diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/decoder.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/decoder.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f1ee7baa90b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/decoder.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package syftjson
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/formats/syftjson/model"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/distro"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
+)
+
+func decoder(reader io.Reader) (*pkg.Catalog, *source.Metadata, *distro.Distro, error) {
+	dec := json.NewDecoder(reader)
+
+	var doc model.Document
+	err := dec.Decode(&doc)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to decode syft-json: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return toSyftModel(doc)
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/decoder_test.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/decoder_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f60ccb684cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/decoder_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package syftjson
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/formats/common/testutils"
+	"github.com/go-test/deep"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestEncodeDecodeCycle(t *testing.T) {
+	testImage := "image-simple"
+	originalCatalog, originalMetadata, _ := testutils.ImageInput(t, testImage)
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	assert.NoError(t, encoder(&buf, originalCatalog, &originalMetadata, nil))
+
+	actualCatalog, actualMetadata, _, err := decoder(bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes()))
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	for _, d := range deep.Equal(originalMetadata, *actualMetadata) {
+		t.Errorf("metadata difference: %+v", d)
+	}
+
+	actualPackages := actualCatalog.Sorted()
+	for idx, p := range originalCatalog.Sorted() {
+		if !assert.Equal(t, p.Name, actualPackages[idx].Name) {
+			t.Errorf("different package at idx=%d: %s vs %s", idx, p.Name, actualPackages[idx].Name)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// ids will never be equal
+		p.ID = ""
+		actualPackages[idx].ID = ""
+
+		for _, d := range deep.Equal(*p, *actualPackages[idx]) {
+			if strings.Contains(d, ".VirtualPath: ") {
+				// location.Virtual path is not exposed in the json output
+				continue
+			}
+			if strings.HasSuffix(d, "<nil slice> != []") {
+				// semantically the same
+				continue
+			}
+			t.Errorf("package difference (%s): %+v", p.Name, d)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/encoder.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/encoder.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..533961a1e49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/encoder.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package syftjson
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/distro"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
+)
+
+func encoder(output io.Writer, catalog *pkg.Catalog, srcMetadata *source.Metadata, d *distro.Distro) error {
+	// TODO: application config not available yet
+	doc := ToFormatModel(catalog, srcMetadata, d, nil)
+
+	enc := json.NewEncoder(output)
+	// prevent > and < from being escaped in the payload
+	enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
+	enc.SetIndent("", " ")
+
+	return enc.Encode(&doc)
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/format.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/format.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bc3f5164289
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/format.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package syftjson
+
+import "github.com/anchore/syft/syft/format"
+
+func Format() format.Format {
+	return format.NewFormat(
+		format.JSONOption,
+		encoder,
+		decoder,
+		validator,
+	)
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/model/distro.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/distro.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b136f2505a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/distro.go
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package model
+
+// Distro provides information about a detected Linux Distro.
+type Distro struct {
+	Name    string `json:"name"`    // Name of the Linux distribution
+	Version string `json:"version"` // Version of the Linux distribution (major or major.minor version)
+	IDLike  string `json:"idLike"`  // the ID_LIKE field found within the /etc/os-release file
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/model/document.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/document.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..71e76f62de1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/document.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package model
+
+// Document represents the syft cataloging findings as a JSON document
+type Document struct {
+	Artifacts             []Package      `json:"artifacts"` // Artifacts is the list of packages discovered and placed into the catalog
+	ArtifactRelationships []Relationship `json:"artifactRelationships"`
+	Source                Source         `json:"source"`     // Source represents the original object that was cataloged
+	Distro                Distro         `json:"distro"`     // Distro represents the Linux distribution that was detected from the source
+	Descriptor            Descriptor     `json:"descriptor"` // Descriptor is a block containing self-describing information about syft
+	Schema                Schema         `json:"schema"`     // Schema is a block reserved for defining the version for the shape of this JSON document and where to find the schema document to validate the shape
+}
+
+// Descriptor describes what created the document as well as surrounding metadata
+type Descriptor struct {
+	Name          string      `json:"name"`
+	Version       string      `json:"version"`
+	Configuration interface{} `json:"configuration,omitempty"`
+}
+
+type Schema struct {
+	Version string `json:"version"`
+	URL     string `json:"url"`
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/model/package.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/package.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9ee46806246
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/package.go
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+package model
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/log"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
+)
+
+// Package represents a pkg.Package object specialized for JSON marshaling and unmarshaling.
