diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f86cc11..cdda7d7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ tests:
 
 run-examples:
 	cd "${CURDIR}/examples/data_pipeline_simple" && poetry run datajob synthesize --config datajob_stack.py --stage dev
-	cd "${CURDIR}/examples/data_pipeline_with_packaged_project" && poetry run datajob synthesize --config datajob_stack.py --stage dev --package
+	cd "${CURDIR}/examples/data_pipeline_with_packaged_project" && poetry run datajob synthesize --config datajob_stack.py --stage dev --package setuppy
 
 gh-actions:
 	make install
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e824cd4..bc2544a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
  Beware that we depend on [aws cdk cli](https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk)!
 
     pip install datajob
-    npm install -g aws-cdk
+    npm install -g aws-cdk@1.87.1 # latest version of datajob depends this version
 
 # Quickstart
 
diff --git a/datajob/datajob.py b/datajob/datajob.py
index a0ed530..381b85b 100644
--- a/datajob/datajob.py
+++ b/datajob/datajob.py
@@ -23,13 +23,13 @@ def run():
 def deploy(
     stage: str = typer.Option(None),
     config: str = typer.Option(Path, callback=os.path.abspath),
-    package: bool = typer.Option(False, "--package"),
+    package: str = typer.Option(None, "--package"),
     ctx: typer.Context = typer.Option(list),
 ):
     if package:
         # todo - check if we are building in the right directory
         project_root = str(Path(config).parent)
-        wheel.create(project_root=project_root)
+        wheel.create_wheel(project_root=project_root, package=package)
     # create stepfunctions if requested
     # make sure you have quotes around the app arguments
     args = ["--app", f""" "python {config}" """, "-c", f"stage={stage}"]
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def deploy(
     context_settings={"allow_extra_args": True, "ignore_unknown_options": True}
 )
 def synthesize(
-    stage: str = typer.Option(...),
+    stage: str = typer.Option(None),
     config: str = typer.Option(Path, callback=os.path.abspath),
     ctx: typer.Context = typer.Option(list),
 ):
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def synthesize(
     context_settings={"allow_extra_args": True, "ignore_unknown_options": True}
 )
 def destroy(
-    stage: str = typer.Option(...),
+    stage: str = typer.Option(None),
     config: str = typer.Option(Path, callback=os.path.abspath),
     ctx: typer.Context = typer.Option(list),
 ):
diff --git a/datajob/datajob_stack.py b/datajob/datajob_stack.py
index e63655d..b1d831f 100644
--- a/datajob/datajob_stack.py
+++ b/datajob/datajob_stack.py
@@ -93,19 +93,17 @@ def create_resources(self):
     def get_stage(self, stage):
         """get the stage parameter and return a default if not found."""
         try:
-            if stage == "None":
-                logger.debug("no stage parameter is passed via the cli.")
+            if stage == "None" or not stage:
+                logger.debug(
+                    "No stage is passed to datajob stack, taking the default one."
+                )
                 return DataJobStack.DEFAULT_STAGE
-            if stage:
+            elif stage:
                 logger.debug(
                     "a stage parameter is passed via the cli or via the datajob stack configuration file."
                 )
                 return stage
-            if stage is None:
-                logger.debug(
-                    "No stage is passed to datajob stack, taking the default one."
-                )
-                return self.get_context_parameter("stage")
+
         except ValueError:
             return DataJobStack.DEFAULT_STAGE
 
diff --git a/datajob/package/wheel.py b/datajob/package/wheel.py
index a3e8264..e326a2a 100644
--- a/datajob/package/wheel.py
+++ b/datajob/package/wheel.py
@@ -9,21 +9,61 @@ class DatajobPackageWheelError(Exception):
     """any exception occuring when constructing a wheel in data job context."""
 
