diff --git a/custom-log4j-appender/build-jar.gradle b/custom-log4j-appender/build-jar.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..106c280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/custom-log4j-appender/build-jar.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+plugins {
+    id 'java'
+    id 'maven-publish'
+}
+
+repositories {
+    mavenCentral()
+}
+
+dependencies {
+    implementation 'com.squareup.okhttp3:okhttp:4.9.3'
+    implementation 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.13.1'
+    implementation 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.14.1'
+    implementation 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api:2.14.1'
+}
+
+jar {
+    manifest {
+        attributes(
+            'Implementation-Title': 'Custom Log4j Appender',
+            'Implementation-Vendor': 'New Relic Labs',
+            'Implementation-Vendor-Id': 'com.newrelic.labs',
+            'Implementation-Version': '1.0.2'
+        )
+    }
+}
+
+
+
+tasks.withType(JavaCompile) {
+    options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
+}
+
+task javadocJar(type: Jar) {
+    archiveClassifier.set('javadoc')
+    from javadoc
+}
+
+task sourcesJar(type: Jar) {
+    archiveClassifier.set('sources')
+    from sourceSets.main.allSource
+}
+
+
+
+publishing {
+    publications {
+        mavenJava(MavenPublication) {
+            from components.java // Include standard JAR
+
+            artifact javadocJar
+            artifact sourcesJar
+
+            groupId = 'io.github.newrelic-experimental'
+            artifactId = 'custom-log4j-appender'
+            version = '1.0.2'
+
+            pom {
+                name = 'Custom Log4j Appender'
+                description = 'A custom Log4j appender for New Relic.'
+                url = 'https://github.com/newrelic-experimental/newrelic-java-log4j-appender'
+                licenses {
+                    license {
+                        name = 'The Apache License, Version 2.0'
+                        url = 'http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt'
+                    }
+                }
+                developers {
+                    developer {
+                        id = 'newrelic'
+                        name = 'New Relic'
+                        email = 'gsidhwani@newrelic.com'
+                    }
+                }
+                scm {
+                    connection = 'scm:git:git://github.com/newrelic-experimental/newrelic-java-log4j-appender.git'
+                    developerConnection = 'scm:git:ssh://github.com/newrelic-experimental/newrelic-java-log4j-appender.git'
+                    url = 'https://github.com/newrelic-experimental/newrelic-java-log4j-appender'
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    repositories {
+        maven {
+            name = 'sonatype'
+            url = uri('https://oss.sonatype.org/service/local/staging/deploy/maven2/')
+            credentials {
+                username = project.findProperty("ossrhUsername") ?: ""
+                password = project.findProperty("ossrhPassword") ?: ""
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/custom-log4j-appender/build-shadowJar.gradle b/custom-log4j-appender/build-shadowJar.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b40c3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/custom-log4j-appender/build-shadowJar.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+plugins {
+    id 'java'
+    id 'com.github.johnrengelman.shadow' version '6.1.0'
+    id 'maven-publish'
+}
+
+repositories {
+    mavenCentral()
+}
+
+dependencies {
+    implementation 'com.squareup.okhttp3:okhttp:4.9.3'
+    implementation 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.13.1'
+    implementation 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.14.1'
+    implementation 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api:2.14.1'
+}
+
+jar {
+    enabled = false // Disable the standard JAR task
+}
+
+shadowJar {
+    archiveClassifier.set('') // Remove the 'all' classifier
+    mergeServiceFiles()
+    manifest {
+        attributes 'Main-Class': 'com.newrelic.labs.logforwarder.MAIN'
+    }
+}
+
+tasks.withType(JavaCompile) {
+    options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
+}
+
+task javadocJar(type: Jar) {
+    archiveClassifier.set('javadoc')
+    from javadoc
+}
+
+task sourcesJar(type: Jar) {
+    archiveClassifier.set('sources')
+    from sourceSets.main.allSource
+}
+
+publishing {
+    publications {
+        mavenJava(MavenPublication) {
+            artifact shadowJar // Only include Shadow JAR
+            artifact javadocJar
+            artifact sourcesJar
+
+            groupId = 'io.github.newrelic-experimental'
+            artifactId = 'custom-log4j-appender'
+            version = '1.0.0'
+
+            pom {
+                name = 'Custom Log4j Appender'
+                description = 'A custom Log4j appender for New Relic Labs.'
