It has a simulator and a state space analysis tool is included.
The main architects behind the tool are Kurt Jensen, Søren Christensen, Lars M. Kristensen, and Michael Westergaard.
From the autumn of 2010, CPN Tools is transferred to the AIS group, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
The graphical editor is written in the academic language, BETA, and the simulator backend is written in the Standard ML variant SML/NJ.
In roughly 2010, CPN Tools maintenance ceased and was transferred to its successor project, CPN IDE.