diff --git a/pkl-tools/pkl-tools.gradle.kts b/pkl-tools/pkl-tools.gradle.kts
index 53759086..a464aa9f 100644
--- a/pkl-tools/pkl-tools.gradle.kts
+++ b/pkl-tools/pkl-tools.gradle.kts
@@ -1,12 +1,19 @@
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets
+import java.util.*
+
 plugins {
   pklAllProjects
   pklFatJar
-  pklPublishLibrary
-  pklJavaLibrary
+  signing
 }
 
 val firstPartySourcesJars by configurations.existing
 
+java {
+  // create an empty javadoc jar so Maven Central is happy
+  withJavadocJar()
+}
+
 // Note: pkl-tools cannot (easily) contain pkl-config-kotlin 
 // because pkl-tools ships with a shaded Kotlin stdlib.
 dependencies {
@@ -36,14 +43,6 @@ tasks.shadowJar {
 
 publishing {
   publications {
-    named<MavenPublication>("library") {
-      pom {
-        url.set("https://github.com/apple/pkl/tree/main/pkl-tools")
-        description.set("""
-          The suite of libraries and tools within the Pkl JVM ecosystem.
-        """.trimIndent())
-      }
-    }
     named<MavenPublication>("fatJar") {
       // don't use `-all` suffix because this is the only JAR we publish
       artifactId = "pkl-tools"
@@ -52,7 +51,48 @@ publishing {
         description.set("Fat Jar containing pkl-cli, pkl-codegen-java, " +
           "pkl-codegen-kotlin, pkl-config-java, pkl-core, pkl-doc, " +
           "and their shaded third-party dependencies.")
+        name.set(artifactId)
+        // keep in sync with pklPublishLibrary
+        licenses {
+          license {
+            name.set("The Apache Software License, Version 2.0")
+            url.set("https://github.com/apple/pkl/blob/main/LICENSE.txt")
+          }
+        }
+        developers {
+          developer {
+            id.set("pkl-authors")
+            name.set("The Pkl Authors")
+            email.set("pkl-oss@group.apple.com")
+          }
+        }
+        scm {
+          connection.set("scm:git:git://github.com/apple/pkl.git")
+          developerConnection.set("scm:git:ssh://github.com/apple/pkl.git")
+          val buildInfo = project.extensions.getByType<BuildInfo>()
+          url.set("https://github.com/apple/pkl/tree/${buildInfo.commitish}")
+        }
+        issueManagement {
+          system.set("GitHub Issues")
+          url.set("https://github.com/apple/pkl/issues")
+        }
+        ciManagement {
+          system.set("Circle CI")
+          url.set("https://app.circleci.com/pipelines/github/apple/pkl")
+        }
       }
     }
   }
 }
+
+signing {
+  // provided as env vars `ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_signingKey` and `ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_signingPassword`
+  // in CI.
+  val signingKey = (findProperty("signingKey") as String?)
+    ?.let { Base64.getDecoder().decode(it).toString(StandardCharsets.US_ASCII) }
+  val signingPassword = findProperty("signingPassword") as String?
+  if (signingKey != null && signingPassword != null) {
+    useInMemoryPgpKeys(signingKey, signingPassword)
+  }
+  sign(publishing.publications["fatJar"])
+}
diff --git a/pkl-tools/src/main/java/org/pkl/tools/Tools.java b/pkl-tools/src/main/java/org/pkl/tools/Tools.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 3df5d3e9..00000000
--- a/pkl-tools/src/main/java/org/pkl/tools/Tools.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright © 2024 Apple Inc. and the Pkl project authors. All rights reserved.
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-package org.pkl.tools;
-
-/** This is an intentionally empty class. */
-@SuppressWarnings("unused")
-public class Tools {}