diff --git a/cmd/cloudcfg/cloudcfg.go b/cmd/cloudcfg/cloudcfg.go
index 2ba1cc3216a..4c4076e2c9c 100644
--- a/cmd/cloudcfg/cloudcfg.go
+++ b/cmd/cloudcfg/cloudcfg.go
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ func executeAPIRequest(method string, auth *kube_client.AuthInfo) bool {
 		printer = &cloudcfg.HumanReadablePrinter{}
 	}
 
-	var body string
+	var body []byte
 	if body, err = cloudcfg.DoRequest(request, auth); err == nil {
 		if err = printer.Print(body, os.Stdout); err != nil {
 			log.Fatalf("Failed to print: %#v\nRaw received text:\n%v\n", err, string(body))
diff --git a/pkg/api/helper.go b/pkg/api/helper.go
index fdb86d351f2..9754ba141c8 100644
--- a/pkg/api/helper.go
+++ b/pkg/api/helper.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
+
+	"gopkg.in/v1/yaml"
 )
 
 var knownTypes = map[string]reflect.Type{}
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ func init() {
 		PodList{}, Pod{},
 		ReplicationControllerList{}, ReplicationController{},
 		ServiceList{}, Service{},
+		Status{},
 	)
 }
 
@@ -117,7 +120,8 @@ func Decode(data []byte) (interface{}, error) {
 	findKind := struct {
 		Kind string `json:"kind,omitempty" yaml:"kind,omitempty"`
 	}{}
-	err := json.Unmarshal(data, &findKind)
+	// yaml is a superset of json, so we use it to decode here. That way, we understand both.
+	err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, &findKind)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Couldn't get kind: %#v", err)
 	}
@@ -126,7 +130,7 @@ func Decode(data []byte) (interface{}, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%v is not a known type", findKind.Kind)
 	}
 	obj := reflect.New(objType).Interface()
-	err = json.Unmarshal(data, obj)
+	err = yaml.Unmarshal(data, obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -143,7 +147,7 @@ func Decode(data []byte) (interface{}, error) {
 // if data.Kind is set and doesn't match the type of obj. Obj should be a
 // pointer to an api type.
 func DecodeInto(data []byte, obj interface{}) error {
-	err := json.Unmarshal(data, obj)
+	err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/api/helper_test.go b/pkg/api/helper_test.go
index d24083161d8..8c8e6f04d3e 100644
--- a/pkg/api/helper_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/helper_test.go
@@ -61,7 +61,19 @@ func TestTypes(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		},
 		&Service{},
-		&ServiceList{},
+		&ServiceList{
+			Items: []Service{
+				{
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"foo": "bar",
+					},
+				}, {
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"foo": "baz",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 		&ReplicationControllerList{},
 		&ReplicationController{},
 		&PodList{},
diff --git a/pkg/api/types.go b/pkg/api/types.go
index 36ce6247653..fdbd8eb90a7 100644
--- a/pkg/api/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/types.go
@@ -174,3 +174,21 @@ type Endpoints struct {
 	Name      string
 	Endpoints []string
 }
+
+// Status is a return value for calls that don't return other objects.
+// Arguably, this could go in apiserver, but I'm including it here so clients needn't
+// import both.
+type Status struct {
+	JSONBase `json:",inline" yaml:",inline"`
+	// One of: "success", "failure", "working" (for operations not yet completed)
+	// TODO: if "working", include an operation identifier so final status can be
+	// checked.
+	Status string `json:"status,omitempty" yaml:"status,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Values of Status.Status
+const (
+	StatusSuccess = "success"
+	StatusFailure = "failure"
+	StatusWorking = "working"
+)
diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
index c5fd4b85cd8..3ae9305253f 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
@@ -50,11 +50,6 @@ func MakeAsync(fn func() interface{}) <-chan interface{} {
 	return channel
 }
 
-// Status is a return value for calls that don't return other objects
-type Status struct {
-	Success bool
-}
-
 // ApiServer is an HTTPHandler that delegates to RESTStorage objects.
 // It handles URLs of the form:
 // ${prefix}/${storage_key}[/${object_name}]
@@ -248,7 +243,7 @@ func (server *ApiServer) handleREST(parts []string, requestUrl *url.URL, req *ht
 		}
 		out, err := storage.Delete(parts[1])
 		var obj interface{}
-		obj = Status{Success: true}
+		obj = api.Status{Status: api.StatusSuccess}
 		if err == nil && sync {
 			obj, err = server.waitForObject(out, timeout)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver_test.go b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
index 006a6bfc0df..5f6b876e4c7 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
@@ -42,13 +42,13 @@ func expectNoError(t *testing.T, err error) {
 }
 
