diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3a2521e63..55348ff17 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 ## 0.3.2 (unreleased)
 
+FEATURES:
+
+* New command: `packer inspect`. This command tells you the components of
+  a template. It respects the `-machine-readable` flag as well so you can
+  parse out components of a template.
+
 IMPROVEMENTS:
 
 * builder/virtualbox: Do not check for VirtualBox as part of template
diff --git a/command/inspect/command.go b/command/inspect/command.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c7bae8538
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/inspect/command.go
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+package inspect
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"log"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+type Command struct{}
+
+func (Command) Help() string {
+	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
+}
+
+func (c Command) Synopsis() string {
+	return "see components of a template"
+}
+
+func (c Command) Run(env packer.Environment, args []string) int {
+	flags := flag.NewFlagSet("inspect", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	flags.Usage = func() { env.Ui().Say(c.Help()) }
+	if err := flags.Parse(args); err != nil {
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	args = flags.Args()
+	if len(args) != 1 {
+		flags.Usage()
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	// Read the file into a byte array so that we can parse the template
+	log.Printf("Reading template: %s", args[0])
+	tpl, err := packer.ParseTemplateFile(args[0])
+	if err != nil {
+		env.Ui().Error(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to parse template: %s", err))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	// Convenience...
+	ui := env.Ui()
+
+	// Variables
+	ui.Say("Variables and their defaults:\n")
+	if len(tpl.Variables) == 0 {
+		ui.Say("  <No variables>")
+	} else {
+		keys := make([]string, 0, len(tpl.Variables))
+		max := 0
+		for k, _ := range tpl.Variables {
+			keys = append(keys, k)
+			if len(k) > max {
+				max = len(k)
+			}
+		}
+
+		sort.Strings(keys)
+
+		for _, k := range keys {
+			v := tpl.Variables[k]
+			padding := strings.Repeat(" ", max-len(k))
+			output := fmt.Sprintf("  %s%s = %s", k, padding, v)
+
+			ui.Machine("template-variable", k, v)
+			ui.Say(output)
+		}
+	}
+
+	ui.Say("")
+
+	// Builders
+	ui.Say("Builders:\n")
+	if len(tpl.Builders) == 0 {
+		ui.Say("  <No builders>")
+	} else {
+		keys := make([]string, 0, len(tpl.Builders))
+		max := 0
+		for k, _ := range tpl.Builders {
+			keys = append(keys, k)
+			if len(k) > max {
+				max = len(k)
+			}
+		}
+
+		sort.Strings(keys)
+
+		for _, k := range keys {
+			v := tpl.Builders[k]
+			padding := strings.Repeat(" ", max-len(k))
+			output := fmt.Sprintf("  %s%s", k, padding)
+			if v.Name != v.Type {
+				output = fmt.Sprintf("%s (%s)", output, v.Type)
+			}
+
+			ui.Machine("template-build", k, v.Type)
+			ui.Say(output)
+
+		}
+	}
+
+	ui.Say("")
+
+	// Provisioners
+	ui.Say("Provisioners:\n")
+	if len(tpl.Provisioners) == 0 {
+		ui.Say("  <No provisioners>")
+	} else {
+		for _, v := range tpl.Provisioners {
+			ui.Machine("template-provisioner", v.Type)
+			ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("  %s", v.Type))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return 0
+}
diff --git a/command/inspect/command_test.go b/command/inspect/command_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a2766fef4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/inspect/command_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package inspect
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestCommand_Impl(t *testing.T) {
+	var raw interface{}
+	raw = new(Command)
+	if _, ok := raw.(packer.Command); !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("must be a Command")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/command/inspect/help.go b/command/inspect/help.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..620bbe8e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/inspect/help.go
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package inspect
+
+const helpText = `
+Usage: packer inspect TEMPLATE
+
+  Inspects a template, parsing and outputting the components a template
+  defines. This does not validate the contents of a template (other than
+  basic syntax by necessity).
+`
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index d40981b72..6803b70ee 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ const defaultConfig = `
 	"commands": {
 		"build": "packer-command-build",
 		"fix": "packer-command-fix",
+		"inspect": "packer-command-inspect",
 		"validate": "packer-command-validate"
 	},
 
diff --git a/plugin/command-inspect/main.go b/plugin/command-inspect/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6d2d7d3d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugin/command-inspect/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/command/inspect"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer/plugin"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	plugin.ServeCommand(new(inspect.Command))
+}
diff --git a/plugin/command-inspect/main_test.go b/plugin/command-inspect/main_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..06ab7d0f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugin/command-inspect/main_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+package main