diff --git a/cmd/gencel_test.go b/cmd/gencel_test.go
index c2be71544..b67f7958c 100644
--- a/cmd/gencel_test.go
+++ b/cmd/gencel_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // Not really a test but just a runner so it's easier to attach a debugger.
-func TestGencel(t *testing.T) {
+func testGencel(t *testing.T) {
 	wd, _ := os.Getwd()
 	fmt.Printf("WD: %s", wd)
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 526d36f66..612d1c99b 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ require (
 	github.com/Masterminds/goutils v1.1.1
 	github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3 v3.2.1
 	github.com/flanksource/is-healthy v0.0.0-20230705092916-3b4cf510c5fc
+	github.com/flanksource/mapstructure v1.6.0
 	github.com/google/cel-go v0.17.1
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.3.0
 	github.com/gosimple/slug v1.13.1
 	github.com/hairyhenderson/toml v0.4.2-0.20210923231440-40456b8e66cf
 	github.com/itchyny/gojq v0.12.13
-	github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 	github.com/robertkrimen/otto v0.2.1
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index e87744a24..c28883dba 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/flanksource/is-healthy v0.0.0-20230705092916-3b4cf510c5fc h1:CPUNUw2pHnlF4ucBHx44vLTcCa4FlEEu6PkNo5rCvD4=
 github.com/flanksource/is-healthy v0.0.0-20230705092916-3b4cf510c5fc/go.mod h1:4pQhmF+TnVqJroQKY8wSnSp+T18oLson6YQ2M0qPHfQ=
+github.com/flanksource/mapstructure v1.6.0 h1:+1kJ+QsO1SxjAgktfLlpZXetsVSJ0uCLhGKrA4BtwTE=
+github.com/flanksource/mapstructure v1.6.0/go.mod h1:dttg5+FFE2sp4D/CrcPCVqufNDrBggDaM+08nk5S8Ps=
 github.com/go-logr/logr v1.2.0/go.mod h1:jdQByPbusPIv2/zmleS9BjJVeZ6kBagPoEUsqbVz/1A=
 github.com/go-logr/logr v1.2.4 h1:g01GSCwiDw2xSZfjJ2/T9M+S6pFdcNtFYsp+Y43HYDQ=
 github.com/go-logr/logr v1.2.4/go.mod h1:jdQByPbusPIv2/zmleS9BjJVeZ6kBagPoEUsqbVz/1A=
@@ -44,8 +46,6 @@ github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12/go.mod h1:e30LSqwooZae/UwlEbR2852Gd8hjQvJoHm
 github.com/kisielk/errcheck v1.5.0/go.mod h1:pFxgyoBC7bSaBwPgfKdkLd5X25qrDl4LWUI2bnpBCr8=
 github.com/kisielk/gotool v1.0.0/go.mod h1:XhKaO+MFFWcvkIS/tQcRk01m1F5IRFswLeQ+oQHNcck=
 github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 h1:5Nx0Ya0ZqY2ygV366QzturHI13Jq95ApcVaJBhpS+AY=
-github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0 h1:jeMsZIYE/09sWLaz43PL7Gy6RuMjD2eJVyuac5Z2hdY=
-github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0/go.mod h1:bFUtVrKA4DC2yAKiSyO/QUcy7e+RRV2QTWOzhPopBRo=
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd h1:TRLaZ9cD/w8PVh93nsPXa1VrQ6jlwL5oN8l14QlcNfg=
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
diff --git a/template.go b/template.go
index 5b2e01980..3a900cdce 100644
--- a/template.go
+++ b/template.go
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/flanksource/gomplate/v3/funcs"
 	_ "github.com/flanksource/gomplate/v3/js"
 	pkgStrings "github.com/flanksource/gomplate/v3/strings"
+	"github.com/flanksource/mapstructure"
 	"github.com/google/cel-go/cel"
 	"github.com/google/cel-go/ext"
-	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 	"github.com/robertkrimen/otto"
 	"github.com/robertkrimen/otto/registry"
 	_ "github.com/robertkrimen/otto/underscore"
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func RunTemplate(environment map[string]any, template Template) (string, error)
 
 		out, _, err := prg.Eval(data)
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("error evaluating expression %s: %v", template.Expression, err)
 		}
 
 		return fmt.Sprintf("%v", out.Value()), nil
@@ -145,22 +145,44 @@ func serialize(in map[string]any) (map[string]any, error) {
 
 	newMap := make(map[string]any, len(in))
 	for k, v := range in {
-		if reflect.ValueOf(v).Kind() != reflect.Struct {
-			newMap[k] = v
-			continue
-		}
+		var dec *mapstructure.Decoder
+		var err error
+
+		vt := reflect.TypeOf(v)
+		switch vt.Kind() {
+		case reflect.Struct:
+			var result map[string]any
+			dec, err = mapstructure.NewDecoder(&mapstructure.DecoderConfig{TagName: "json", Result: &result, Squash: true, Deep: true})
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating new mapstructure decoder: %w", err)
+			}
 
-		var vMap map[string]any
-		dec, err := mapstructure.NewDecoder(&mapstructure.DecoderConfig{TagName: "json", Result: &vMap, Squash: true})
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating new mapstructure decoder: %w", err)
-		}
+			if err := dec.Decode(v); err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error decoding %T to map[string]any: %w", v, err)
+			}
 
