diff --git a/src/main/java/org/asamk/signal/commands/Commands.java b/src/main/java/org/asamk/signal/commands/Commands.java
index 830049a5..4a8c70f4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/asamk/signal/commands/Commands.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/asamk/signal/commands/Commands.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ public class Commands {
         addCommand("addDevice", new AddDeviceCommand());
         addCommand("block", new BlockCommand());
         addCommand("daemon", new DaemonCommand());
+        addCommand("stdio", new StdioCommand());
         addCommand("getUserStatus", new GetUserStatusCommand());
         addCommand("link", new LinkCommand());
         addCommand("listContacts", new ListContactsCommand());
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/asamk/signal/commands/StdioCommand.java b/src/main/java/org/asamk/signal/commands/StdioCommand.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dcdc2287
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/asamk/signal/commands/StdioCommand.java
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+package org.asamk.signal.commands;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+
+import net.sourceforge.argparse4j.impl.Arguments;
+import net.sourceforge.argparse4j.inf.Namespace;
+import net.sourceforge.argparse4j.inf.Subparser;
+
+import org.asamk.signal.JsonReceiveMessageHandler;
+import org.asamk.signal.ReceiveMessageHandler;
+import org.asamk.signal.manager.AttachmentInvalidException;
+import org.asamk.signal.manager.Manager;
+import org.whispersystems.signalservice.api.push.exceptions.EncapsulatedExceptions;
+import org.whispersystems.signalservice.api.util.InvalidNumberException;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import static org.asamk.signal.util.ErrorUtils.handleAssertionError;
+
+class JsonInterface {
+
+    public String commandName;
+    public String recipient;
+    public String content;
+    public JsonNode details;
+}
+
+class InputReader implements Runnable {
+
+    private volatile boolean alive = true;
+    private final Manager m;
+
+    InputReader(final Manager m) {
+        this.m = m;
+    }
+
+    public void terminate() {
+        this.alive = false;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void run() {
+        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
+        ObjectMapper jsonProcessor = new ObjectMapper();
+        while (alive) {
+            try {
+                String in = br.readLine();
+                if (in != null) {
+                    JsonInterface command = jsonProcessor.readValue(in, JsonInterface.class);
+                    if (command.commandName.equals("sendMessage")) {
+                        List<String> recipients = new ArrayList<String>();
+                        recipients.add(command.recipient);
+                        List<String> attachments = new ArrayList<>();
+                        if (command.details != null && command.details.has("attachments")) {
+                            command.details.get("attachments").forEach(attachment -> {
+                                if (attachment.isTextual()) {
+                                    attachments.add(attachment.asText());
+                                }
+                            });
+                        }
+                        try {
+                            // verbosity flag? better yet, json acknowledgement with timestamp or message id?
+                            System.out.println("sentMessage '" + command.content + "' to " + command.recipient);
+                            this.m.sendMessage(command.content, attachments, recipients);
+                        } catch (AssertionError | AttachmentInvalidException | InvalidNumberException e) {
+                            System.err.println("error in sending message");
+                            e.printStackTrace(System.out);
+                        }
+                    } /* elif (command.commandName == "sendTyping") {
+        			 getMessageSender().sendTyping(signalServiceAddress?, ....)
+        			}*/
+                }
+
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                System.err.println(e);
+                alive = false;
+            }
+
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+public class StdioCommand implements LocalCommand {
+
+    @Override
+    public void attachToSubparser(final Subparser subparser) {
+        subparser.addArgument("--ignore-attachments")
+                .help("Don’t download attachments of received messages.")
+                .action(Arguments.storeTrue());
+        subparser.addArgument("--json") // should maybe remove this
+                .help("Output received messages in json format, one json object per line.")
+                .action(Arguments.storeTrue());
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void handleCommand(final Namespace ns, final Manager m) {
+        boolean ignoreAttachments = ns.getBoolean("ignore_attachments");
+        InputReader reader = new InputReader(m);
+        Thread readerThread = new Thread(reader);
+        readerThread.start();
+        try {
+            m.receiveMessages(1,
+                    TimeUnit.HOURS,
+                    false,
+                    ignoreAttachments,
+                    ns.getBoolean("json") ? new JsonReceiveMessageHandler(m) : new ReceiveMessageHandler(m)
+                    /*true*/);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            System.err.println("Error while receiving messages: " + e.getMessage());
+        } catch (AssertionError e) {
+            handleAssertionError(e);
+        } finally {
+            reader.terminate();
+        }
+    }
+}