diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ea6e91e..42ee61f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -21,9 +21,10 @@ Then add the extension to the playbook:
 antora:
   extensions:
     - require: "@kiwigrid/antora-maven-content"
+      mavenSettings: true             # defaults to false, true resolves to '$HOME/.m2/settings.xml' a string is taken as is
       repositories:
-        - baseUrl: maven-central      # required
-          fetchOptions:               # optional
+        - baseUrl: https://www.example.com # required
+          fetchOptions:                    # optional
             headers:
               "Authorization": "Basic <base64 encoded user:password>"
       sources:
@@ -65,6 +66,12 @@ For each picked version a corresponding playbook content source entry is created
 * points to a local transient cached on-demand git repository the artifact has been extracted to
 * is configured with the same [start path(s)](https://docs.antora.org/antora/3.0/playbook/content-source-start-paths/)
 
+### Maven `settings.xml`
+
+If `mavenSettings` is given a maven settings.xml is parsed for repositories and authentication data.
+The value of the option can be `true` to use `$HOME/.m2/settings.xml` or a string pointing to a settings file.
+Only active profiles are extracted. 
+
 ## Contributions
 
 [Are welcome!](CONTRIBUTING.md)
diff --git a/lib/extension.js b/lib/extension.js
index c31ff90..6da6023 100644
--- a/lib/extension.js
+++ b/lib/extension.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const {
 const MavenClient = require('./maven-client')
 const MavenContentSource = require('./maven-content-source')
 const ContentSourceFactory = require('./content-source-factory')
+const Process = require("process");
 
 /**
  * This antora extension allows to add content from maven coordinates.
@@ -44,10 +45,14 @@ class MavenContentSourceExtension {
         this.contentSourceFactory = new ContentSourceFactory(this.mavenClient, this.git, this.logger);
     }
 
-    async onPlaybookBuilt({ playbook }) {
+    async onPlaybookBuilt({playbook}) {
         this.logger.info("Add Maven Content Sources to playbook...");
-        const repositories = this.config.repositories?.map(entry => new MavenRepository(entry));
+        const repositories = this.config.repositories?.map(entry => new MavenRepository(entry)) || [];
         const coordinates = this.config.sources?.map(entry => new MavenContentCoordinate(entry)) || [];
+        if (this.config.mavenSettings) {
+            const settingsFile = this.config.mavenSettings === true ? Process.env.HOME + '/.m2/settings.xml' : this.config.mavenSettings;
+            repositories.push(...(await this.mavenClient.extractRepositoriesFromSettingsFile(settingsFile)));
+        }
         // copy playbook as it is frozen deeply...
         const mutablePlaybook = MavenContentSourceExtension.#unfreezePlaybookSources(playbook);
         await this.contentSourceFactory.produceContentSourcesIntoPlaybook(repositories, coordinates, mutablePlaybook);
diff --git a/lib/maven-client.js b/lib/maven-client.js
index 2dc740e..5d8c6d1 100644
--- a/lib/maven-client.js
+++ b/lib/maven-client.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const fetch = require("node-fetch");
+const fs = require("fs")
 const libxml = require("libxmljs2");
 const unzip = require("unzip-stream");
 const tar = require("tar");
@@ -12,6 +13,8 @@ const semver = require('semver')
 
 const META_DATA_FILE_NAME = 'maven-metadata.xml';
 
+const SETTINGS_XML_NS = 'http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0'
+
 class MavenClient {
 
     logger;
@@ -140,11 +143,11 @@ class MavenClient {
                 .join('/');
         const snapshotMetaData = await MavenClient.#downloadXml(snaphotMetadataUrl, repository.fetchOptions);
         const latestVersion = snapshotMetaData.get(
-            '//snapshotVersion[extension='
+            '//snapshotVersion[extension="'
             + mavenArtifact.extension
-            + '][classifier='
+            + '"][classifier="'
             + mavenArtifact.classifier
-            + ']/value/text()')?.text()
+            + '"]/value/text()')?.text()
         if (!latestVersion) {
             throw new MavenClientError('Cannot find latest snapshot version info for ' + mavenArtifact.extension + ' in maven metadata: ' + snapshotMetaData)
         }
@@ -213,6 +216,41 @@ class MavenClient {
         return groupId.split('\.')
     }
 
+    async extractRepositoriesFromSettingsFile(settingsFilePath) {
+        this.logger.debug('Loading repositories from ' + settingsFilePath + '...');
+        if (!fs.existsSync(settingsFilePath)) {
+            this.logger.warn('Skip loading repos from settings, ' + settingsFilePath + ' does not exist.');
+            return [];
+        }
+        const mavenSettingsXml = await fs.promises.readFile(settingsFilePath, "utf-8")
+        const mavenSettingsDocument = libxml.parseXml(mavenSettingsXml);
+        this.logger.debug('Settings file parsed ...');
+        const activeProfileNamePredicate = mavenSettingsDocument
+            .find('/xmlns:settings/xmlns:activeProfiles/xmlns:activeProfile/text()', SETTINGS_XML_NS)
+            .map(node => 'xmlns:id="' + node.text() + '"')
+            .join(",");
+        this.logger.debug('Found active profiles: ' + activeProfileNamePredicate);
+        const activeProfileRepoNodes = mavenSettingsDocument.find('/xmlns:settings/xmlns:profiles/xmlns:profile[' + activeProfileNamePredicate + ']/xmlns:repositories/xmlns:repository', SETTINGS_XML_NS)
+        return activeProfileRepoNodes.map(node => {
+            this.logger.debug('Found active profile repo: ' + node);
+            const repoId = node.get('xmlns:id/text()', SETTINGS_XML_NS)?.text()
+            const baseUrl = node.get('xmlns:url/text()', SETTINGS_XML_NS)?.text()
+            const serverNode = mavenSettingsDocument.get('/xmlns:settings/xmlns:servers/xmlns:server[xmlns:id="'+ repoId +'"]', SETTINGS_XML_NS);
+            const fetchOptions = {};
+            if (serverNode) {
+                this.logger.debug('Found active profile repo server: ' + serverNode);
+                const userName = serverNode.get('xmlns:username/text()', SETTINGS_XML_NS)?.text()
+                const password = serverNode.get('xmlns:password/text()', SETTINGS_XML_NS)?.text()
+                const buff = Buffer.from(userName + ':' + password, 'utf-8');
+                fetchOptions.headers = {
+                    'Authorization': 'Basic ' + buff.toString('base64')
+                }
+            }
+            const mavenRepository = new MavenRepository({baseUrl, fetchOptions});
+            this.logger.info('Found repo in maven settings: ' + mavenRepository);
+            return mavenRepository;
+        })
+    }
 }
 
 class MavenClientError extends Error {