 type Simple struct {
-	JSONBase api.JSONBase `json:",inline"`
-	Name     string
+	api.JSONBase `yaml:",inline" json:",inline"`
+	Name         string `yaml:"name,omitempty" json:"name,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type SimpleList struct {
-	JSONBase api.JSONBase `json:",inline"`
-	Items    []Simple
+	api.JSONBase `yaml:",inline" json:",inline"`
+	Items        []Simple `yaml:"items,omitempty" json:"items,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type SimpleRESTStorage struct {
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ func TestNonEmptyList(t *testing.T) {
 
 	var listOut SimpleList
 	body, err := extractBody(resp, &listOut)
+	expectNoError(t, err)
 	if len(listOut.Items) != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("Unexpected response: %#v", listOut)
 		return
diff --git a/pkg/cloudcfg/cloudcfg.go b/pkg/cloudcfg/cloudcfg.go
index fb097703c7a..6925b62d5cc 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudcfg/cloudcfg.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudcfg/cloudcfg.go
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func RequestWithBodyData(data []byte, url, method string) (*http.Request, error)
 }
 
 // Execute a request, adds authentication (if auth != nil), and HTTPS cert ignoring.
-func DoRequest(request *http.Request, auth *client.AuthInfo) (string, error) {
+func DoRequest(request *http.Request, auth *client.AuthInfo) ([]byte, error) {
 	if auth != nil {
 		request.SetBasicAuth(auth.User, auth.Password)
 	}
@@ -123,11 +123,11 @@ func DoRequest(request *http.Request, auth *client.AuthInfo) (string, error) {
 	client := &http.Client{Transport: tr}
 	response, err := client.Do(request)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
+		return []byte{}, err
 	}
 	defer response.Body.Close()
 	body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(response.Body)
-	return string(body), err
+	return body, err
 }
 
 // StopController stops a controller named 'name' by setting replicas to zero
diff --git a/pkg/cloudcfg/cloudcfg_test.go b/pkg/cloudcfg/cloudcfg_test.go
index 96e47aa330d..178d983df53 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudcfg/cloudcfg_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudcfg/cloudcfg_test.go
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ func TestDoRequest(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error("Unexpected error")
 	}
-	if body != expectedBody {
+	if string(body) != expectedBody {
 		t.Errorf("Expected body: '%s', saw: '%s'", expectedBody, body)
 	}
 	fakeHandler.ValidateRequest(t, "/foo/bar", "GET", nil)
diff --git a/pkg/cloudcfg/parse.go b/pkg/cloudcfg/parse.go
index 4e1f4d0e173..466384f840d 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudcfg/parse.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudcfg/parse.go
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 package cloudcfg
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
-	"gopkg.in/v1/yaml"
 )
 
 var storageToType = map[string]reflect.Type{
@@ -25,9 +23,9 @@ func ToWireFormat(data []byte, storage string) ([]byte, error) {
 	}
 
 	obj := reflect.New(prototypeType).Interface()
-	err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, obj)
+	err := api.DecodeInto(data, obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return json.Marshal(obj)
+	return api.Encode(obj)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cloudcfg/parse_test.go b/pkg/cloudcfg/parse_test.go
index f8ac85b89de..e299fd22b29 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudcfg/parse_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudcfg/parse_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package cloudcfg
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
@@ -16,7 +15,7 @@ func TestParseBadStorage(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func DoParseTest(t *testing.T, storage string, obj interface{}) {
-	json_data, _ := json.Marshal(obj)
+	json_data, _ := api.Encode(obj)
 	yaml_data, _ := yaml.Marshal(obj)
 	t.Logf("Intermediate yaml:\n%v\n", string(yaml_data))
 
diff --git a/pkg/cloudcfg/resource_printer.go b/pkg/cloudcfg/resource_printer.go
index 9368d57d501..6f2643cacc5 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudcfg/resource_printer.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudcfg/resource_printer.go
@@ -31,23 +31,23 @@ import (
 // ResourcePrinter is an interface that knows how to print API resources
 type ResourcePrinter interface {
 	// Print receives an arbitrary JSON body, formats it and prints it to a writer
-	Print(string, io.Writer) error
+	Print([]byte, io.Writer) error
 }
 
 // Identity printer simply copies the body out to the output stream
 type IdentityPrinter struct{}
 