-		if err := dec.Decode(v); err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error decoding %T to map[string]any: %w", v, err)
-		}
+			newMap[k] = result
 
-		newMap[k] = vMap
+		case reflect.Slice:
+			var result any
+			if vt.Elem().Kind() == reflect.Struct {
+				result = make([]map[string]any, 0)
+			}
+
+			dec, err = mapstructure.NewDecoder(&mapstructure.DecoderConfig{TagName: "json", Result: &result, Squash: true, Deep: true})
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating new mapstructure decoder: %w", err)
+			}
+			if err := dec.Decode(v); err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error decoding %T to map[string]any: %w", v, err)
+			}
+
+			newMap[k] = result
+
+		default:
+			newMap[k] = v
+			continue
+		}
 	}
 
 	return newMap, nil
diff --git a/template_test.go b/template_test.go
index 8d28fad11..57111930a 100644
--- a/template_test.go
+++ b/template_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package gomplate
 
 import (
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -10,22 +11,28 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
+type NoStructTag struct {
+	Name  string
+	UPPER string
+}
+
 type Address struct {
 	City string `json:"city_name"`
 }
 
 type Person struct {
-	Name     string `json:"name"`
-	Address  Address
-	MetaData map[string]any
-	Codes    []string
+	Name      string         `json:"name"`
+	Address   *Address       `json:",omitempty"`
+	MetaData  map[string]any `json:",omitempty"`
+	Codes     []string       `json:",omitempty"`
+	Addresses []Address      `json:"addresses,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // A shared test data for all template test
 var structEnv = map[string]any{
 	"results": Person{
 		Name: "Aditya",
-		Address: Address{
+		Address: &Address{
 			City: "Kathmandu",
 		},
 	},
@@ -58,6 +65,7 @@ var junitEnv = JunitTestSuites{
 	Totals: Totals{
 		Passed: 1,
 	},
+	Suites: []JunitTestSuite{{Name: "hi", Totals: Totals{Failed: 2}}},
 }
 
 type SQLDetails struct {
@@ -112,7 +120,11 @@ func TestGomplate(t *testing.T) {
 		{map[string]interface{}{"old": "1.2.3", "new": "1.2.3"}, "{{  .old | semverCompare .new }}", "true"},
 		{map[string]interface{}{"old": "1.2.3", "new": "1.2.4"}, "{{  .old | semverCompare .new }}", "false"},
 		{structEnv, `{{.results.name}} {{.results.Address.city_name}}`, "Aditya Kathmandu"},
-		{map[string]any{"results": junitEnv}, `{{.results.passed}}`, "1"},
+		{
+			map[string]any{"results": junitEnv},
+			`{{.results.passed}}{{ range $r := .results.suites}}{{$r.name}} ✅ {{$r.passed}} ❌ {{$r.failed}} in 🕑 {{$r.duration}}{{end}}`,
+			"1hi ✅ 0 ❌ 2 in 🕑 0",
+		},
 		{
 			map[string]any{
 				"results": SQLDetails{
@@ -184,3 +196,79 @@ func TestCel(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_serialize(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		in      map[string]any
+		want    map[string]any
+		wantErr bool
+	}{
+		{name: "nil", in: nil, want: nil, wantErr: false},
+		{name: "empty", in: map[string]any{}, want: map[string]any{}, wantErr: false},
+		{
+			name:    "simple - no struct tags",
+			in:      map[string]any{"r": NoStructTag{Name: "Kathmandu", UPPER: "u"}},
+			want:    map[string]any{"r": map[string]any{"Name": "Kathmandu", "UPPER": "u"}},
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{name: "simple - struct tags", in: map[string]any{"r": Address{City: "Kathmandu"}}, want: map[string]any{"r": map[string]any{"city_name": "Kathmandu"}}, wantErr: false},
+		{
+			name:    "nested struct",
+			in:      map[string]any{"r": Person{Name: "Aditya", Address: &Address{City: "Kathmandu"}}},
+			want:    map[string]any{"r": map[string]any{"name": "Aditya", "Address": map[string]any{"city_name": "Kathmandu"}}},
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "slice of struct",
+			in: map[string]any{
+				"r": []Address{
+					{City: "Kathmandu"},
+					{City: "Lalitpur"},
+				},
+			},
+			want: map[string]any{
+				"r": []map[string]any{
+					{"city_name": "Kathmandu"},
+					{"city_name": "Lalitpur"},
+				},
+			},
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nested slice of struct",
+			in: map[string]any{
+				"r": Person{
+					Name: "Aditya",
+					Addresses: []Address{
+						{City: "Kathmandu"},
+						{City: "Lalitpur"},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			want: map[string]any{
+				"r": map[string]any{
+					"name": "Aditya",
+					"addresses": []map[string]any{
+						{"city_name": "Kathmandu"},
+						{"city_name": "Lalitpur"},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, err := serialize(tt.in)
+			if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
+				t.Errorf("serialize() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
+				return
+			}
+			if !reflect.DeepEqual(got, tt.want) {
+				t.Errorf("serialize() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}