+type Package struct {
+	PackageBasicData
+	PackageCustomData
+}
+
+// PackageBasicData contains non-ambiguous values (type-wise) from pkg.Package.
+type PackageBasicData struct {
+	ID        string            `json:"id"`
+	Name      string            `json:"name"`
+	Version   string            `json:"version"`
+	Type      pkg.Type          `json:"type"`
+	FoundBy   string            `json:"foundBy"`
+	Locations []source.Location `json:"locations"`
+	Licenses  []string          `json:"licenses"`
+	Language  pkg.Language      `json:"language"`
+	CPEs      []string          `json:"cpes"`
+	PURL      string            `json:"purl"`
+}
+
+// PackageCustomData contains ambiguous values (type-wise) from pkg.Package.
+type PackageCustomData struct {
+	MetadataType pkg.MetadataType `json:"metadataType"`
+	Metadata     interface{}      `json:"metadata"`
+}
+
+// packageMetadataUnpacker is all values needed from Package to disambiguate ambiguous fields during json unmarshaling.
+type packageMetadataUnpacker struct {
+	MetadataType pkg.MetadataType `json:"metadataType"`
+	Metadata     json.RawMessage  `json:"metadata"`
+}
+
+func (p *packageMetadataUnpacker) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("metadataType: %s, metadata: %s", p.MetadataType, string(p.Metadata))
+}
+
+// UnmarshalJSON is a custom unmarshaller for handling basic values and values with ambiguous types.
+func (p *Package) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
+	var basic PackageBasicData
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &basic); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	p.PackageBasicData = basic
+
+	var unpacker packageMetadataUnpacker
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &unpacker); err != nil {
+		log.Warnf("failed to unmarshall into packageMetadataUnpacker: %v", err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	p.MetadataType = unpacker.MetadataType
+
+	switch p.MetadataType {
+	case pkg.ApkMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.ApkMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	case pkg.RpmdbMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.RpmdbMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	case pkg.DpkgMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.DpkgMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	case pkg.JavaMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.JavaMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	case pkg.RustCargoPackageMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.CargoPackageMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	case pkg.GemMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.GemMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	case pkg.KbPackageMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.KbPackageMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	case pkg.PythonPackageMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.PythonPackageMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	case pkg.NpmPackageJSONMetadataType:
+		var payload pkg.NpmPackageJSONMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Metadata, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.Metadata = payload
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/model/relationship.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/relationship.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8820156bdc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/relationship.go
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package model
+
+type Relationship struct {
+	Parent   string      `json:"parent"`
+	Child    string      `json:"child"`
+	Type     string      `json:"type"`
+	Metadata interface{} `json:"metadata"`
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/model/source.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/source.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4e6de60dc5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/model/source.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package model
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
+)
+
+// Source object represents the thing that was cataloged
+type Source struct {
+	Type   string      `json:"type"`
+	Target interface{} `json:"target"`
+}
+
+// sourceUnpacker is used to unmarshal Source objects
+type sourceUnpacker struct {
+	Type   string          `json:"type"`
+	Target json.RawMessage `json:"target"`
+}
+
+// UnmarshalJSON populates a source object from JSON bytes.
+func (s *Source) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
+	var unpacker sourceUnpacker
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &unpacker); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	s.Type = unpacker.Type
+
+	switch s.Type {
+	case "directory":
+		s.Target = string(unpacker.Target[:])
+	case "image":
+		var payload source.ImageMetadata
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(unpacker.Target, &payload); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		s.Target = payload
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("unsupported package metadata type: %+v", s.Type)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/Dockerfile b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..79cfa759e35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Note: changes to this file will result in updating several test values. Consider making a new image fixture instead of editing this one.
+FROM scratch
+ADD file-1.txt /somefile-1.txt
+ADD file-2.txt /somefile-2.txt
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/file-1.txt b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/file-1.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..985d3408e98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/file-1.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+this file has contents
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/file-2.txt b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/file-2.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..396d08bbc72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/image-simple/file-2.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+file-2 contents!