-func (i *IdentityPrinter) Print(data string, w io.Writer) error {
-	_, err := fmt.Fprint(w, data)
+func (i *IdentityPrinter) Print(data []byte, w io.Writer) error {
+	_, err := w.Write(data)
 	return err
 }
 
 // YAMLPrinter parses JSON, and re-formats as YAML
 type YAMLPrinter struct{}
 
-func (y *YAMLPrinter) Print(data string, w io.Writer) error {
+func (y *YAMLPrinter) Print(data []byte, w io.Writer) error {
 	var obj interface{}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &obj); err != nil {
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &obj); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	output, err := yaml.Marshal(obj)
@@ -64,9 +64,10 @@ type HumanReadablePrinter struct{}
 var podColumns = []string{"Name", "Image(s)", "Host", "Labels"}
 var replicationControllerColumns = []string{"Name", "Image(s)", "Selector", "Replicas"}
 var serviceColumns = []string{"Name", "Labels", "Selector", "Port"}
+var statusColumns = []string{"Status"}
 
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) unknown(data string, w io.Writer) error {
-	_, err := fmt.Fprintf(w, "Unknown object: %s", data)
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) unknown(data []byte, w io.Writer) error {
+	_, err := fmt.Fprintf(w, "Unknown object: %s", string(data))
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -90,97 +91,62 @@ func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) makeImageList(manifest api.ContainerManifest) str
 	return strings.Join(images, ",")
 }
 
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printPod(pod api.Pod, w io.Writer) error {
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printPod(pod *api.Pod, w io.Writer) error {
 	_, err := fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n",
 		pod.ID, h.makeImageList(pod.DesiredState.Manifest), pod.CurrentState.Host+"/"+pod.CurrentState.HostIP, labels.Set(pod.Labels))
 	return err
 }
 
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printPodList(podList api.PodList, w io.Writer) error {
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printPodList(podList *api.PodList, w io.Writer) error {
 	for _, pod := range podList.Items {
-		if err := h.printPod(pod, w); err != nil {
+		if err := h.printPod(&pod, w); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printReplicationController(ctrl api.ReplicationController, w io.Writer) error {
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printReplicationController(ctrl *api.ReplicationController, w io.Writer) error {
 	_, err := fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s\t%s\t%s\t%d\n",
 		ctrl.ID, h.makeImageList(ctrl.DesiredState.PodTemplate.DesiredState.Manifest), labels.Set(ctrl.DesiredState.ReplicaSelector), ctrl.DesiredState.Replicas)
 	return err
 }
 
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printReplicationControllerList(list api.ReplicationControllerList, w io.Writer) error {
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printReplicationControllerList(list *api.ReplicationControllerList, w io.Writer) error {
 	for _, ctrl := range list.Items {
-		if err := h.printReplicationController(ctrl, w); err != nil {
+		if err := h.printReplicationController(&ctrl, w); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printService(svc api.Service, w io.Writer) error {
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printService(svc *api.Service, w io.Writer) error {
 	_, err := fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s\t%s\t%s\t%d\n", svc.ID, labels.Set(svc.Labels), labels.Set(svc.Selector), svc.Port)
 	return err
 }
 
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printServiceList(list api.ServiceList, w io.Writer) error {
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printServiceList(list *api.ServiceList, w io.Writer) error {
 	for _, svc := range list.Items {
-		if err := h.printService(svc, w); err != nil {
+		if err := h.printService(&svc, w); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-// TODO replace this with something that returns a concrete printer object, rather than
-//  having the secondary switch below.
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) extractObject(data, kind string) (interface{}, error) {
-	// TODO: I think this can be replaced with some reflection and a map[string]type
-	switch kind {
-	case "cluster#pod":
-		var obj api.Pod
-		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &obj); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		return obj, nil
-	case "cluster#podList":
-		var list api.PodList
-		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &list); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		return list, nil
-	case "cluster#replicationController":
-		var ctrl api.ReplicationController
-		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &ctrl); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		return ctrl, nil
-	case "cluster#replicationControllerList":
-		var list api.ReplicationControllerList
-		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &list); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		return list, nil
-	case "cluster#service":
-		var ctrl api.Service
-		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &ctrl); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		return ctrl, nil
-	case "cluster#serviceList":
-		var list api.ServiceList
-		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &list); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		return list, nil
-	default:
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown kind: %s", kind)
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) printStatus(status *api.Status, w io.Writer) error {
+	err := h.printHeader(statusColumns, w)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
+	_, err = fmt.Fprintf(w, "%v\n", status.Status)
+	return err
 }
 