+                url = 'https://github.com/newrelic-experimental/newrelic-java-log4j-appender'
+                licenses {
+                    license {
+                        name = 'The Apache License, Version 2.0'
+                        url = 'http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt'
+                    }
+                }
+                developers {
+                    developer {
+                        id = 'newrelic'
+                        name = 'New Relic'
+                        email = 'info@newrelic.com'
+                    }
+                }
+                scm {
+                    connection = 'scm:git:git://github.com/newrelic-experimental/newrelic-java-log4j-appender.git'
+                    developerConnection = 'scm:git:ssh://github.com/newrelic-experimental/newrelic-java-log4j-appender.git'
+                    url = 'https://github.com/newrelic-experimental/newrelic-java-log4j-appender'
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    repositories {
+        maven {
+            name = 'sonatype'
+            url = uri('https://oss.sonatype.org/service/local/staging/deploy/maven2/')
+            credentials {
+                username = project.findProperty("ossrhUsername") ?: ""
+                password = project.findProperty("ossrhPassword") ?: ""
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/custom-log4j-appender/build.gradle b/custom-log4j-appender/build.gradle
index 707501f..106c280 100644
--- a/custom-log4j-appender/build.gradle
+++ b/custom-log4j-appender/build.gradle
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ jar {
     }
 }
 
+
+
 tasks.withType(JavaCompile) {
     options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
 }
diff --git a/custom-log4j-appender/publish-jar.sh b/custom-log4j-appender/publish-jar.sh
index b414afd..ad57775 100755
--- a/custom-log4j-appender/publish-jar.sh
+++ b/custom-log4j-appender/publish-jar.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+# clean existing stuff
+rm -rf build io
+# copy correct build.gradle
+cp build-jar.gradle build.gradle
 # Set variables
 GROUP_ID="io.github.newrelic-experimental"
 ARTIFACT_ID="custom-log4j-appender"
diff --git a/custom-log4j-appender/publish_shadowJar.sh b/custom-log4j-appender/publish_shadowJar.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 51cbf32..0000000
--- a/custom-log4j-appender/publish_shadowJar.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,105 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Set variables
-GROUP_ID="io.github.newrelic-experimental"
-ARTIFACT_ID="custom-log4j-appender"
-VERSION="1.0.0"
-KEY_ID="0ED9FD74E81E6D83FAE25F235640EA0B1C631C6F" # Replace with your actual key ID
-
-# Get the current directory (assuming the script is run from the custom-log4j-appender directory)
-CURRENT_DIR=$(pwd)
-PROJECT_ROOT=$(dirname "$CURRENT_DIR")
-
-echo "Current Directory: $CURRENT_DIR"
-echo "Project Root: $PROJECT_ROOT"
-
-# Clean and build the project
-cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
-./gradlew clean build shadowJar javadocJar sourcesJar generatePomFileForMavenJavaPublication
-
-# Navigate to the directory containing the artifacts
-cd "$CURRENT_DIR/build/libs"
-
-# List the contents of the build/libs directory for debugging
-echo "Contents of build/libs:"
-ls -la
-
-# Find the files without version numbers
-JAR_FILE="custom-log4j-appender.jar"
-JAVADOC_FILE="custom-log4j-appender-javadoc.jar"
-SOURCES_FILE="custom-log4j-appender-sources.jar"
-POM_FILE="custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION.pom"
-
-echo "JAR File: $JAR_FILE"
-echo "Javadoc File: $JAVADOC_FILE"
-echo "Sources File: $SOURCES_FILE"
-echo "POM File: $POM_FILE"
-
-# Check if the files exist before proceeding
-if [ ! -f "$JAR_FILE" ] || [ ! -f "$JAVADOC_FILE" ] || [ ! -f "$SOURCES_FILE" ]; then
-    echo "One or more expected files are missing in build/libs"
-    ls -la
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-# Prepare the directory structure
-TARGET_DIR="$CURRENT_DIR/io/github/newrelic-experimental/custom-log4j-appender/$VERSION"
-mkdir -p $TARGET_DIR
-
-# Copy the built artifacts to the appropriate directory with version numbers
-echo "Copying artifacts to $TARGET_DIR"
-cp $JAR_FILE $TARGET_DIR/custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION.jar
-cp $JAVADOC_FILE $TARGET_DIR/custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION-javadoc.jar
-cp $SOURCES_FILE $TARGET_DIR/custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION-sources.jar
-
-# Navigate to the target directory
-cd $TARGET_DIR
-
-# Generate checksums for the copied files
-for file in custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION.jar custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION-javadoc.jar custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION-sources.jar; do
-    echo "Generating checksums for $file"
-    md5sum $file | awk '{ print $1 }' > $file.md5
-    sha1sum $file | awk '{ print $1 }' > $file.sha1
-done
-
-# Generate GPG signatures using the specific key ID
-for file in custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION.jar custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION-javadoc.jar custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION-sources.jar; do
-    echo "Generating GPG signature for $file"
-    gpg --local-user $KEY_ID --armor --detach-sign $file
-done
-
-# Generate and copy the POM file
-cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
-./gradlew generatePomFileForMavenJavaPublication
-cp custom-log4j-appender/build/publications/mavenJava/pom-default.xml $TARGET_DIR/$POM_FILE
-
-# Navigate back to the target directory
-cd $TARGET_DIR
-
-# Generate checksums and signatures for the POM file
-echo "Generating checksums and GPG signature for $POM_FILE"
-md5sum $POM_FILE | awk '{ print $1 }' > $POM_FILE.md5
-sha1sum $POM_FILE | awk '{ print $1 }' > $POM_FILE.sha1
-gpg --local-user $KEY_ID --armor --detach-sign $POM_FILE
-
-# Verify checksums
-echo "Verifying checksums"
-for file in custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION.jar custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION-javadoc.jar custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION-sources.jar $POM_FILE; do
-    if [ -f "$file" ]; then
-        echo "Verifying checksum for $file"
-        md5sum -c <(echo "$(cat $file.md5)  $file")
-        sha1sum -c <(echo "$(cat $file.sha1)  $file")
-    else
-        echo "File $file does not exist in the target directory $TARGET_DIR."
-        ls -la $TARGET_DIR
-    fi
-done
-
-# Navigate back to the custom-log4j-appender directory
-cd "$CURRENT_DIR"
-
-# Create a ZIP file containing the entire directory structure
-echo "Creating ZIP file custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION.zip"
-zip -r custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION.zip io
-
-echo "Artifacts prepared and zipped successfully. You can now upload custom-log4j-appender-$VERSION.zip to Sonatype OSSRH."