diff --git a/filetags.py b/filetags.py
index eac2ebc..6bb26f1 100644
--- a/filetags.py
+++ b/filetags.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python3
 
-import sys, hashlib, os, sqlite3, shutil
+import sys, hashlib, os, sqlite3, shutil, json
 
 ################################################################################
 # program wide constants
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ def load_container_settings(storage_directory):
   cursor = db.cursor()
   cursor.execute("SELECT option, value FROM settings")
 
+  #TODO: check container settings properly instead of just assuming default values for things that aren't found
   # set default values and then read the db, just in case...
   parity             = False
   parity_bytes       = 512
@@ -366,11 +367,10 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
       sys.exit(status)
 
     file_tags_or_hash = sys.argv[3:]
+    lookup_results = {}
     if not 'tags' in command:
       if file_hash_or_path_is_known_hash(storage_directory, file_tags_or_hash[0], compress):
-        tags = get_tags_by_hash(storage_directory, file_tags_or_hash[0])
-        print("Tags for file:")
-        print(tags)
+        lookup_results[file_tags_or_hash[0]] = get_tags_by_hash(storage_directory, file_tags_or_hash[0])
 
     if not 'hash' in command:
       # create a two dimensional array of all the files associated with each individual tag
@@ -386,9 +386,10 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
           if not file_hash in file_hash_list:
             common_file_hashes.remove(file_hash)
 
-      if not common_file_hashes == []:
-        print("Files for tag(s):")
-        print(common_file_hashes)
+      for file_hash in common_file_hashes:
+        lookup_results[file_hash] = get_tags_by_hash(storage_directory, file_hash)
+
+    print(json.dumps(lookup_results))