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSPDXJSONDirectoryPresenter.golden b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSPDXJSONDirectoryPresenter.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..249517449ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSPDXJSONDirectoryPresenter.golden
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+{
+ "SPDXID": "SPDXRef-DOCUMENT",
+ "name": "/some/path",
+ "spdxVersion": "SPDX-2.2",
+ "creationInfo": {
+  "created": "2021-09-16T20:44:35.198887Z",
+  "creators": [
+   "Organization: Anchore, Inc",
+   "Tool: syft-[not provided]"
+  ],
+  "licenseListVersion": "3.14"
+ },
+ "dataLicense": "CC0-1.0",
+ "documentNamespace": "https://anchore.com/syft/image/",
+ "packages": [
+  {
+   "SPDXID": "SPDXRef-Package-python-package-1-1.0.1",
+   "name": "package-1",
+   "licenseConcluded": "MIT",
+   "downloadLocation": "NOASSERTION",
+   "externalRefs": [
+    {
+     "referenceCategory": "SECURITY",
+     "referenceLocator": "cpe:2.3:*:some:package:2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
+     "referenceType": "cpe23Type"
+    },
+    {
+     "referenceCategory": "PACKAGE_MANAGER",
+     "referenceLocator": "a-purl-2",
+     "referenceType": "purl"
+    }
+   ],
+   "filesAnalyzed": false,
+   "hasFiles": [
+    "SPDXRef-File-package-1-04cd22424378dcd6c77fce08beb52493b5494a60ea5e1f9bdf9b16dc0cacffe9"
+   ],
+   "licenseDeclared": "MIT",
+   "sourceInfo": "acquired package info from installed python package manifest file: /some/path/pkg1",
+   "versionInfo": "1.0.1"
+  },
+  {
+   "SPDXID": "SPDXRef-Package-deb-package-2-2.0.1",
+   "name": "package-2",
+   "licenseConcluded": "NONE",
+   "downloadLocation": "NOASSERTION",
+   "externalRefs": [
+    {
+     "referenceCategory": "SECURITY",
+     "referenceLocator": "cpe:2.3:*:some:package:2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
+     "referenceType": "cpe23Type"
+    },
+    {
+     "referenceCategory": "PACKAGE_MANAGER",
+     "referenceLocator": "a-purl-2",
+     "referenceType": "purl"
+    }
+   ],
+   "filesAnalyzed": false,
+   "licenseDeclared": "NONE",
+   "sourceInfo": "acquired package info from DPKG DB: /some/path/pkg1",
+   "versionInfo": "2.0.1"
+  }
+ ],
+ "files": [
+  {
+   "SPDXID": "SPDXRef-File-package-1-04cd22424378dcd6c77fce08beb52493b5494a60ea5e1f9bdf9b16dc0cacffe9",
+   "name": "foo",
+   "licenseConcluded": "",
+   "fileName": "/some/path/pkg1/depedencies/foo"
+  }
+ ],
+ "relationships": [
+  {
+   "spdxElementId": "SPDXRef-Package-python-package-1-1.0.1",
+   "relationshipType": "CONTAINS",
+   "relatedSpdxElement": "SPDXRef-File-package-1-04cd22424378dcd6c77fce08beb52493b5494a60ea5e1f9bdf9b16dc0cacffe9"
+  }
+ ]
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSPDXJSONImagePresenter.golden b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSPDXJSONImagePresenter.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8906ef161ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSPDXJSONImagePresenter.golden
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+{
+ "SPDXID": "SPDXRef-DOCUMENT",
+ "name": "user-image-input",
+ "spdxVersion": "SPDX-2.2",
+ "creationInfo": {
+  "created": "2021-09-16T20:44:35.203911Z",
+  "creators": [
+   "Organization: Anchore, Inc",
+   "Tool: syft-[not provided]"
+  ],
+  "licenseListVersion": "3.14"
+ },
+ "dataLicense": "CC0-1.0",
+ "documentNamespace": "https://anchore.com/syft/image/user-image-input",
+ "packages": [
+  {
+   "SPDXID": "SPDXRef-Package-python-package-1-1.0.1",
+   "name": "package-1",
+   "licenseConcluded": "MIT",
+   "downloadLocation": "NOASSERTION",
+   "externalRefs": [
+    {
+     "referenceCategory": "SECURITY",
+     "referenceLocator": "cpe:2.3:*:some:package:1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
+     "referenceType": "cpe23Type"
+    },
