diff --git a/kernel/register.cc b/kernel/register.cc
index 17bfb079a..85d3d4748 100644
--- a/kernel/register.cc
+++ b/kernel/register.cc
@@ -747,9 +747,25 @@ void Backend::backend_call(RTLIL::Design *design, std::ostream *f, std::string f
 		design->selection_stack.pop_back();
 }
 
+struct SimHelper {
+	string name;
+	inline string filesafe_name() {
+		if (name.at(0) == '$')
+			return name.substr(1);
+		else
+			return name;
+	}
+	string short_desc;
+	string ports;
+	string desc;
+	string code;
+	string ver;
+};
+
 static struct CellHelpMessages {
-	dict<string, string> cell_help, cell_code;
+	dict<string, SimHelper> cell_help, cell_code;
 	CellHelpMessages() {
+		SimHelper tempCell;
 #include "techlibs/common/simlib_help.inc"
 #include "techlibs/common/simcells_help.inc"
 		cell_help.sort();
@@ -947,9 +963,8 @@ struct HelpPass : public Pass {
 			else if (args[1] == "-cells") {
 				log("\n");
 				for (auto &it : cell_help_messages.cell_help) {
-					string line = split_tokens(it.second, "\n").at(0);
-					string cell_name = next_token(line);
-					log("    %-15s %s\n", cell_name.c_str(), line.c_str());
+					SimHelper help_cell = it.second;
+					log("    %-15s %s\n", help_cell.name.c_str(), help_cell.ports.c_str());
 				}
 				log("\n");
 				log("Type 'help <cell_type>' for more information on a cell type.\n");
@@ -973,7 +988,7 @@ struct HelpPass : public Pass {
 			}
 			else if (args[1] == "-write-rst-cells-manual") {
 				for (auto &it : cell_help_messages.cell_help) {
-					write_cell_rst(it.first, it.second, cell_help_messages.cell_code.at(it.first + "+"));
+					write_cell_rst(it.first, it.second.desc, it.second.code);
 				}
 			}
 			else if (pass_register.count(args[1])) {
@@ -985,13 +1000,23 @@ struct HelpPass : public Pass {
 				}
 			}
 			else if (cell_help_messages.cell_help.count(args[1])) {
-				log("%s", cell_help_messages.cell_help.at(args[1]).c_str());
-				log("Run 'help %s+' to display the Verilog model for this cell type.\n", args[1].c_str());
-				log("\n");
+				SimHelper help_cell = cell_help_messages.cell_help.at(args[1]);
+				if (help_cell.ver == "2") {
+					log("\n    %s %s\n", help_cell.name.c_str(), help_cell.ports.c_str());
+					log("\n%s\n", help_cell.short_desc.c_str());
+					log("%s\n", help_cell.desc.c_str());
+					log("Run 'help %s+' to display the Verilog model for this cell type.\n", args[1].c_str());
+					log("\n");
+				} else {
+					log("%s\n", help_cell.desc.c_str());
+					log("Run 'help %s+' to display the Verilog model for this cell type.\n", args[1].c_str());
+					log("\n");
+				}
 			}
 			else if (cell_help_messages.cell_code.count(args[1])) {
+				SimHelper help_cell = cell_help_messages.cell_code.at(args[1]);
 				log("\n");
-				log("%s", cell_help_messages.cell_code.at(args[1]).c_str());
+				log("%s\n", help_cell.code.c_str());
 			}
 			else
 				log("No such command or cell type: %s\n", args[1].c_str());
diff --git a/techlibs/common/cellhelp.py b/techlibs/common/cellhelp.py
index 5c44cb802..8d0d7d757 100644
--- a/techlibs/common/cellhelp.py
+++ b/techlibs/common/cellhelp.py
@@ -1,34 +1,58 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 
+from __future__ import annotations
 import fileinput
 import json
 
-current_help_msg = []
-current_module_code = []
-current_module_name = None
-current_module_signature = None
+class SimHelper:
+    name: str = ""
+    short_desc: str = ""
+    ports: str = ""
+    desc: list[str]
+    code: list[str]
+    ver: str = "1"
 
-def print_current_cell():
-    print("cell_help[\"%s\"] = %s;" % (current_module_name, "\n".join([json.dumps(line) for line in current_help_msg])))
-    print("cell_code[\"%s+\"] = %s;" % (current_module_name, "\n".join([json.dumps(line) for line in current_module_code])))
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.desc = []
+    
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
+        val = "tempCell = {\n"
+        val += f'  {json.dumps(self.name)},\n'
+        val += f'  {json.dumps(self.short_desc)},\n'
+        val += f'  {json.dumps(self.ports)},\n'
+        val += '  ' + json.dumps("\n".join(self.desc)) + ',\n'
+        val += '  ' + json.dumps("\n".join(self.code)) + ',\n'
+        val += f'  {json.dumps(self.ver)},\n'
+        val += "};\n"
+        val += f'cell_help[{json.dumps(self.name)}] = tempCell;'
+        val += "\n"
+        val += f'cell_code[{json.dumps(self.name + "+")}] = tempCell;'
+        return val
+
+simHelper = SimHelper()
 
 for line in fileinput.input():
+    line = line.rstrip()
+    # special comments
     if line.startswith("//-"):
-        current_help_msg.append(line[4:] if len(line) > 4 else "\n")
+        simHelper.desc.append(line[4:] if len(line) > 4 else "")
+    elif line.startswith("//* "):
+        _, key, val = line.split(maxsplit=2)
+        setattr(simHelper, key, val)
+    
+    # code parsing
     if line.startswith("module "):
-        current_module_name = line.split()[1].strip("\\")
-        current_module_signature = " ".join(line.replace("\\", "").replace(";", "").split()[1:])
-        current_module_code = []
+        clean_line = line[7:].replace("\\", "").replace(";", "")
+        simHelper.name, simHelper.ports = clean_line.split(maxsplit=1)
+        simHelper.code = []
     elif not line.startswith("endmodule"):
         line = "    " + line
-    current_module_code.append(line.replace("\t", "    "))
+    try:
+        simHelper.code.append(line.replace("\t", "    "))
+    except AttributeError:
+        # no module definition, ignore line
+        pass
     if line.startswith("endmodule"):
-        if len(current_help_msg) == 0:
-            current_help_msg.append("\n")
-            current_help_msg.append("    %s\n" % current_module_signature)
-            current_help_msg.append("\n")
-            current_help_msg.append("No help message for this cell type found.\n")
-            current_help_msg.append("\n")
-        print_current_cell()
-        current_help_msg = []
+        print(simHelper)
+        simHelper = SimHelper()