diff --git a/common/common.cpp b/common/common.cpp
index 467fb014e..a065478a7 100644
--- a/common/common.cpp
+++ b/common/common.cpp
@@ -915,6 +915,28 @@ bool gpt_params_find_arg(int argc, char ** argv, const std::string & arg, gpt_pa
         params.chatml = true;
         return true;
     }
+    if (arg == "--chaton-json") {
+        if (++i >= argc) {
+            invalid_param = true;
+            return true;
+        }
+        params.chaton_json = argv[i];
+        return true;
+    }
+    if (arg == "--chaton-template-id") {
+        if (++i >= argc) {
+            invalid_param = true;
+            return true;
+        }
+        std::string got = argv[i];
+        std::regex whitespaces(R"(\s+)");
+        std::string trimmed = std::regex_replace(got, whitespaces, "");
+        if (!trimmed.empty()) {
+            params.chaton_template_id = trimmed;
+            params.chaton = true;
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
     if (arg == "--infill") {
         params.infill = true;
         return true;
@@ -1419,6 +1441,8 @@ void gpt_print_usage(int /*argc*/, char ** argv, const gpt_params & params) {
     printf("  --interactive-first   run in interactive mode and wait for input right away\n");
     printf("  -ins, --instruct      run in instruction mode (use with Alpaca models)\n");
     printf("  -cml, --chatml        run in chatml mode (use with ChatML-compatible models)\n");
+    printf("  --chaton-json         specify the json file containing chat-handshake-template-standard(s)");
+    printf("  --chaton-template-id  specify the specific template standard to use from loaded json file");
     printf("  --multiline-input     allows you to write or paste multiple lines without ending each in '\\'\n");
     printf("  -r PROMPT, --reverse-prompt PROMPT\n");
     printf("                        halt generation at PROMPT, return control in interactive mode\n");
diff --git a/common/common.h b/common/common.h
index 9252a4b63..f0709d38a 100644
--- a/common/common.h
+++ b/common/common.h
@@ -141,6 +141,9 @@ struct gpt_params {
     bool use_color         = false; // use color to distinguish generations and inputs
     bool interactive       = false; // interactive mode
     bool chatml            = false; // chatml mode (used for models trained on chatml syntax)
+    bool chaton            = false; // whether chaton is enabled or disabled
+    std::string chaton_json = "";   // name of the json file containing the chaton templates
+    std::string chaton_template_id = ""; // the specific chat-handshake-template-standard to use
     bool prompt_cache_all  = false; // save user input and generations to prompt cache
     bool prompt_cache_ro   = false; // open the prompt cache read-only and do not update it