASE v0.4.0
 # for nonrelease, use @main
 # for release, use v${VERSION}, e.g., v1.0.0
 stages:
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ stages:
     - deploy pypi
 
 import:
-    - dwhswenson/autorelease:travis_stages/deploy_testpypi.yml@v0.3.2
-    - dwhswenson/autorelease:travis_stages/test_testpypi.yml@v0.3.2
-    - dwhswenson/autorelease:travis_stages/cut_release.yml@v0.3.2
-    - dwhswenson/autorelease:travis_stages/deploy_pypi.yml@v0.3.2
+    - dwhswenson/autorelease:travis_stages/deploy_testpypi.yml@v0.4.0
+    - dwhswenson/autorelease:travis_stages/test_testpypi.yml@v0.4.0
+    - dwhswenson/autorelease:travis_stages/cut_release.yml@v0.4.0
+    - dwhswenson/autorelease:travis_stages/deploy_pypi.yml@v0.4.0
diff --git a/autorelease/scripts/check.py b/autorelease/scripts/check.py
index 79b6f97..85cf048 100644
--- a/autorelease/scripts/check.py
+++ b/autorelease/scripts/check.py
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ def checker_from_yaml_dict(release_check):
     return checker
 
 
-def run_checks(yml, branch=None, event=None, allow_patch_skip=False):
-    dct = yaml.load(yml, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
+def run_checks(dct, branch=None, event=None, allow_patch_skip=False):
     release_check = dct['release-check']
+    release_check.update(dct['repo'])
     checker = checker_from_yaml_dict(release_check)
     if branch is None and event is None:
         branch, event = checker.get_branch_event_from_github_env()
diff --git a/autorelease/scripts/cli.py b/autorelease/scripts/cli.py
index 133ed5a..70db92c 100644
--- a/autorelease/scripts/cli.py
+++ b/autorelease/scripts/cli.py
@@ -1,18 +1,83 @@
+import os
 import click
+import yaml
 
 from autorelease.scripts.vendor import vendor_actions
 from autorelease.scripts.check import run_checks
+from autorelease import ReleaseNoteWriter
+
+
+def _find_first_file(pathlist):
+    for p in pathlist:
+        if os.path.exists(p):
+            return p
+    return None
+
+def load_yaml(user_input, default_pathlist):
+    if user_input is not None:
+        dct = yaml.load(user_input, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
+    else:
+        filename = _find_first_file(default_pathlist)
+        if filename is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("No config file could be found")
+        with open(filename, mode='r') as f:
+            dct = yaml.load(f, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
+
+    return dct
+
+def load_config(user_input):
+    paths = [
+        ".autorelease.yml",
+        "autorelease.yml",
+        os.path.join(".autorelease", "autorelease.yml"),
+        os.path.join(".autorelease", "conf.yml"),
+    ]
+    return load_yaml(user_input, paths)
+
+def load_auth(user_input):
+    paths = [
+        os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), ".autorelease-auth.yml"),
+        os.path.join(".autorelease", "auth.yml"),
+        os.path.join(".autorelease", "autorelease-auth.yml"),
+        ".autorelease-auth.yml",
+        "autorelease-auth.yml",
+    ]
+    return load_yaml(user_input, paths)
+
 
 @click.group()
 def cli():
     pass
 
 @cli.command()
-@click.option('--conf', type=click.File('r'), default='autorelease.yml')
+@click.option('--conf', type=click.File('r'))
 @click.option('--branch', default=None)
 @click.option('--event', default=None)
 def check(conf, branch, event):
-    run_checks(conf, branch, event)
+    dct = load_config(conf)
+    run_checks(dct, branch, event)
+
+@cli.command()
+@click.option('--conf', type=click.File('r'))
+def config(conf):
+    from pprint import pprint
+    config = load_config(conf)
+    pprint(config)
+
+
+@cli.command()
+@click.option('--conf', type=click.File('r'))
+@click.option('--auth', type=click.File('r'))
+@click.option('--since-release', type=str, default=None)
+@click.option('-o', '--output', type=str)
+def notes(conf, auth, since_release, output):
+    config = load_config(conf)
+    github_user = load_auth(auth)
+    notes_conf = config['notes']
+    notes_conf.update(github_user)
+    notes_conf['project'] = config['project']
+    writer = ReleaseNoteWriter(config=notes_conf)
+    writer.write_release_notes(outfile=output)
 
 @click.group()
 def vendor():
diff --git a/autorelease/scripts/release.py b/autorelease/scripts/release.py
index fff8ffe..3d9b58d 100644
--- a/autorelease/scripts/release.py
+++ b/autorelease/scripts/release.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ def main():
         repo=repo,
         github_user=github_user
     )
-    
+
     # testing
     expected_pr = releaser.find_relevant_pr()
     print("Expected PR: " + str(expected_pr))
diff --git a/autorelease/scripts/vendor.py b/autorelease/scripts/vendor.py
index 266a404..8dd81d4 100644
--- a/autorelease/scripts/vendor.py
+++ b/autorelease/scripts/vendor.py
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import string
-import pathlib
+try:
+    import pathlib
+except ImportError:  # py2
+    import pathlib2
 import pkg_resources
 from packaging.version import Version
 import autorelease
diff --git a/autorelease/version_checks.py b/autorelease/version_checks.py
index c20cceb..a759314 100644
--- a/autorelease/version_checks.py
+++ b/autorelease/version_checks.py
@@ -6,9 +6,20 @@
 from autorelease.version import get_setup_version  # reuse the vendored
 from autorelease.utils import conda_recipe_version
 
+import importlib
+
+def import_and_get(fully_qualified):
+    path = fully_qualified.split('.')
+    to_load = path.pop(-1)
+    module = ".".join(path)
+    mod = importlib.import_module(module)
+    return getattr(mod, to_load)
+
+
 version_getters = {
     'setup-cfg': lambda path: get_setup_version(None, path),
     'conda': conda_recipe_version,
+    'getattr': import_and_get,
 }
 
 default_args = {
diff --git a/devtools/conda-recipe/meta.yaml b/devtools/conda-recipe/meta.yaml
index fb2b8d1..3409fbb 100644
--- a/devtools/conda-recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/devtools/conda-recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package:
   name: autorelease
   # add ".dev0" for unreleased versions
-  version: "0.3.2"
+  version: "0.4.0"
 
 source:
   path: ../../
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 11dc6fd..180e278 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ pyyaml
 gitpython
 requests
 future
+pathlib2
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 8c34fa2..c551984 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [metadata]
 name = autorelease
-version = 0.3.2
+version = 0.4.0
 # version should end in .dev0 if this isn't to be released
 short_description = Tools to keep the release process clean.
 description = Tools to keep the release process clean.
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ classifiers =
     Topic :: Software Development :: Testing
 
 [options]
+python_requires = >=3.7
 install_requires =
     packaging
     pyyaml