diff --git a/src/python/recoll/recoll/rclconfig.py b/src/python/recoll/recoll/rclconfig.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a2f79709
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/python/recoll/recoll/rclconfig.py
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import locale
+import re
+import os
+import sys
+import base64
+
+class ConfSimple:
+    """A ConfSimple class reads a recoll configuration file, which is a typical
+    ini file (see the Recoll manual). It's a dictionary of dictionaries which
+    lets you retrieve named values from the top level or a subsection"""
+
+    def __init__(self, confname, tildexp = False):
+        f = open(confname, 'r')
+        self.dotildexpand = tildexp
+        self.submaps = {}
+
+        self.parseinput(f)
+        
+    def parseinput(self, f):
+        appending = False
+        line = ''
+        submapkey = ''
+        for cline in f:
+            cline = cline.rstrip("\r\n")
+            if appending:
+                line = line + cline
+            else:
+                line = cline
+            line = line.strip()
+            if line == '' or line[0] == '#':
+                continue
+
+            if line[len(line)-1] == '\\':
+                line = line[0:len(line)-1]
+                appending = True
+                continue
+            appending = False
+            #print line
+            if line[0] == '[':
+                line = line.strip('[]')
+                if self.dotildexpand:
+                    submapkey = os.path.expanduser(line)
+                else:
+                    submapkey = line
+                #print "Submapkey:", submapkey
+                continue
+            nm, sep, value = line.partition('=')
+            if sep == '':
+                continue
+            nm = nm.strip()
+            value = value.strip()
+            #print "Name:", nm, "Value:", value
+
+            if not self.submaps.has_key(submapkey):
+                self.submaps[submapkey] = {}
+            self.submaps[submapkey][nm] = value
+
+    def get(self, nm, sk = ''):
+        '''Returns None if not found, empty string if found empty'''
+        if not self.submaps.has_key(sk):
+            return None
+        if not self.submaps[sk].has_key(nm):
+            return None
+        return self.submaps[sk][nm]
+
+    def getNames(self, sk = ''):
+        if not self.submaps.has_key(sk):
+            return None
+        return self.submaps[sk].keys()
+    
+class ConfTree(ConfSimple):
+    """A ConfTree adds path-hierarchical interpretation of the section keys,
+    which should be '/'-separated values. When a value is requested for a
+    given path, it will also be searched in the sections corresponding to
+    the ancestors. E.g. get(name, '/a/b') will also look in sections '/a' and
+    '/' or '' (the last 2 are equivalent"""
+    def get(self, nm, sk = ''):
+        if sk == '' or sk[0] != '/':
+            return ConfSimple.get(self, nm, sk)
+            
+        if sk[len(sk)-1] != '/':
+            sk = sk + '/'
+
+        # Try all sk ancestors as submaps (/a/b/c-> /a/b/c, /a/b, /a, '')
+        while sk.find('/') != -1:
+            val = ConfSimple.get(self, nm, sk)
+            if val is not None:
+                return val
+            i = sk.rfind('/')
+            if i == -1:
+                break
+            sk = sk[:i]
+
+        return ConfSimple.get(self, nm)
+
+class ConfStack:
+    """ A ConfStack manages the superposition of a list of Configuration
+    objects. Values are looked for in each object from the list until found.
+    This typically provides for defaults overriden by sparse values in the
+    topmost file."""
+
+    def __init__(self, nm, dirs, tp = 'simple'):
+        fnames = []
+        for dir in dirs:
+            fnm = os.path.join(dir, nm)
+            fnames.append(fnm)
+            self._construct(tp, fnames)
+
+    def _construct(self, tp, fnames):
+        self.confs = []
+        for fname in fnames:
+            if tp.lower() == 'simple':
+                conf = ConfSimple(fname)
+            else:
+                conf = ConfTree(fname)
+            self.confs.append(conf)
+
+    def get(self, nm, sk = ''):
+        for conf in self.confs:
+            value = conf.get(nm, sk)
+            if value is not None:
+                return value
+        return None
+
+class RclDynConf:
+    def __init__(self, fname):
+        self.data = ConfSimple(fname)
+
+    def getStringList(self, sk):
+        nms = self.data.getNames(sk)
+        out = []
+        if nms is not None:
+            for nm in nms:
+                out.append(base64.b64decode(self.data.get(nm, sk)))
+        return out
+    
+class RclConfig:
+    def __init__(self, argcnf = None):
+        # Find configuration directory
+        if argcnf is not None:
+            self.confdir = os.path.abspath(argcnf)
+        elif os.environ.has_key("RECOLL_CONFDIR"):
+            self.confdir = os.environ["RECOLL_CONFDIR"]
+        else:
+            self.confdir = os.path.expanduser("~/.recoll")
+        #print "Confdir: [%s]" % self.confdir
+        # Also find datadir. This is trickier because this is set by
+        # "configure" in the C code. We can only do our best. Have to
+        # choose a preference order. Use RECOLL_DATADIR if the order is wrong
+        self.datadir = None
+        if os.environ.has_key("RECOLL_DATADIR"):
+            self.datadir = os.environ["RECOLL_DATADIR"]
+        else:
+            dirs = ("/opt/local", "/usr", "/usr/local")
+            for dir in dirs:
+                dd = os.path.join(dir, "share/recoll")
+                if os.path.exists(dd):
+                    self.datadir = dd
+        if self.datadir is None:
+            self.datadir = "/usr/share/recoll"
+        #print "Datadir: [%s]" % self.datadir
+        self.cdirs = [self.confdir,]
+        self.cdirs.append(os.path.join(self.datadir, "examples"))
+        #print self.cdirs
+        self.config = ConfStack("recoll.conf", self.cdirs)
+        self.keydir = ''
+
+    def getConfDir(self):
+        return self.confdir
+    
+    def setKeyDir(self, dir):
+        self.keydir = dir
+
+    def getConfParam(self, nm):
+        return self.config.get(nm, self.keydir)
+        
+class RclExtraDbs:
+    def __init__(self, config):
+        self.config = config
+
+    def getActDbs(self):
+        dyncfile = os.path.join(self.config.getConfDir(), "history")
+        dync = RclDynConf(dyncfile)
+        return dync.getStringList("actExtDbs")
+