diff --git a/IPython/utils/tests/test_tokenutil.py b/IPython/utils/tests/test_tokenutil.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69e3362
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/utils/tests/test_tokenutil.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+"""Tests for tokenutil"""
+# Copyright (c) IPython Development Team.
+# Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
+
+import nose.tools as nt
+
+from IPython.utils.tokenutil import token_at_cursor
+
+def expect_token(expected, cell, column, line=0):
+    token = token_at_cursor(cell, column, line)
+    
+    lines = cell.splitlines()
+    line_with_cursor = '%s|%s' % (lines[line][:column], lines[line][column:])
+    line
+    nt.assert_equal(token, expected,
+        "Excpected %r, got %r in: %s" % (
+        expected, token, line_with_cursor)
+    )
+
+def test_simple(): 
+    cell = "foo"
+    for i in range(len(cell)):
+        expect_token("foo", cell, i)
+
+def test_function():
+    cell = "foo(a=5, b='10')"
+    expected = 'foo'
+    for i in (6,7,8,10,11,12):
+        expect_token("foo", cell, i)
+
+def test_multiline():
+    cell = '\n'.join([
+        'a = 5',
+        'b = hello("string", there)'
+    ])
+    expected = 'hello'
+    for i in range(4,9):
+        expect_token(expected, cell, i, 1)
+    expected = 'there'
+    for i in range(21,27):
+        expect_token(expected, cell, i, 1)
+
+def test_attrs():
+    cell = "foo(a=obj.attr.subattr)"
+    expected = 'obj'
+    idx = cell.find('obj')
+    for i in range(idx, idx + 3):
+        expect_token(expected, cell, i)
+    idx = idx + 4
+    expected = 'obj.attr'
+    for i in range(idx, idx + 4):
+        expect_token(expected, cell, i)
+    idx = idx + 5
+    expected = 'obj.attr.subattr'
+    for i in range(idx, len(cell)):
+        expect_token(expected, cell, i)
diff --git a/IPython/utils/tokenutil.py b/IPython/utils/tokenutil.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c1fbac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/utils/tokenutil.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+"""Token-related utilities"""
+
+# Copyright (c) IPython Development Team.
+# Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function
+
+from collections import namedtuple
+from io import StringIO
+from keyword import iskeyword
+
+from . import tokenize2
+from .py3compat import cast_unicode_py2
+
+Token = namedtuple('Token', ['token', 'text', 'start', 'end', 'line'])
+
+def generate_tokens(readline):
+    """wrap generate_tokens to catch EOF errors"""
+    try:
+        for token in tokenize2.generate_tokens(readline):
+            yield token
+    except tokenize2.TokenError:
+        # catch EOF error
+        return
+
+def token_at_cursor(cell, column, line=0):
+    """Get the token at a given cursor
+    
+    Used for introspection.
+    
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    
+    cell : unicode
+        A block of Python code
+    column : int
+        The column of the cursor offset, where the token should be found
+    line : int, optional
+        The line where the token should be found (optional if cell is a single line)
+    """
+    cell = cast_unicode_py2(cell)
+    names = []
+    tokens = []
+    current_line = 0
+    for tup in generate_tokens(StringIO(cell).readline):
+        
+        tok = Token(*tup)
+        
+        # token, text, start, end, line = tup
+        start_col = tok.start[1]
+        end_col = tok.end[1]
+        if line == current_line and start_col > column:
+            # current token starts after the cursor,
+            # don't consume it
+            break
+        
+        if tok.token == tokenize2.NAME and not iskeyword(tok.text):
+            if names and tokens and tokens[-1].token == tokenize2.OP and tokens[-1].text == '.':
+                names[-1] = "%s.%s" % (names[-1], tok.text)
+            else:
+                names.append(tok.text)
+        elif tok.token == tokenize2.OP:
+            if tok.text == '=' and names:
+                # don't inspect the lhs of an assignment
+                names.pop(-1)
+        
+        if line == current_line and end_col > column:
+            # we found the cursor, stop reading
+            break
+        
+        tokens.append(tok)
+        if tok.token == tokenize2.NEWLINE:
+            current_line += 1
+    
+    if names:
+        return names[-1]
+    else:
+        return ''
+    
+