diff --git a/src/commands/create.command.ts b/src/commands/create.command.ts
index 904202f128..e3eaeeb430 100644
--- a/src/commands/create.command.ts
+++ b/src/commands/create.command.ts
@@ -9,13 +9,23 @@ import { StringResponse } from '../models/response/stringResponse';
 import { Cipher } from '../models/cipher';
 import { Folder } from '../models/folder';
 
+import { CliUtils } from '../utils';
+
 export class CreateCommand {
     constructor(private cipherService: CipherService, private folderService: FolderService) { }
 
-    async run(object: string, requestData: string, cmd: program.Command): Promise<Response> {
+    async run(object: string, requestJson: string, cmd: program.Command): Promise<Response> {
+        if (requestJson == null || requestJson === '') {
+            requestJson = await CliUtils.readStdin();
+        }
+
+        if (requestJson == null || requestJson === '') {
+            return Response.badRequest('`requestJson` was not provided.');
+        }
+
         let req: any = null;
         try {
-            const reqJson = new Buffer(requestData, 'base64').toString();
+            const reqJson = new Buffer(requestJson, 'base64').toString();
             req = JSON.parse(reqJson);
         } catch (e) {
             return Response.badRequest('Error parsing the encoded request data.');
diff --git a/src/commands/edit.command.ts b/src/commands/edit.command.ts
index 557b8ff153..5550a392b6 100644
--- a/src/commands/edit.command.ts
+++ b/src/commands/edit.command.ts
@@ -8,13 +8,23 @@ import { Response } from '../models/response';
 import { Cipher } from '../models/cipher';
 import { Folder } from '../models/folder';
 
+import { CliUtils } from 'src/utils';
+
 export class EditCommand {
     constructor(private cipherService: CipherService, private folderService: FolderService) { }
 
-    async run(object: string, id: string, requestData: string, cmd: program.Command): Promise<Response> {
+    async run(object: string, id: string, requestJson: string, cmd: program.Command): Promise<Response> {
+        if (requestJson == null || requestJson === '') {
+            requestJson = await CliUtils.readStdin();
+        }
+
+        if (requestJson == null || requestJson === '') {
+            return Response.badRequest('`requestJson` was not provided.');
+        }
+
         let req: any = null;
         try {
-            const reqJson = new Buffer(requestData, 'base64').toString();
+            const reqJson = new Buffer(requestJson, 'base64').toString();
             req = JSON.parse(reqJson);
         } catch (e) {
             return Response.badRequest('Error parsing the encoded request data.');
diff --git a/src/commands/encode.command.ts b/src/commands/encode.command.ts
index 3f52708b93..1453036ad4 100644
--- a/src/commands/encode.command.ts
+++ b/src/commands/encode.command.ts
@@ -3,29 +3,16 @@ import * as program from 'commander';
 import { Response } from '../models/response';
 import { StringResponse } from '../models/response/stringResponse';
 
-export class EncodeCommand {
-    run(cmd: program.Command): Promise<Response> {
-        if (process.stdin == null || process.stdin.isTTY) {
-            return Promise.resolve(Response.badRequest('No stdin was piped in.'));
-        }
+import { CliUtils } from '../utils';
 
-        return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-            let input: string = '';
-            process.stdin.setEncoding('utf8');
-            process.stdin.on('readable', () => {
-                while (true) {
-                    const chunk = process.stdin.read();
-                    if (chunk == null) {
-                        break;
-                    }
-                    input += chunk;
-                }
-            });
-            process.stdin.on('end', () => {
-                const b64 = new Buffer(input, 'utf8').toString('base64');
-                const res = new StringResponse(b64);
-                resolve(Response.success(res));
-            });
-        });
+export class EncodeCommand {
+    async run(cmd: program.Command): Promise<Response> {
+        if (process.stdin.isTTY) {
+            return Response.badRequest('No stdin was piped in.');
+        }
+        const input = await CliUtils.readStdin();
+        const b64 = new Buffer(input, 'utf8').toString('base64');
+        const res = new StringResponse(b64);
+        return Response.success(res);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/program.ts b/src/program.ts
index 3d03ed681a..bae5ab25c3 100644
--- a/src/program.ts
+++ b/src/program.ts
@@ -161,22 +161,22 @@ export class Program {
             });
 
         program
-            .command('create <object> <encodedData>')
+            .command('create <object> [encodedJson]')
             .description('Create an object.')
-            .action(async (object, encodedData, cmd) => {
+            .action(async (object, encodedJson, cmd) => {
                 await this.exitIfLocked();
                 const command = new CreateCommand(this.main.cipherService, this.main.folderService);
-                const response = await command.run(object, encodedData, cmd);
+                const response = await command.run(object, encodedJson, cmd);
                 this.processResponse(response);
             });
 
         program
-            .command('edit <object> <id> <encodedData>')
+            .command('edit <object> <id> [encodedJson]')
             .description('Edit an object.')
-            .action(async (object, id, encodedData, cmd) => {
+            .action(async (object, id, encodedJson, cmd) => {
                 await this.exitIfLocked();
                 const command = new EditCommand(this.main.cipherService, this.main.folderService);
-                const response = await command.run(object, id, encodedData, cmd);
+                const response = await command.run(object, id, encodedJson, cmd);
                 this.processResponse(response);
             });
 
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index 9ffe241b05..63cfd3aac7 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,32 @@ import { CollectionView } from 'jslib/models/view/collectionView';
 import { FolderView } from 'jslib/models/view/folderView';
 
 export class CliUtils {
+    static readStdin(): Promise<string> {
+        return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+            let input: string = '';
+
+            if (process.stdin.isTTY) {
+                resolve(input);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            process.stdin.setEncoding('utf8');
+            process.stdin.on('readable', () => {
+                while (true) {
+                    const chunk = process.stdin.read();
+                    if (chunk == null) {
+                        break;
+                    }
+                    input += chunk;
+                }
+            });
+
+            process.stdin.on('end', () => {
+                resolve(input);
+            });
+        });
+    }
+
     static searchCiphers(ciphers: CipherView[], search: string) {
         search = search.toLowerCase();
         return ciphers.filter((c) => {