diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5979d90a..4fb4b02a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ## [unreleased]
 ### Added
 - `plotman export` command to output summaries from plot logs in `.csv` format.  ([#557](https://github.com/ericaltendorf/plotman/pull/557))
+- `--json` option for `plotman status`.  ([#549](https://github.com/ericaltendorf/plotman/pull/549))
 
 ## [0.4.1] - 2021-06-11
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/src/plotman/job.py b/src/plotman/job.py
index 6f19c755..b5c4a838 100644
--- a/src/plotman/job.py
+++ b/src/plotman/job.py
@@ -132,6 +132,11 @@ def list_from_tuples(
     ) -> typing.List["Phase"]:
         return [cls.from_tuple(t) for t in l]
 
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
+        if not self.known:
+            return '?:?'
+        return f'{self.major}:{self.minor}'
+
 # TODO: be more principled and explicit about what we cache vs. what we look up
 # dynamically from the logfile
 class Job:
@@ -407,6 +412,25 @@ def status_str_long(self) -> str:
             dst = self.dstdir,
             logfile = self.logfile
             )
+    
+    def to_dict(self) -> typing.Dict[str, object]:
+        '''Exports important information as dictionary.'''
+        return dict(
+            plot_id=self.plot_id[:8],
+            k=self.k,
+            tmp_dir=self.tmpdir,
+            dst_dir=self.dstdir,
+            progress=str(self.progress()),
+            tmp_usage=self.get_tmp_usage(),
+            pid=self.proc.pid,
+            run_status=self.get_run_status(),
+            mem_usage=self.get_mem_usage(),
+            time_wall=self.get_time_wall(),
+            time_user=self.get_time_user(),
+            time_sys=self.get_time_sys(),
+            time_iowait=self.get_time_iowait()
+        )
+
 
     def get_mem_usage(self) -> int:
         # Total, inc swapped
diff --git a/src/plotman/plotman.py b/src/plotman/plotman.py
index 04863491..a844905a 100755
--- a/src/plotman/plotman.py
+++ b/src/plotman/plotman.py
@@ -33,7 +33,9 @@ def parse_args(self) -> typing.Any:
 
         sp.add_parser('version', help='print the version')
 
-        sp.add_parser('status', help='show current plotting status')
+        p_status = sp.add_parser('status', help='show current plotting status')
+        p_status.add_argument("--json", action="store_true", 
+                help="export status report in json format")
 
         sp.add_parser('dirs', help='show directories info')
 
@@ -210,11 +212,15 @@ def main() -> None:
 
             # Status report
             if args.cmd == 'status':
-                result = "{0}\n\n{1}\n\nUpdated at: {2}".format(
-                    reporting.status_report(jobs, get_term_width()),
-                    reporting.summary(jobs),
-                    datetime.datetime.today().strftime("%c"),
-                )
+                if args.json:
+                    # convert jobs list into json
+                    result = reporting.json_report(jobs)
+                else:
+                    result = "{0}\n\n{1}\n\nUpdated at: {2}".format(
+                        reporting.status_report(jobs, get_term_width()),
+                        reporting.summary(jobs),
+                        datetime.datetime.today().strftime("%c"),
+                    )
                 print(result)
 
             # Directories report
diff --git a/src/plotman/reporting.py b/src/plotman/reporting.py
index 20ce8940..3e6e0bfd 100644
--- a/src/plotman/reporting.py
+++ b/src/plotman/reporting.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import time
+import json
 import math
 import os
 import typing
@@ -5,7 +7,6 @@
 import psutil
 import texttable as tt  # from somewhere?
 from itertools import groupby
-
 from plotman import archive, configuration, job, manager, plot_util
 
 
@@ -15,23 +16,17 @@ def abbr_path(path: str, putative_prefix: str) -> str:
     else:
         return path
 
-def phase_str(phase: job.Phase) -> str:
-    if not phase.known:
-        return '?:?'
-
-    return f'{phase.major}:{phase.minor}'
-
 def phases_str(phases: typing.List[job.Phase], max_num: typing.Optional[int] = None) -> str:
     '''Take a list of phase-subphase pairs and return them as a compact string'''
     if not max_num or len(phases) <= max_num:
-        return ' '.join([phase_str(pair) for pair in phases])
+        return ' '.join([str(pair) for pair in phases])
     else:
         n_first = math.floor(max_num / 2)
         n_last = max_num - n_first
         n_elided = len(phases) - (n_first + n_last)
-        first = ' '.join([phase_str(pair) for pair in phases[:n_first]])
+        first = ' '.join([str(pair) for pair in phases[:n_first]])
         elided = " [+%d] " % n_elided
-        last = ' '.join([phase_str(pair) for pair in phases[n_first + n_elided:]])
+        last = ' '.join([str(pair) for pair in phases[n_first + n_elided:]])
         return first + elided + last
 
 def n_at_ph(jobs: typing.List[job.Job], ph: job.Phase) -> int:
@@ -106,7 +101,7 @@ def status_report(jobs: typing.List[job.Job], width: int, height: typing.Optiona
                         abbr_path(j.tmpdir, tmp_prefix), # Temp directory
                         abbr_path(j.dstdir, dst_prefix), # Destination directory
                         plot_util.time_format(j.get_time_wall()), # Time wall
-                        phase_str(j.progress()), # Overall progress (major:minor)
+                        str(j.progress()), # Overall progress (major:minor)
                         plot_util.human_format(j.get_tmp_usage(), 0), # Current temp file size
                         j.proc.pid, # System pid
                         j.get_run_status(), # OS status for the job process
@@ -222,3 +217,18 @@ def dirs_report(jobs: typing.List[job.Job], dir_cfg: configuration.Directories,
         ])
 
     return '\n'.join(reports) + '\n'
+
+def json_report(jobs: typing.List[job.Job]) -> str:
+    jobs_dicts = []
+    for j in sorted(jobs, key=job.Job.get_time_wall):
+        with j.proc.oneshot():
+            jobs_dicts.append(j.to_dict())
+
+    stuff = {
+        "jobs": jobs_dicts,
+        "total_jobs": len(jobs),
+        "updated": time.time(),
+    }
+
+    return json.dumps(stuff)
+