+    {
+     "referenceCategory": "PACKAGE_MANAGER",
+     "referenceLocator": "a-purl-1",
+     "referenceType": "purl"
+    }
+   ],
+   "filesAnalyzed": false,
+   "licenseDeclared": "MIT",
+   "sourceInfo": "acquired package info from installed python package manifest file: /somefile-1.txt",
+   "versionInfo": "1.0.1"
+  },
+  {
+   "SPDXID": "SPDXRef-Package-deb-package-2-2.0.1",
+   "name": "package-2",
+   "licenseConcluded": "NONE",
+   "downloadLocation": "NOASSERTION",
+   "externalRefs": [
+    {
+     "referenceCategory": "SECURITY",
+     "referenceLocator": "cpe:2.3:*:some:package:2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
+     "referenceType": "cpe23Type"
+    },
+    {
+     "referenceCategory": "PACKAGE_MANAGER",
+     "referenceLocator": "a-purl-2",
+     "referenceType": "purl"
+    }
+   ],
+   "filesAnalyzed": false,
+   "licenseDeclared": "NONE",
+   "sourceInfo": "acquired package info from DPKG DB: /somefile-2.txt",
+   "versionInfo": "2.0.1"
+  }
+ ]
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/stereoscope-fixture-image-simple.golden b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/stereoscope-fixture-image-simple.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c1b1d2b797e
Binary files /dev/null and b/internal/formats/syftjson/test-fixtures/snapshot/stereoscope-fixture-image-simple.golden differ
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/to_format_model.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/to_format_model.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..eacce565ee8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/to_format_model.go
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+package syftjson
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/formats/syftjson/model"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/log"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/version"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/distro"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
+)
+
+//// NewJSONDocument creates and populates a new JSON document struct from the given cataloging results.
+//func NewJSONDocument(catalog *pkg.Catalog, srcMetadata source.Metadata, d *distro.Distro, scope source.Scope, configuration interface{}) (Document, error) {
+//
+//}
+
+// TODO: this is export4ed for the use of the power-user command (temp)
+func ToFormatModel(catalog *pkg.Catalog, srcMetadata *source.Metadata, d *distro.Distro, applicationConfig interface{}) model.Document {
+	src, err := toSourceModel(srcMetadata)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Warnf("unable to create syft-json source object: %+v", err)
+	}
+
+	artifacts, err := toPackageModels(catalog)
+	if err != nil {
+		return model.Document{}
+	}
+
+	return model.Document{
+		Artifacts:             artifacts,
+		ArtifactRelationships: toRelationshipModel(pkg.NewRelationships(catalog)),
+		Source:                src,
+		Distro:                toDistroModel(d),
+		Descriptor: model.Descriptor{
+			Name:          internal.ApplicationName,
+			Version:       version.FromBuild().Version,
+			Configuration: applicationConfig,
+		},
+		Schema: model.Schema{
+			Version: internal.JSONSchemaVersion,
+			URL:     fmt.Sprintf("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anchore/syft/main/schema/json/schema-%s.json", internal.JSONSchemaVersion),
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func toPackageModels(catalog *pkg.Catalog) ([]model.Package, error) {
+	artifacts := make([]model.Package, 0)
+	if catalog == nil {
+		return artifacts, nil
+	}
+	for _, p := range catalog.Sorted() {
+		art, err := toPackageModel(p)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		artifacts = append(artifacts, art)
+	}
+	return artifacts, nil
+}
+
+// toPackageModel crates a new Package from the given pkg.Package.
