diff --git a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ConsoleAppender.scala b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ConsoleAppender.scala
index 3c9bf0e9e..e46fea4b8 100644
--- a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ConsoleAppender.scala
+++ b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ConsoleAppender.scala
@@ -252,8 +252,9 @@ class ConsoleAppender private[ConsoleAppender] (
     }
   def objectToString(o: AnyRef): String =
     o match {
-      case x: ChannelLogEntry => x.message
-      case _                  => o.toString
+      case x: ChannelLogEntry   => x.message
+      case x: ObjectLogEntry[_] => x.message.toString
+      case _                    => o.toString
     }
 
   def messageColor(level: Level.Value) = RESET
diff --git a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ManagedLogger.scala b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ManagedLogger.scala
index 90c84b6aa..e3c110e3b 100644
--- a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ManagedLogger.scala
+++ b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ManagedLogger.scala
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package sbt.internal.util
 import sbt.util._
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.{ Logger => XLogger }
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.message.ObjectMessage
+import sjsonnew.JsonFormat
 
 /**
  * Delegates log events to the associated LogExchange.
@@ -22,4 +23,20 @@ class ManagedLogger(
       )
     }
   override def success(message: => String): Unit = xlogger.info(message)
+
+  final def debugEvent[A: JsonFormat](event: => A): Unit = logEvent(Level.Debug, event)
+  final def infoEvent[A: JsonFormat](event: => A): Unit = logEvent(Level.Info, event)
+  final def warnEvent[A: JsonFormat](event: => A): Unit = logEvent(Level.Warn, event)
+  final def errorEvent[A: JsonFormat](event: => A): Unit = logEvent(Level.Error, event)
+  def logEvent[A: JsonFormat](level: Level.Value, event: => A): Unit =
+    {
+      val v: A = event
+      val clazz: Class[A] = v.getClass.asInstanceOf[Class[A]]
+      val ev = LogExchange.getOrElseUpdateJsonCodec(clazz, implicitly[JsonFormat[A]])
+      val entry: ObjectLogEntry[A] = new ObjectLogEntry(level, v, channelName, execId, ev, clazz)
+      xlogger.log(
+        ConsoleAppender.toXLevel(level),
+        new ObjectMessage(entry)
+      )
+    }
 }
diff --git a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ObjectLogEntry.scala b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ObjectLogEntry.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..64ee0db71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/ObjectLogEntry.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package sbt
+package internal
+package util
+
+import sbt.util.Level
+import sjsonnew.JsonFormat
+
+final class ObjectLogEntry[A](
+  val level: Level.Value,
+  val message: A,
+  val channelName: Option[String],
+  val execId: Option[String],
+  val ev: JsonFormat[A],
+  val clazz: Class[A]
+) extends Serializable {
+
+}
diff --git a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/util/LogExchange.scala b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/util/LogExchange.scala
index 0f967da61..8914b4998 100644
--- a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/util/LogExchange.scala
+++ b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/util/LogExchange.scala
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import org.apache.logging.log4j.core._
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.appender.AsyncAppender
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.{ AppenderRef, LoggerConfig }
 import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
+import scala.collection.concurrent
+import sjsonnew.JsonFormat
 
 // http://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/customconfig.html
 // https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/log4j-core/apidocs/index.html
@@ -13,6 +15,7 @@ import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
 sealed abstract class LogExchange {
   private[sbt] lazy val context: LoggerContext = init()
   private[sbt] lazy val asyncStdout: AsyncAppender = buildAsyncStdout
+  private[sbt] val jsonCodecs: concurrent.Map[Class[_], JsonFormat[_]] = concurrent.TrieMap()
 
   def logger(name: String): ManagedLogger = logger(name, None, None)
   def logger(name: String, channelName: Option[String], execId: Option[String]): ManagedLogger = {
@@ -43,6 +46,13 @@ sealed abstract class LogExchange {
     val config = ctx.getConfiguration
     config.getLoggerConfig(loggerName)
   }
+  def jsonCodec[A](clazz: Class[A]): Option[JsonFormat[A]] =
+    jsonCodecs.get(clazz) map { _.asInstanceOf[JsonFormat[A]] }
+  def hasJsonCodec[A](clazz: Class[A]): Boolean =
+    jsonCodecs.contains(clazz)
+  def getOrElseUpdateJsonCodec[A](clazz: Class[A], v: JsonFormat[A]): JsonFormat[A] =
+    jsonCodecs.getOrElseUpdate(clazz, v).asInstanceOf[JsonFormat[A]]
+
   private[sbt] def buildAsyncStdout: AsyncAppender = {
     val ctx = XLogManager.getContext(false) match { case x: LoggerContext => x }
     val config = ctx.getConfiguration
diff --git a/internal/util-logging/src/test/scala/ManagedLoggerSpec.scala b/internal/util-logging/src/test/scala/ManagedLoggerSpec.scala
index d063fbf2c..f7871053f 100644
--- a/internal/util-logging/src/test/scala/ManagedLoggerSpec.scala
+++ b/internal/util-logging/src/test/scala/ManagedLoggerSpec.scala
@@ -13,6 +13,13 @@ class ManagedLoggerSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers {
     log.debug("test")
   }
 
+  it should "support event logging" in {
+    import sjsonnew.BasicJsonProtocol._
+    val log = LogExchange.logger("foo")
+    LogExchange.bindLoggerAppenders("foo", List(LogExchange.asyncStdout -> Level.Info))
+    log.infoEvent(1)
+  }
+
   "global logging" should "log immediately after initialization" in {
     // this is passed into State normally
     val global0 = initialGlobalLogging