diff --git a/daemon/Makefile b/daemon/Makefile
index 863c220b5..166c22618 100644
--- a/daemon/Makefile
+++ b/daemon/Makefile
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ daemon-all: daemon/lightningd
 
 DAEMON_SRC :=					\
 	daemon/configdir.c			\
+	daemon/json.c				\
 	daemon/lightningd.c			\
 	daemon/log.c				\
 	daemon/pseudorand.c
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ DAEMON_JSMN_HEADERS := daemon/jsmn/jsmn.h
 
 DAEMON_HEADERS :=				\
 	daemon/configdir.h			\
+	daemon/json.h				\
 	daemon/lightningd.h			\
 	daemon/log.h				\
 	daemon/pseudorand.h
diff --git a/daemon/json.c b/daemon/json.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e878611da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/daemon/json.c
@@ -0,0 +1,383 @@
+/* JSON core and helpers */
+#include "json.h"
+#include <assert.h>
+#include <ccan/str/hex/hex.h>
+#include <ccan/tal/str/str.h>
+#include <ccan/tal/tal.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+struct json_result {
+	unsigned int indent;
+	/* tal_count() of this is strlen() + 1 */
+	char *s;
+};
+
+const char *json_tok_contents(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t *t)
+{
+	if (t->type == JSMN_STRING)
+		return buffer + t->start - 1;
+	return buffer + t->start;
+}
+
+/* Include " if it's a string. */
+int json_tok_len(const jsmntok_t *t)
+{
+	if (t->type == JSMN_STRING)
+		return t->end - t->start + 2;
+	return t->end - t->start;
+}
+
+bool json_tok_streq(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t *tok, const char *str)
+{
+	if (tok->type != JSMN_STRING)
+		return false;
+	if (tok->end - tok->start != strlen(str))
+		return false;
+	return strncmp(buffer + tok->start, str, tok->end - tok->start) == 0;
+}
+
+bool json_tok_number(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t *tok,
+		     unsigned int *num)
+{
+	char *end;
+	unsigned long l;
+
+	l = strtoul(buffer + tok->start, &end, 0);
+	if (end != buffer + tok->end)
+		return false;
+
+	*num = l;
+
+	/* Check for overflow */
+	if (l == ULONG_MAX && errno == ERANGE)
+		return false;
+
+	if (*num != l)
+		return false;
+
+	return true;
+}	
+
+bool json_tok_is_null(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t *tok)
+{
+	if (tok->type != JSMN_PRIMITIVE)
+		return false;
+	return buffer[tok->start] == 'n';
+}
+
+const jsmntok_t *json_next(const jsmntok_t *tok)
+{
+	const jsmntok_t *t;
+	size_t i;
+
+	for (t = tok + 1, i = 0; i < tok->size; i++)
+		t = json_next(t);
+
+	return t;
+}
+
+const jsmntok_t *json_get_member(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t tok[],
+				 const char *label)
+{
+	const jsmntok_t *t, *end;
+
+	assert(tok->type == JSMN_OBJECT);
+
+	end = json_next(tok);
+	for (t = tok + 1; t < end; t = json_next(t+1))
+		if (json_tok_streq(buffer, t, label))
+			return t + 1;
+		
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+const jsmntok_t *json_get_arr(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t tok[],
+			      size_t index)
+{
+	const jsmntok_t *t, *end;
+
+	assert(tok->type == JSMN_ARRAY);
+
+	end = json_next(tok);
+	for (t = tok + 1; t < end; t = json_next(t)) {
+		if (index == 0)
+			return t;
+		index--;
+	}
+
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+/* Guide is a string with . for members, [] around indexes. */
+const jsmntok_t *json_delve(const char *buffer,
+			    const jsmntok_t *tok,
+			    const char *guide)
+{
+	while (*guide) {
+		const char *key;
+		size_t len = strcspn(guide+1, ".[]");
+
+		key = tal_strndup(NULL, guide+1, len);
+		switch (guide[0]) {
+		case '.':
+			if (tok->type != JSMN_OBJECT)
+				return tal_free(key);
+			tok = json_get_member(buffer, tok, key);
+			if (!tok)
+				return tal_free(key);
+			break;
+		case '[':
+			if (tok->type != JSMN_ARRAY)
+				return tal_free(key);
+			tok = json_get_arr(buffer, tok, atol(key));
+			if (!tok)
+				return tal_free(key);
+			/* Must be terminated */
+			assert(guide[1+strlen(key)] == ']');
+			len++;
+			break;
+		default:
+			abort();
+		}
+		tal_free(key);
+		guide += len + 1;
+	}
+
+	return tok;
+}
+
+void json_get_params(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t param[], ...)
