diff --git a/common/pkg/report/template.go b/common/pkg/report/template.go
index 914a26a740..559c1625b8 100644
--- a/common/pkg/report/template.go
+++ b/common/pkg/report/template.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package report
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"text/template"
@@ -21,22 +23,30 @@ type FuncMap template.FuncMap
 var tableReplacer = strings.NewReplacer(
 	"table ", "",
 	`\t`, "\t",
-	`\n`, "\n",
 	" ", "\t",
 )
 
 // escapedReplacer will clean up escaped characters from CLI
 var escapedReplacer = strings.NewReplacer(
 	`\t`, "\t",
-	`\n`, "\n",
 )
 
-var defaultFuncs = FuncMap{
-	"join":  strings.Join,
-	"lower": strings.ToLower,
-	"split": strings.Split,
-	"title": strings.Title,
-	"upper": strings.ToUpper,
+var DefaultFuncs = FuncMap{
+	"join": strings.Join,
+	"json": func(v interface{}) string {
+		buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+		enc := json.NewEncoder(buf)
+		enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
+		enc.Encode(v)
+		// Remove the trailing new line added by the encoder
+		return strings.TrimSpace(buf.String())
+	},
+	"lower":    strings.ToLower,
+	"pad":      padWithSpace,
+	"split":    strings.Split,
+	"title":    strings.Title,
+	"truncate": truncateWithLength,
+	"upper":    strings.ToUpper,
 }
 
 // NormalizeFormat reads given go template format provided by CLI and munges it into what we need
@@ -55,6 +65,22 @@ func NormalizeFormat(format string) string {
 	return f
 }
 
+// padWithSpace adds spaces*prefix and spaces*suffix to the input when it is non-empty
+func padWithSpace(source string, prefix, suffix int) string {
+	if source == "" {
+		return source
+	}
+	return strings.Repeat(" ", prefix) + source + strings.Repeat(" ", suffix)
+}
+
+// truncateWithLength truncates the source string up to the length provided by the input
+func truncateWithLength(source string, length int) string {
+	if len(source) < length {
+		return source
+	}
+	return source[:length]
+}
+
 // Headers queries the interface for field names.
 // Array of map is returned to support range templates
 // Note: unexported fields can be supported by adding field to overrides
@@ -96,7 +122,7 @@ func Headers(object interface{}, overrides map[string]string) []map[string]strin
 
 // NewTemplate creates a new template object
 func NewTemplate(name string) *Template {
-	return &Template{Template: template.New(name).Funcs(template.FuncMap(defaultFuncs))}
+	return &Template{Template: template.New(name).Funcs(template.FuncMap(DefaultFuncs))}
 }
 
 // Parse parses text as a template body for t
@@ -108,7 +134,7 @@ func (t *Template) Parse(text string) (*Template, error) {
 		text = NormalizeFormat(text)
 	}
 
-	tt, err := t.Template.Funcs(template.FuncMap(defaultFuncs)).Parse(text)
+	tt, err := t.Template.Funcs(template.FuncMap(DefaultFuncs)).Parse(text)
 	return &Template{tt, t.isTable}, err
 }
 
@@ -116,7 +142,7 @@ func (t *Template) Parse(text string) (*Template, error) {
 // A default template function will be replace if there is a key collision.
 func (t *Template) Funcs(funcMap FuncMap) *Template {
 	m := make(FuncMap)
-	for k, v := range defaultFuncs {
+	for k, v := range DefaultFuncs {
 		m[k] = v
 	}
 	for k, v := range funcMap {
diff --git a/common/pkg/report/template_test.go b/common/pkg/report/template_test.go
index f07d7a17d1..e5ff5b4bae 100644
--- a/common/pkg/report/template_test.go
+++ b/common/pkg/report/template_test.go
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@ func TestNormalizeFormat(t *testing.T) {
 		input    string
 		expected string
 	}{
-		{"{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}\n", "{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}\n"},
-		{`{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}\n`, "{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}\n"},
-		{`{{.ID}} {{.ID}}\n`, "{{.ID}} {{.ID}}\n"},
+		{"{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}", "{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}\n"},
+		{`{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}`, "{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}\n"},
+		{`{{.ID}} {{.ID}}`, "{{.ID}} {{.ID}}\n"},
 		{`table {{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}`, "{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}\n"},
 		{`table {{.ID}} {{.ID}}`, "{{.ID}}\t{{.ID}}\n"},
 	}
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ func TestTemplate_Parse(t *testing.T) {
 	testCase := []string{
 		"table {{.ID}}",
 		"table {{ .ID}}",
-		`table {{ .ID}}\n`,
 		"table {{ .ID}}\n",
 		"{{range .}}{{.ID}}{{end}}",
 		`{{range .}}{{.ID}}{{end}}`,
@@ -98,7 +97,7 @@ func TestTemplate_IsTable(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.True(t, tmpl.isTable)
 }
 
-func TestTemplate_Funcs(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTemplate_trim(t *testing.T) {
 	tmpl := NewTemplate("TestTemplate")
 	tmpl, e := tmpl.Funcs(FuncMap{"trim": strings.TrimSpace}).Parse("{{.ID |trim}}")
 	assert.NoError(t, e)
@@ -114,7 +113,7 @@ func TestTemplate_Funcs(t *testing.T) {
 func TestTemplate_DefaultFuncs(t *testing.T) {
 	tmpl := NewTemplate("TestTemplate")
 	// Throw in trim function to ensure default 'join' is still available
-	tmpl, e := tmpl.Funcs(FuncMap{"trim": strings.TrimSpace}).Parse(`{{join .ID ","}}`)
+	tmpl, e := tmpl.Funcs(FuncMap{"trim": strings.TrimSpace}).Parse(`{{join .ID "\n"}}`)
 	assert.NoError(t, e)
 
 	var buf bytes.Buffer
@@ -122,7 +121,7 @@ func TestTemplate_DefaultFuncs(t *testing.T) {
 		"ID": {"ident1", "ident2", "ident3"},
 	})
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, "ident1,ident2,ident3\n", buf.String())
+	assert.Equal(t, "ident1\nident2\nident3\n", buf.String())
 }
 
 func TestTemplate_ReplaceFuncs(t *testing.T) {
@@ -138,3 +137,17 @@ func TestTemplate_ReplaceFuncs(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, "ident\n", buf.String())
 }
+
+func TestTemplate_json(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpl := NewTemplate("TestTemplate")
+	// yes, we're overriding upper with lower :-)
+	tmpl, e := tmpl.Parse(`{{json .ID}}`)
+	assert.NoError(t, e)
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	err := tmpl.Execute(&buf, map[string][]string{
+		"ID": {"ident1", "ident2", "ident3"},
+	})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, `["ident1","ident2","ident3"]`+"\n", buf.String())
+}