diff --git a/guard-lambda/README.md b/guard-lambda/README.md
index a90dd87f5..085d8e02e 100644
--- a/guard-lambda/README.md
+++ b/guard-lambda/README.md
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ aws lambda create-function --function-name cfnGuardLambda \
 The payload JSON to `cfn-guard-lambda` requires the following two fields:
 * `data` - String version of the YAML or JSON structured data
 * `rules` - List of string version of rules files that you want to run your YAML or JSON structured data against.
+* `parse_output` - Boolean. If true, returns parsed output. If false, return raw json output.
 
 ## Invoking `cfn-guard-lambda`
 
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ To invoke the submitted cfn-guard as a AWS Lambda function run:
 
 ```bash
 aws lambda invoke --function-name cfnGuardLambda \
-  --payload "{"data": "<input data>", "rules" : ["<input rules 1>", "<input rules 2>", ...]}" \
+  --payload "{"data": "<input data>", "rules" : ["<input rules 1>", "<input rules 2>", ...], "parse_output": true}" \
   output.json
 ```
 The above works for AWS CLI version 1. If you are planning to use the AWS CLI version 2 please refer to the [Migrating from AWS CLI version 1 to version 2 document](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cliv2-migration.html#cliv2-migration-binaryparam) for changes required to the above command.
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ The above works for AWS CLI version 1. If you are planning to use the AWS CLI ve
 ### Example
 
 ```bash
-aws lambda invoke --function-name cfnGuard --payload '{"data": "{\"Resources\":{\"NewVolume\":{\"Type\":\"AWS::EC2::Volume\",\"Properties\":{\"Size\":500,\"Encrypted\":false,\"AvailabilityZone\":\"us-west-2b\"}},\"NewVolume2\":{\"Type\":\"AWS::EC2::Volume\",\"Properties\":{\"Size\":50,\"Encrypted\":false,\"AvailabilityZone\":\"us-west-2c\"}}}}", "rules" : [ "Resources.*[ Type == /EC2::Volume/ ].Properties.Encrypted == false" ]}' output.json
+aws lambda invoke --function-name cfnGuard --payload '{"data": "{\"Resources\":{\"NewVolume\":{\"Type\":\"AWS::EC2::Volume\",\"Properties\":{\"Size\":500,\"Encrypted\":false,\"AvailabilityZone\":\"us-west-2b\"}},\"NewVolume2\":{\"Type\":\"AWS::EC2::Volume\",\"Properties\":{\"Size\":50,\"Encrypted\":false,\"AvailabilityZone\":\"us-west-2c\"}}}}", "rules" : [ "Resources.*[ Type == /EC2::Volume/ ].Properties.Encrypted == false" ], "parse_output": true}' output.json
 ```
 
 ## FAQs
diff --git a/guard-lambda/src/main.rs b/guard-lambda/src/main.rs
index 1ed43f26d..d17ea1275 100644
--- a/guard-lambda/src/main.rs
+++ b/guard-lambda/src/main.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ struct CustomEvent {
     data: String,
     #[serde(rename = "rules")]
     rules: Vec<String>,
+    #[serde(rename = "parse_output")]
+    parse_output: bool,
 }
 
 #[derive(Serialize)]
@@ -34,7 +36,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn call_cfn_guard(e: CustomEvent, _c: Context) -> Result<Custom
     info!("Rule Set is: [{:?}]", &e.rules);
     let mut results_vec = Vec::new();
     for rule in e.rules.iter() {
-        let result = match cfn_guard::run_checks(&e.data, &rule) {
+        let result = match cfn_guard::run_checks(&e.data, &rule, &e.parse_output) {
             Ok(t) => t,
             Err(e) => (e.to_string()),
         };
diff --git a/guard/src/commands/helper.rs b/guard/src/commands/helper.rs
index 34f116426..20fb02827 100644
--- a/guard/src/commands/helper.rs
+++ b/guard/src/commands/helper.rs
@@ -2,16 +2,15 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 use crate::rules::errors::{Error, ErrorKind};
-use crate::rules::evaluate::RootScope;
+use crate::rules::eval_context::simplifed_json_from_root;
 use crate::rules::path_value::PathAwareValue;
-use crate::commands::tracker::StackTracker;
-use crate::commands::validate::ConsoleReporter;
-use crate::rules::{Evaluate, Result};
+use crate::rules::Result;
 use std::convert::TryFrom;
 