+func toPackageModel(p *pkg.Package) (model.Package, error) {
+	var cpes = make([]string, len(p.CPEs))
+	for i, c := range p.CPEs {
+		cpes[i] = c.BindToFmtString()
+	}
+
+	// ensure collections are never nil for presentation reasons
+	var locations = make([]source.Location, 0)
+	if p.Locations != nil {
+		locations = p.Locations
+	}
+
+	var licenses = make([]string, 0)
+	if p.Licenses != nil {
+		licenses = p.Licenses
+	}
+
+	return model.Package{
+		PackageBasicData: model.PackageBasicData{
+			ID:        string(p.ID),
+			Name:      p.Name,
+			Version:   p.Version,
+			Type:      p.Type,
+			FoundBy:   p.FoundBy,
+			Locations: locations,
+			Licenses:  licenses,
+			Language:  p.Language,
+			CPEs:      cpes,
+			PURL:      p.PURL,
+		},
+		PackageCustomData: model.PackageCustomData{
+			MetadataType: p.MetadataType,
+			Metadata:     p.Metadata,
+		},
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func toRelationshipModel(relationships []pkg.Relationship) []model.Relationship {
+	result := make([]model.Relationship, len(relationships))
+	for i, r := range relationships {
+		result[i] = model.Relationship{
+			Parent:   string(r.Parent),
+			Child:    string(r.Child),
+			Type:     string(r.Type),
+			Metadata: r.Metadata,
+		}
+	}
+	return result
+}
+
+// toSourceModel creates a new source object to be represented into JSON.
+func toSourceModel(src *source.Metadata) (model.Source, error) {
+	switch src.Scheme {
+	case source.ImageScheme:
+		return model.Source{
+			Type:   "image",
+			Target: src.ImageMetadata,
+		}, nil
+	case source.DirectoryScheme:
+		return model.Source{
+			Type:   "directory",
+			Target: src.Path,
+		}, nil
+	default:
+		return model.Source{}, fmt.Errorf("unsupported source: %q", src.Scheme)
+	}
+}
+
+// toDistroModel creates a struct with the Linux distribution to be represented in JSON.
+func toDistroModel(d *distro.Distro) model.Distro {
+	if d == nil {
+		return model.Distro{}
+	}
+
+	return model.Distro{
+		Name:    d.Name(),
+		Version: d.FullVersion(),
+		IDLike:  d.IDLike,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/to_syft_model.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/to_syft_model.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..88dd12b1894
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/to_syft_model.go
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package syftjson
+
+import (
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/formats/syftjson/model"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/log"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/distro"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/source"
+)
+
+func toSyftModel(doc model.Document) (*pkg.Catalog, *source.Metadata, *distro.Distro, error) {
+	dist, err := distro.NewDistro(distro.Type(doc.Distro.Name), doc.Distro.Version, doc.Distro.IDLike)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	return toSyftCatalog(doc.Artifacts), toSyftSourceMetadata(doc.Source), &dist, nil
+}
+
+func toSyftSourceMetadata(s model.Source) *source.Metadata {
+	switch s.Type {
+	case "directory":
+		return &source.Metadata{
+			Scheme: source.DirectoryScheme,
+			Path:   s.Target.(string),
+		}
+	case "image":
+		return &source.Metadata{
+			Scheme:        source.ImageScheme,
+			ImageMetadata: s.Target.(source.ImageMetadata),
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func toSyftCatalog(pkgs []model.Package) *pkg.Catalog {
+	catalog := pkg.NewCatalog()
+	for _, p := range pkgs {
+		catalog.Add(toSyftPackage(p))
+	}
+	return catalog
+}
+
+func toSyftPackage(p model.Package) pkg.Package {
+	var cpes []pkg.CPE
+	for _, c := range p.CPEs {
+		value, err := pkg.NewCPE(c)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Warnf("excluding invalid CPE %q: %v", c, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		cpes = append(cpes, value)
+	}
+
+	return pkg.Package{
+		ID:           pkg.ID(p.ID),
+		Name:         p.Name,
+		Version:      p.Version,
+		FoundBy:      p.FoundBy,
+		Locations:    p.Locations,
+		Licenses:     p.Licenses,
+		Language:     p.Language,
+		Type:         p.Type,
+		CPEs:         cpes,
+		PURL:         p.PURL,
+		MetadataType: p.MetadataType,
+		Metadata:     p.Metadata,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/formats/syftjson/validator.go b/internal/formats/syftjson/validator.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1adcb90d461
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/formats/syftjson/validator.go
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package syftjson
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/formats/syftjson/model"
+)
+
+func validator(reader io.Reader) error {
+	type Document struct {
+		Schema model.Schema `json:"schema"`
+	}
+
+	dec := json.NewDecoder(reader)
+
+	var doc Document
+	err := dec.Decode(&doc)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// note: we accept al schema versions
+	// TODO: add per-schema version parsing
+	if strings.Contains(doc.Schema.URL, "anchore/syft") {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("could not extract syft schema")
+}