diff --git a/.babelrc b/.babelrc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b48cbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.babelrc
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+    "presets": [
+        [
+            "@babel/preset-env",
+            {
+                "shippedProposals": true
+            }
+        ]
+    ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.eslintrc.yml b/.eslintrc.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2ca30a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.eslintrc.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+env:
+  node: true
+  es2021: true
+  mocha: true
+extends:
+  - standard
+parser: "@babel/eslint-parser"
+parserOptions:
+  ecmaVersion: 12
+  sourceType: module
+rules:
+  indent: ["error", 2]
+  no-console: 0
+  semi: ["error", "never"]
+  # linebreak-style: ["error", "unix"]
+  quotes: ["error", "single"]
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..faad3eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+/node_modules/
+/coverage/
+*.lock
diff --git a/.npmignore b/.npmignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f16fc41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.npmignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+tests/
+test/
+*.test.js
+testing/
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08caf04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+{
+  "name": "@uci-utils/json-stream",
+  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "description": "seriaized json stream class for communication in a pipe",
+  "main": "src/json-stream.js",
+  "type": "module",
+  "scripts": {
+    "test": "./node_modules/.bin/mocha --timeout 30000",
+    "test:dev": "UCI_ENV=dev ./node_modules/.bin/nodemon --exec './node_modules/.bin/mocha --timeout 3000' || exit 0",
+    "test:dev:trace": "UCI_LOG_LEVEL='trace' npm run test:dev",
+    "test:dev:warn": "UCI_LOG_LEVEL='warn' npm run test:dev",
+    "test:log": "UCI_ENV=pro UCI_LOG_PATH=./test/test.log 0 npm run test || exit 0"
+  },
+  "author": "David Kebler",
+  "license": "MIT",
+  "repository": {
+    "type": "git",
+    "url": ""
+  },
+  "keywords": [
+    "node.js",
+    "stream",
+    "JSON",
+    "pipe",
+    "socket"
+  ],
+  "bugs": {
+    "url": ""
+  },
+  "homepage": "",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "await-to-js": "^3.0.0"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@babel/core": "^7.14.0",
+    "@babel/eslint-parser": "^7.13.14",
+    "@babel/preset-env": "^7.14.1",
+    "chai": "^4.3.4",
+    "eslint": "^7.26.0",
+    "eslint-config-standard": "^16.0.2",
+    "mocha": "^8.4.0",
+    "nodemon": "^2.0.7"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f518120
--- /dev/null
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# uCOMmandIt JSON Stream Utility
+
+A calls designed to serialize a js object (JSON) for steaming across a pipe
+
+
+
diff --git a/src/json-stream.js b/src/json-stream.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5455969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/json-stream.js
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+// adpated from https://github.com/sebastianseilund/node-json-socket
+
+// native
+import { StringDecoder } from 'string_decoder'
+import EventEmitter from 'events'
+
+// import to from 'await-to-js'
+
+const decoder = new StringDecoder()
+
+/**
+ * JsonStream - Description
+ * @extends EventEmitter
+ */
+class JsonStream extends EventEmitter {
+  // private fields
+  #contentLength = null
+  #buffer =''
+  #delimiter='#'
+  #state='online'
+  #queue=[]
+  #stream
+
+  constructor (opts = {}) {
+    super()
+    this.#delimiter = opts.delimiter || this.#delimiter
+    this.onData = this.onData.bind(this)
+    this.serialize = this.serialize.bind(this)
+  }
+
+  get state () { return this.#state }
+
+  get queue () { return this.#queue }
+
+  offline () { this.#state = 'offline' }
+
+  pause () { this.#state = 'paused' } // queue messages in handler
+
+  resume () {
+    // emit FIFO
+    for (let index = 0; index < this.#queue.length; index++) {