 pub fn validate_and_return_json(
     data: &str,
     rules: &str,
+    parse_output: &bool
 ) -> Result<String> {
     let input_data = match serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(&data) {
        Ok(value) => PathAwareValue::try_from(value),
@@ -28,16 +27,15 @@ pub fn validate_and_return_json(
                     let mut root_scope = crate::rules::eval_context::root_scope(&rules, &root)?;
                     let mut tracker = crate::rules::eval_context::RecordTracker::new(&mut root_scope);
                     let _status = crate::rules::eval::eval_rules_file(&rules, &mut tracker)?;
-                    let event = tracker.final_event.unwrap();
-                    Ok(serde_json::to_string_pretty(&event)?)
+                    let event = tracker.extract();
 
-//                    let root_context = RootScope::new(&rules, &root);
-//                    let stacker = StackTracker::new(&root_context);
-//                    let reporters = vec![];
-//                    let reporter = ConsoleReporter::new(stacker, &reporters, "lambda-run","lambda-payload", true, true, false);
-//                    rules.evaluate(&root, &reporter)?;
-//                    let json_result = reporter.get_result_json();
-//                    return Ok(json_result);
+                    if *parse_output {
+                        Ok(serde_json::to_string_pretty(&simplifed_json_from_root(
+                            &event,
+                        )?)?)
+                    } else {
+                        Ok(serde_json::to_string_pretty(&event)?)
+                    }
                 }
                 Err(e) => return Err(e),
             }
diff --git a/guard/src/commands/validate.rs b/guard/src/commands/validate.rs
index 75cb31441..f13c2b976 100644
--- a/guard/src/commands/validate.rs
+++ b/guard/src/commands/validate.rs
@@ -324,44 +324,6 @@ or rules files.
     }
 }
 
-pub fn validate_and_return_json(
-    data: &str,
-    rules: &str,
-) -> Result<String> {
-    let input_data = match serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(&data) {
-       Ok(value) => PathAwareValue::try_from(value),
-       Err(e) => return Err(Error::new(ErrorKind::ParseError(e.to_string()))),
-    };
-
-    let span = crate::rules::parser::Span::new_extra(&rules, "lambda");
-
-    match crate::rules::parser::rules_file(span) {
-        Ok(rules) => {
-            match input_data {
-                Ok(root) => {
-                    let mut root_scope = crate::rules::eval_context::root_scope(&rules, &root)?;
-                    let mut tracker = crate::rules::eval_context::RecordTracker::new(&mut root_scope);
-                    let _status = crate::rules::eval::eval_rules_file(&rules, &mut tracker)?;
-                    let event = tracker.final_event.unwrap();
-                    let file_report = simplifed_json_from_root(&event)?;
-                    Ok(serde_json::to_string_pretty(&file_report)?)
-
-
-//                    let root_context = RootScope::new(&rules, &root);
-//                    let stacker = StackTracker::new(&root_context);
-//                    let reporters = vec![];
-//                    let reporter = ConsoleReporter::new(stacker, &reporters, "lambda-function", "input-payload", true, true, false);
-//                    rules.evaluate(&root, &reporter)?;
-//                    let json_result = reporter.get_result_json();
-//                    return Ok(json_result);
-                }
-                Err(e) => return Err(e),
-            }
-        }
-        Err(e) =>  return Err(Error::new(ErrorKind::ParseError(e.to_string()))),
-    }
-}
-
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub(crate) struct ConsoleReporter<'r> {
     root_context: StackTracker<'r>,
diff --git a/guard/src/lib.rs b/guard/src/lib.rs
index b4d8ef47f..b11b61015 100644
--- a/guard/src/lib.rs
+++ b/guard/src/lib.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ mod migrate;
 pub extern "C" fn run_checks(
     data: &str,
     rules: &str,
+    parse_output: &bool,
 ) -> crate::rules::Result<String> {
-    return  crate::commands::helper::validate_and_return_json(&data, &rules);
+    return  crate::commands::helper::validate_and_return_json(&data, &rules, &parse_output);
 }