diff --git a/src/cli/print/print.go b/src/cli/print/print.go
index 6682113ab..e112ee280 100644
--- a/src/cli/print/print.go
+++ b/src/cli/print/print.go
@@ -12,14 +12,22 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tomlazar/table"
 )
 
-var outputAsJSON bool
+var (
+	outputAsJSON      bool
+	outputAsJSONDebug bool
+)
 
 // adds the --output flag to the provided command.
 func AddOutputFlag(parent *cobra.Command) {
-	parent.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&outputAsJSON, "json", false, "output data in JSON format")
+	fs := parent.PersistentFlags()
+	fs.BoolVar(&outputAsJSON, "json", false, "output data in JSON format")
+	fs.BoolVar(&outputAsJSONDebug, "json-debug", false, "output all internal and debugging data in JSON format")
+	cobra.CheckErr(fs.MarkHidden("json-debug"))
 }
 
 type Printable interface {
+	// reduces the struct to a minimized format for easier human consumption
+	MinimumPrintable() any
 	// should list the property names of the values surfaced in Values()
 	Headers() []string
 	// list of values for tabular or csv formatting
@@ -52,16 +60,25 @@ func printAll(ps []Printable) {
 	if len(ps) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
-	if outputAsJSON {
-		outputJSON(ps)
+	if outputAsJSON || outputAsJSONDebug {
+		outputJSON(ps, outputAsJSONDebug)
 		return
 	}
 	outputTable(ps)
 }
 
-// output to stdout the list of printable structs as json
-func outputJSON(ps []Printable) {
-	bs, err := json.Marshal(ps)
+// output to stdout the list of printable structs as json.
+// if debug is false, calls ps.Printable() first
+func outputJSON(ps []Printable, debug bool) {
+	sl := make([]any, 0, len(ps))
+	for _, p := range ps {
+		if debug {
+			sl = append(sl, p)
+		} else {
+			sl = append(sl, p.MinimumPrintable())
+		}
+	}
+	bs, err := json.Marshal(sl)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error formatting results to json: %v\n", err)
 		return
diff --git a/src/pkg/backup/backup.go b/src/pkg/backup/backup.go
index 54532fbda..0c6d559c0 100644
--- a/src/pkg/backup/backup.go
+++ b/src/pkg/backup/backup.go
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@ type Backup struct {
 	stats.StartAndEndTime
 }
 
+// MinimumPrintable reduces the Backup to its minimally printable details.
+func (b Backup) MinimumPrintable() any {
+	// todo: implement printable backup struct
+	return b
+}
+
 // Headers returns the human-readable names of properties in a Backup
 // for printing out to a terminal in a columnar display.
 func (b Backup) Headers() []string {
diff --git a/src/pkg/backup/details/details.go b/src/pkg/backup/details/details.go
index 7a1b6ae80..c43341dff 100644
--- a/src/pkg/backup/details/details.go
+++ b/src/pkg/backup/details/details.go
@@ -41,6 +41,12 @@ func (dm DetailsModel) Paths() []string {
 	return r
 }
 
+// MinimumPrintable DetailsEntries is a passthrough func, because no
+// reduction is needed for the json output.
+func (de DetailsEntry) MinimumPrintable() any {
+	return de
+}
+
 // Headers returns the human-readable names of properties in a DetailsEntry
 // for printing out to a terminal in a columnar display.
 func (de DetailsEntry) Headers() []string {