diff --git a/cmd/terrascan/main.go b/cmd/terrascan/main.go
index 453c93961..db116a4ff 100644
--- a/cmd/terrascan/main.go
+++ b/cmd/terrascan/main.go
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ func main() {
 
 		// config file
 		configFile = flag.String("config", "", "config file path")
+
+		// output type
+		output = flag.String("output", "yaml", "output format (json, xml, yaml)")
 	)
 	flag.Parse()
 
@@ -65,6 +68,6 @@ func main() {
 	} else {
 		logging.Init(*logType, *logLevel)
 		zap.S().Debug("running terrascan in cli mode")
-		cli.Run(*iacType, *iacVersion, *cloudType, *iacFilePath, *iacDirPath, *configFile, *policyPath)
+		cli.Run(*iacType, *iacVersion, *cloudType, *iacFilePath, *iacDirPath, *configFile, *policyPath, *output)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cli/run.go b/pkg/cli/run.go
index 963a7c22e..3e66cdf68 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/run.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/run.go
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 // Run executes terrascan in CLI mode
-func Run(iacType, iacVersion, cloudType, iacFilePath, iacDirPath, configFile, policyPath string) {
+func Run(iacType, iacVersion, cloudType, iacFilePath, iacDirPath, configFile,
+	policyPath, format string) {
 
 	// create a new runtime executor for processing IaC
 	executor, err := runtime.NewExecutor(iacType, iacVersion, cloudType, iacFilePath,
@@ -38,5 +39,5 @@ func Run(iacType, iacVersion, cloudType, iacFilePath, iacDirPath, configFile, po
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
-	writer.Write("yaml", violations, os.Stdout)
+	writer.Write(format, violations, os.Stdout)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/writer/writer.go b/pkg/writer/writer.go
index 97bc799f8..a4ef7f964 100644
--- a/pkg/writer/writer.go
+++ b/pkg/writer/writer.go
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ var (
 )
 
 // Write method writes in the given format using the respective writer func
-func Write(format supportedFormat, data interface{}, writer io.Writer) error {
+func Write(format string, data interface{}, writer io.Writer) error {
 
-	writerFunc, present := writerMap[format]
+	writerFunc, present := writerMap[supportedFormat(format)]
 	if !present {
 		zap.S().Error("output format '%s' not supported", format)
 		return errNotSupported