+{
+	va_list ap;
+	const char *name;
+	const jsmntok_t **tokptr, *p, *end;
+
+	if (param->type == JSMN_ARRAY) {
+		if (param->size == 0)
+			p = NULL;
+		else
+			p = param + 1;
+		end = json_next(param);
+	} else
+		assert(param->type == JSMN_OBJECT);
+
+	va_start(ap, param);
+	while ((name = va_arg(ap, const char *)) != NULL) {
+		tokptr = va_arg(ap, const jsmntok_t **);
+		if (param->type == JSMN_ARRAY) {
+			*tokptr = p;
+			if (p) {
+				p = json_next(p);
+				if (p == end)
+					p = NULL;
+			}
+		} else {
+			*tokptr = json_get_member(buffer, param, name);
+		}
+		/* Convert 'null' to NULL */
+		if (*tokptr
+		    && (*tokptr)->type == JSMN_PRIMITIVE
+		    && buffer[(*tokptr)->start] == 'n') {
+			*tokptr = NULL;
+		}
+	}
+
+	va_end(ap);
+}
+
+jsmntok_t *json_parse_input(const char *input, int len, bool *valid)
+{
+	jsmn_parser parser;
+	jsmntok_t *toks;
+	jsmnerr_t ret;
+
+	toks = tal_arr(input, jsmntok_t, 10);
+
+again:	
+	jsmn_init(&parser);
+	ret = jsmn_parse(&parser, input, len, toks, tal_count(toks) - 1);
+
+	switch (ret) {
+	case JSMN_ERROR_INVAL:
+		*valid = false;
+		return tal_free(toks);
+	case JSMN_ERROR_PART:
+		*valid = true;
+		return tal_free(toks);
+	case JSMN_ERROR_NOMEM:
+		tal_resize(&toks, tal_count(toks) * 2);
+		goto again;
+	}
+
+	/* Cut to length and return. */
+	*valid = true;
+	tal_resize(&toks, ret + 1);
+	/* Make sure last one is always referencable. */
+	toks[ret].type = -1;
+	toks[ret].start = toks[ret].end = toks[ret].size = 0;
+	
+	return toks;
+}
+
+static void result_append(struct json_result *res, const char *str)
+{
+	size_t len = tal_count(res->s) - 1;
+
+	tal_resize(&res->s, len + strlen(str) + 1);
+	strcpy(res->s + len, str);
+}
+
+static void PRINTF_FMT(2,3)
+result_append_fmt(struct json_result *res, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	size_t len = tal_count(res->s) - 1, fmtlen;
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	fmtlen = vsnprintf(NULL, 0, fmt, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	tal_resize(&res->s, len + fmtlen + 1);
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	vsprintf(res->s + len, fmt, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+}
+
+static bool result_ends_with(struct json_result *res, const char *str)
+{
+	size_t len = tal_count(res->s) - 1;
+
+	if (strlen(str) > len)
+		return false;
+	return streq(res->s + len - strlen(str), str);
+}
+
+static void json_start_member(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname)
+{
+	/* Prepend comma if required. */
+	if (result->s[0]
+	    && !result_ends_with(result, "{ ")
+	    && !result_ends_with(result, "[ "))
+		result_append(result, ", ");
+	if (fieldname)
+		result_append_fmt(result, "\"%s\" : ", fieldname);
+}
+
+void json_array_start(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname)
+{
+	json_start_member(result, fieldname);
+	if (result->indent) {
+		unsigned int i;
+		result_append(result, "\n");
+		for (i = 0; i < result->indent; i++)
+			result_append(result, "\t");
+	}
+	result_append(result, "[ ");
+	result->indent++;
+}
+
+void json_array_end(struct json_result *result)
+{
+	assert(result->indent);
+	result->indent--;
+	result_append(result, " ]");
+}
+
+void json_object_start(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname)
+{
+	json_start_member(result, fieldname);
+	if (result->indent) {
+		unsigned int i;
+		result_append(result, "\n");
+		for (i = 0; i < result->indent; i++)
+			result_append(result, "\t");
+	}
+	result_append(result, "{ ");
+	result->indent++;
+}
+
+void json_object_end(struct json_result *result)
+{
+	assert(result->indent);
+	result->indent--;
+	result_append(result, " }");
+}
+
+void json_add_num(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname, unsigned int value)
+{
+	json_start_member(result, fieldname);
+	result_append_fmt(result, "%u", value);
+}
+
+void json_add_literal(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname,
+		      const char *literal, int len)
+{
+	json_start_member(result, fieldname);
+	result_append_fmt(result, "%.*s", len, literal);
+}
+
+void json_add_string(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname, const char *value)
+{
+	json_start_member(result, fieldname);
+	result_append_fmt(result, "\"%s\"", value);
+}
+
+void json_add_bool(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname, bool value)
+{
+	json_start_member(result, fieldname);
+	result_append(result, value ? "true" : "false");
+}
+
+void json_add_null(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname)
+{
+	json_start_member(result, fieldname);
+	result_append(result, "null");
+}
+
+void json_add_hex(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname,
+		  const void *data, size_t len)
+{
+	char hex[hex_str_size(len)];
+
+	hex_encode(data, len, hex, sizeof(hex));
+	json_add_string(result, fieldname, hex);
+}
+
+void json_add_object(struct json_result *result, ...)