 
-def create(project_root):
-    """launch a subprocess to built a wheel.
-    todo - use the setuptools/disttools api to create a setup.py.
-    relying on a subprocess feels dangerous.
+def create_wheel(project_root: str, package: str) -> None:
+    """
+    Select the function to build a wheel based on the argument provided with --package.
+    At the time of writing the arguments can be setuppy or poetry.
+    :param project_root: the path to the root of your project.
+    :param package: the tool you want to use to build your wheel using (setuppy, poetry, ...)
+    :return: None
+    """
+    wheel_functions = {"setuppy": _setuppy_wheel, "poetry": _poetry_wheel}
+    wheel_functions[package](project_root)
+
+
+def _setuppy_wheel(project_root: str) -> None:
+    """
+    build a wheel for your project using poetry.
+    :param project_root: the path to the root of your project.
+    :return: None
     """
     setup_py_file = Path(project_root, "setup.py")
     if setup_py_file.is_file():
         logger.debug(f"found a setup.py file in {project_root}")
-        logger.debug("creating wheel for glue job")
         cmd = f"cd {project_root}; python setup.py bdist_wheel"
-        print(f"wheel command: {cmd}")
-        # todo - shell=True is not secure
-        subprocess.check_call(shlex.split(cmd))
+        _call_create_wheel_command(cmd=cmd)
     else:
         raise DatajobPackageWheelError(
             f"no setup.py file detected in project root {project_root}. "
             f"Hence we cannot create a python wheel for this project"
         )
+
+
+def _poetry_wheel(project_root: str) -> None:
+    """
+    build a wheel for your project using poetry.
+    :param project_root: the path to the root of your project.
+    :return: None
+    """
+    poetry_file = Path(project_root, "pyproject.toml")
+    if poetry_file.is_file():
+        logger.debug(f"found a pyproject.toml file in {project_root}")
+        cmd = f"cd {project_root}; poetry build"
+        _call_create_wheel_command(cmd=cmd)
+    else:
+        raise DatajobPackageWheelError(
+            f"no pyproject.toml file detected in project root {project_root}. "
+            f"Hence we cannot create a python wheel for this project"
+        )
+
+
+def _call_create_wheel_command(cmd: str) -> None:
+    """
+    shell out and call the command to create the wheel.
+    :param cmd: the command to create a wheel
+    :return: None
+    """
+    logger.debug("creating wheel")
+    print(f"wheel command: {cmd}")
+    # todo - shell=True is not secure
+    subprocess.call(cmd, shell=True)
diff --git a/datajob_tests/datajob_test.py b/datajob_tests/datajob_test.py
index f35e6d4..328a3af 100644
--- a/datajob_tests/datajob_test.py
+++ b/datajob_tests/datajob_test.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def test_datajob_deploy_cli_runs_with_unknown_args_successfully(self, m_call_cdk
         )
         self.assertEqual(result.exit_code, 0)
 
-    @patch("datajob.package.wheel.create")
+    @patch("datajob.package.wheel.create_wheel")
     @patch("datajob.datajob.call_cdk")
     def test_datajob_deploy_cli_runs_with_project_root_successfully(
         self, m_call_cdk, m_create_wheel
@@ -49,6 +49,43 @@ def test_datajob_deploy_cli_runs_with_project_root_successfully(
                 "--stage",
                 "some-stage",
                 "--package",
+                "poetry",
+            ],
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(result.exit_code, 0)
+        self.assertEqual(m_create_wheel.call_count, 1)
+
+    @patch("datajob.package.wheel._poetry_wheel")
+    @patch("datajob.datajob.call_cdk")
+    def test_datajob_deploy_with_package_poetry(self, m_call_cdk, m_create_wheel):
+        result = self.runner.invoke(
+            datajob.app,
+            [
+                "deploy",
+                "--config",
+                "some_config.py",
+                "--stage",
+                "some-stage",
+                "--package",
+                "poetry",
+            ],
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(result.exit_code, 0)
+        self.assertEqual(m_create_wheel.call_count, 1)
+
+    @patch("datajob.package.wheel._setuppy_wheel")
+    @patch("datajob.datajob.call_cdk")
+    def test_datajob_deploy_with_package_setuppy(self, m_call_cdk, m_create_wheel):
+        result = self.runner.invoke(
+            datajob.app,
+            [
+                "deploy",
+                "--config",
+                "some_config.py",
+                "--stage",
+                "some-stage",
+                "--package",
+                "setuppy",
             ],
         )
         self.assertEqual(result.exit_code, 0)
diff --git a/examples/data_pipeline_with_packaged_project/README.md b/examples/data_pipeline_with_packaged_project/README.md
index e490d6c..808fcde 100644
--- a/examples/data_pipeline_with_packaged_project/README.md
+++ b/examples/data_pipeline_with_packaged_project/README.md
@@ -20,4 +20,7 @@ Make sure you have configured a `setup.py` in the root of your poject.
     export AWS_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT=my-account-number
     export AWS_PROFILE=my-profile
     cd examples/data_pipeline_with_packaged_project
-    datajob deploy --stage dev --config datajob_stack.py --package
+    # if you want to use poetry to create a wheel
+    datajob deploy --config datajob_stack.py --package poetry
+    # if you want to create a wheel from setup.py
+    datajob deploy --config datajob_stack.py --package setuppy
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 9f9ed74..feb1316 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "datajob"
-version = "0.4.0"
+version = "0.5.0"
 description = "Build and deploy a serverless data pipeline with no effort on AWS."
 authors = ["Vincent Claes <vincent.v.claes@gmail.com>"]
 license = "Apache Software License (Apache 2.0)"