+      this.emit('message', this.#queue[index])
+    }
+    this.#queue = []
+    this.#state = 'online'
+  }
+
+  online () { this.#state = 'online' }
+
+  onData (data) {
+    data = decoder.write(data)
+    try {
+      this.#handleData(data)
+    } catch (err) {
+      // emit an error
+      this.emit('error', err)
+    }
+  }
+
+  async serialize (message) {
+    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+      let messageData; let length
+      try { messageData = JSON.stringify(message) } catch (err) { reject(err) }
+      try { length = Buffer.byteLength(messageData, 'utf8') } catch (err) { reject(err) }
+      const data = length + this.#delimiter + messageData
+      resolve(data)
+    })
+  }
+
+  #handleData (data) {
+    this.#buffer += data
+    if (this.#contentLength == null) {
+      const i = this.#buffer.indexOf(this.#delimiter)
+      // Check if the buffer has a this.#opts.delimeter or "#", if not, the end of the buffer string might be in the middle of a content length string
+      if (i !== -1) {
+        const rawContentLength = this.#buffer.substring(0, i)
+        this.#contentLength = parseInt(rawContentLength)
+        if (isNaN(this.#contentLength)) {
+          this.#contentLength = null
+          this.#buffer = ''
+          const err = new Error(
+            'Invalid content length supplied (' +
+              rawContentLength +
+              ') in: ' +
+              this.#buffer
+          )
+          err.code = 'E#INVALID#CONTENT#LENGTH'
+          throw err
+        }
+        this.#buffer = this.#buffer.substring(i + 1)
+      }
+    }
+    if (this.#contentLength != null) {
+      const length = Buffer.byteLength(this.#buffer, 'utf8')
+      if (length === this.#contentLength) {
+        this.#handleMessage(this.#buffer)
+      } else if (length > this.#contentLength) {
+        const message = this.#buffer.substring(0, this.#contentLength)
+        const rest = this.#buffer.substring(this.#contentLength)
+        this.#handleMessage(message)
+        this.onData(rest)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // private methods
+
+  #handleMessage (data) {
+    this.#contentLength = null
+    this.#buffer = ''
+    let message
+    try {
+      message = JSON.parse(data)
+    } catch (e) {
+      const err = new Error(
+        'Could not parse JSON: ' + e.message + '\nRequest data: ' + data
+      )
+      err.code = 'E#INVALID#JSON'
+      throw err
+    }
+    message = message || {}
+    // console.log('stream message', message, this.#state)
+    if (this.#state === 'paused') {
+      this.#queue.push(message)
+    }
+    if (this.#state === 'online') {
+      this.#queue = []
+      this.emit('message', message)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+export { JsonStream }
+export default JsonStream
diff --git a/test/test.js b/test/test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a57506
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+import { expect } from 'chai'
+import JsonStream from '../src/json-stream.js'
+
+const obj = { cmd: 'test', _header: { name: 'a name', id: '12345' }, arg: 5 }
+const ser = '63#{"cmd":"test","_header":{"name":"a name","id":"12345"},"arg":5}'
+const jss = new JsonStream()
+
+describe('JSON stream check', function () {
+
+  it('Should stringify and serialize a message/object', async function () {
+    expect(await jss.serialize(obj)).to.equal(ser)
+  })
+
+  it('Should serialize and decode a message', async function () {
+    jss.on('message', mes => {
+      // console.log(mes)
+      expect(mes).to.deep.equal(obj)
+    })
+    const ser = await jss.serialize(obj)
+    jss.onData(ser)
+  })
+
+  it('Should queue messages if paused and resumed', async function () {
+    jss.on('message', mes => {
+      // console.log('queued message', mes)
+      expect(mes).to.deep.equal(obj)
+    })
+    const ser = await jss.serialize(obj)
+    jss.pause()
+    jss.onData(ser)
+    // console.log(jss.state, jss.queue[0])
+    expect(jss.queue[0]).to.deep.equal(obj)
+    jss.resume()
+  })
+
+})