+{
+	va_list ap;
+	const char *field;
+
+	va_start(ap, result);
+	json_object_start(result, NULL);
+	while ((field = va_arg(ap, const char *)) != NULL) {
+		jsmntype_t type = va_arg(ap, jsmntype_t);
+		const char *value = va_arg(ap, const char *);
+		if (type == JSMN_STRING)
+			json_add_string(result, field, value);
+		else
+			json_add_literal(result, field, value, strlen(value));
+	}
+	json_object_end(result);
+	va_end(ap);
+}
+
+struct json_result *new_json_result(const tal_t *ctx)
+{
+	struct json_result *r = tal(ctx, struct json_result);
+
+	/* Using tal_arr means that it has a valid count. */
+	r->s = tal_arrz(r, char, 1);
+	r->indent = 0;
+	return r;
+}
+	
+const char *json_result_string(const struct json_result *result)
+{
+	assert(!result->indent);
+	assert(tal_count(result->s) == strlen(result->s) + 1);
+	return result->s;
+}
diff --git a/daemon/json.h b/daemon/json.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c333803fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/daemon/json.h
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#ifndef LIGHTNING_DAEMON_JSON_H
+#define LIGHTNING_DAEMON_JSON_H
+#include "config.h"
+#include "stdbool.h"
+#include "stdlib.h"
+#include <ccan/tal/tal.h>
+
+#define JSMN_STRICT 1
+# include "jsmn/jsmn.h"
+
+struct json_result;
+
+/* Include " if it's a string. */
+const char *json_tok_contents(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t *t);
+
+/* Include " if it's a string. */
+int json_tok_len(const jsmntok_t *t);
+
+/* Is this a string equal to str? */
+bool json_tok_streq(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t *tok, const char *str);
+
+/* Extract number from this (may be a string, or a number literal) */
+bool json_tok_number(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t *tok,
+		     unsigned int *num);
+
+/* Is this the null primitive? */
+bool json_tok_is_null(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t *tok);
+
+/* Returns next token with same parent. */
+const jsmntok_t *json_next(const jsmntok_t *tok);
+
+/* Get the parameters (by position or name).  Followed by pairs
+ * of const char *name, const jsmntok_t **ret_ptr, then NULL.
+ * *ret_ptr will be set to NULL if it's a literal 'null' or not present.
+ */
+void json_get_params(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t param[], ...);
+
+/* Get top-level member. */
+const jsmntok_t *json_get_member(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t tok[],
+				 const char *label);
+
+/* Get index'th array member. */
+const jsmntok_t *json_get_arr(const char *buffer, const jsmntok_t tok[],
+			      size_t index);
+
+/* Guide is a string with . for members, [] around indexes. */
+const jsmntok_t *json_delve(const char *buffer,
+			    const jsmntok_t *tok,
+			    const char *guide);
+
+/* If input is complete and valid, return tokens. */
+jsmntok_t *json_parse_input(const char *input, int len, bool *valid);
+
+/* Creating JSON strings */
+
+/* '"fieldname" : [ ' or '[ ' if fieldname is NULL */
+void json_array_start(struct json_result *ptr, const char *fieldname);
+/* '"fieldname" : { ' or '{ ' if fieldname is NULL */
+void json_object_start(struct json_result *ptr, const char *fieldname);
+/* ' ], ' */
+void json_array_end(struct json_result *ptr);
+/* ' }, ' */
+void json_object_end(struct json_result *ptr);
+
+struct json_result *new_json_result(const tal_t *ctx);
+
+/* '"fieldname" : "value"' or '"value"' if fieldname is NULL*/
+void json_add_string(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname, const char *value);
+/* '"fieldname" : literal' or 'literal' if fieldname is NULL*/
+void json_add_literal(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname,
+		      const char *literal, int len);
+/* '"fieldname" : value' or 'value' if fieldname is NULL */
+void json_add_num(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname,
+		  unsigned int value);
+/* '"fieldname" : true|false' or 'true|false' if fieldname is NULL */
+void json_add_bool(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname,
+		   bool value);
+/* '"fieldname" : null' or 'null' if fieldname is NULL */
+void json_add_null(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname);
+/* '"fieldname" : "0189abcdef..."' or "0189abcdef..." if fieldname is NULL */
+void json_add_hex(struct json_result *result, const char *fieldname,
+		  const void *data, size_t len);
+
+void json_add_object(struct json_result *result, ...);
+
+const char *json_result_string(const struct json_result *result);
+#endif /* LIGHTNING_DAEMON_JSON_H */