-func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) Print(data string, output io.Writer) error {
+// TODO replace this with something that returns a concrete printer object, rather than
+//  having the secondary switch below.
+func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) Print(data []byte, output io.Writer) error {
 	w := tabwriter.NewWriter(output, 20, 5, 3, ' ', 0)
 	defer w.Flush()
 	var mapObj map[string]interface{}
@@ -198,30 +164,31 @@ func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) Print(data string, output io.Writer) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected object with no 'kind' field: %s", data)
 	}
 
-	kind := (mapObj["kind"]).(string)
-	obj, err := h.extractObject(data, kind)
+	obj, err := api.Decode(data)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	switch obj.(type) {
-	case api.Pod:
+	switch o := obj.(type) {
+	case *api.Pod:
 		h.printHeader(podColumns, w)
-		return h.printPod(obj.(api.Pod), w)
-	case api.PodList:
+		return h.printPod(o, w)
+	case *api.PodList:
 		h.printHeader(podColumns, w)
-		return h.printPodList(obj.(api.PodList), w)
-	case api.ReplicationController:
+		return h.printPodList(o, w)
+	case *api.ReplicationController:
 		h.printHeader(replicationControllerColumns, w)
-		return h.printReplicationController(obj.(api.ReplicationController), w)
-	case api.ReplicationControllerList:
+		return h.printReplicationController(o, w)
+	case *api.ReplicationControllerList:
 		h.printHeader(replicationControllerColumns, w)
-		return h.printReplicationControllerList(obj.(api.ReplicationControllerList), w)
-	case api.Service:
+		return h.printReplicationControllerList(o, w)
+	case *api.Service:
 		h.printHeader(serviceColumns, w)
-		return h.printService(obj.(api.Service), w)
-	case api.ServiceList:
+		return h.printService(o, w)
+	case *api.ServiceList:
 		h.printHeader(serviceColumns, w)
-		return h.printServiceList(obj.(api.ServiceList), w)
+		return h.printServiceList(o, w)
+	case *api.Status:
+		return h.printStatus(o, w)
 	default:
 		return h.unknown(data, w)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/registry/controller_registry.go b/pkg/registry/controller_registry.go
index f5dc00dd36e..bf7722e83b3 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/controller_registry.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/controller_registry.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func MakeControllerRegistryStorage(registry ControllerRegistry) apiserver.RESTSt
 }
 
 func (storage *ControllerRegistryStorage) List(selector labels.Selector) (interface{}, error) {
-	result := api.ReplicationControllerList{JSONBase: api.JSONBase{Kind: "cluster#replicationControllerList"}}
+	result := api.ReplicationControllerList{}
 	controllers, err := storage.registry.ListControllers()
 	if err == nil {
 		for _, controller := range controllers {
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func (storage *ControllerRegistryStorage) Get(id string) (interface{}, error) {
 }
 
 func (storage *ControllerRegistryStorage) Delete(id string) (<-chan interface{}, error) {
-	return apiserver.MakeAsync(func() interface{} { return apiserver.Status{Success: true} }), storage.registry.DeleteController(id)
+	return apiserver.MakeAsync(func() interface{} { return api.Status{Status: api.StatusSuccess} }), storage.registry.DeleteController(id)
 }
 
 func (storage *ControllerRegistryStorage) Extract(body []byte) (interface{}, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/registry/pod_registry.go b/pkg/registry/pod_registry.go
index f74dea980f2..73e12eb04b7 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/pod_registry.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/pod_registry.go
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func (storage *PodRegistryStorage) Get(id string) (interface{}, error) {
 }
 
 func (storage *PodRegistryStorage) Delete(id string) (<-chan interface{}, error) {
-	return apiserver.MakeAsync(func() interface{} { return apiserver.Status{Success: true} }), storage.registry.DeletePod(id)
+	return apiserver.MakeAsync(func() interface{} { return api.Status{Status: api.StatusSuccess} }), storage.registry.DeletePod(id)
 }
 
 func (storage *PodRegistryStorage) Extract(body []byte) (interface{}, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/registry/service_registry.go b/pkg/registry/service_registry.go
index 59faa1a8ff9..b55912054da 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/service_registry.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/service_registry.go
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func (sr *ServiceRegistryStorage) Delete(id string) (<-chan interface{}, error)
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	return apiserver.MakeAsync(func() interface{} { return apiserver.Status{Success: true} }), sr.registry.DeleteService(id)
+	return apiserver.MakeAsync(func() interface{} { return api.Status{Status: api.StatusSuccess} }), sr.registry.DeleteService(id)
 }
 
 func (sr *ServiceRegistryStorage) Extract(body []byte) (interface{}, error) {