diff --git a/main/Main.scala b/main/Main.scala
index 4bda0dfce..bdc31f027 100644
--- a/main/Main.scala
+++ b/main/Main.scala
@@ -241,8 +241,8 @@ object BuiltinCommands
 		val newSession = session.appendSettings( append map (a => (a, arg)))
 		reapply(newSession, structure, s)
 	}
-	def inspect = Command(InspectCommand, inspectBrief, inspectDetailed)(spacedKeyParser) { (s,sk) =>
-		val detailString = Project.details(Project.structure(s), sk.scope, sk.key)
+	def inspect = Command(InspectCommand, inspectBrief, inspectDetailed)(inspectParser) { case (s,(actual,sk)) =>
+		val detailString = Project.details(Project.structure(s), actual, sk.scope, sk.key)
 		logger(s).info(detailString)
 		s
 	}
@@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ object BuiltinCommands
 		Output.lastGrep(sk, Project.structure(s).streams, pattern)
 		s
 	}
+	def inspectParser = (s: State) => token((Space ~> ("actual" ^^^ true)) ?? false) ~ spacedKeyParser(s)
 	val spacedKeyParser = (s: State) => Act.requireSession(s, token(Space) ~> Act.scopedKeyParser(s))
 	val optSpacedKeyParser = (s: State) => spacedKeyParser(s).?
 	def lastGrepParser(s: State) = Act.requireSession(s, (token(Space) ~> token(NotSpace, "<pattern>")) ~ optSpacedKeyParser(s))
diff --git a/main/Project.scala b/main/Project.scala
index ac8c44862..77f622efb 100644
--- a/main/Project.scala
+++ b/main/Project.scala
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ object Project extends Init[Scope]
 	def delegates(structure: Load.BuildStructure, scope: Scope, key: AttributeKey[_]): Seq[ScopedKey[_]] =
 		structure.delegates(scope).map(d => ScopedKey(d, key))
 
-	def details(structure: Load.BuildStructure, scope: Scope, key: AttributeKey[_]): String =
+	def details(structure: Load.BuildStructure, actual: Boolean, scope: Scope, key: AttributeKey[_]): String =
 	{
 		val scoped = ScopedKey(scope,key)
 		val value = 
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ object Project extends Init[Scope]
 				case Some(v) => "Value:\n\t" + v.toString
 			}
 		val definedIn = structure.data.definingScope(scope, key) match { case Some(sc) => "Provided by:\n\t" + Scope.display(sc, key.label); case None => "" }
-		val cMap = compiled(structure.settings)(structure.delegates, structure.scopeLocal)
+		val cMap = compiled(structure.settings, actual)(structure.delegates, structure.scopeLocal)
 		val related = cMap.keys.filter(k => k.key == key && k.scope != scope)
 		val depends = cMap.get(scoped) match { case Some(c) => c.dependencies.toSet; case None => Set.empty }
 		val reverse = reverseDependencies(cMap, scoped)
diff --git a/util/collection/Settings.scala b/util/collection/Settings.scala
index 9450ee10e..cd0363dab 100644
--- a/util/collection/Settings.scala
+++ b/util/collection/Settings.scala
@@ -69,14 +69,14 @@ trait Init[Scope]
 	def getValue[T](s: Settings[Scope], k: ScopedKey[T]) = s.get(k.scope, k.key).get
 	def asFunction[T](s: Settings[Scope]): ScopedKey[T] => T = k => getValue(s, k)
 
-	def compiled(init: Seq[Setting[_]])(implicit delegates: Scope => Seq[Scope], scopeLocal: ScopeLocal): CompiledMap =
+	def compiled(init: Seq[Setting[_]], actual: Boolean = true)(implicit delegates: Scope => Seq[Scope], scopeLocal: ScopeLocal): CompiledMap =
 	{
 		// prepend per-scope settings 
 		val withLocal = addLocal(init)(scopeLocal)
 		// group by Scope/Key, dropping dead initializations
 		val sMap: ScopedMap = grouped(withLocal)
 		// delegate references to undefined values according to 'delegates'
-		val dMap: ScopedMap = delegate(sMap)(delegates)
+		val dMap: ScopedMap = if(actual) delegate(sMap)(delegates) else sMap
 		// merge Seq[Setting[_]] into Compiled
 		compile(dMap)
 	}