diff --git a/sds/Cargo.toml b/sds/Cargo.toml
index 026d755d..28c4648f 100644
--- a/sds/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sds/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ nom = "7.1.3"
 regex = "1.9.5"
 regex-automata = "0.4.4"
 regex-syntax = "0.7.5"
-serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
+serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive", "rc"] }
 serde_with = "3.6.1"
 thiserror = "1.0.58"
 metrics = "0.24.0"
diff --git a/sds/src/lib.rs b/sds/src/lib.rs
index 3583cbef..ddee2169 100644
--- a/sds/src/lib.rs
+++ b/sds/src/lib.rs
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ pub use scanner::{
 };
 pub use scoped_ruleset::ExclusionCheck;
 pub use validation::{
-    get_regex_complexity_estimate_very_slow, validate_regex, RegexValidationError,
+    get_regex_complexity_estimate_very_slow, validate_regex, validate_regex_and_get_ast,
+    RegexValidationError,
 };
 
 #[cfg(any(feature = "testing", feature = "bench"))]
diff --git a/sds/src/normalization/rust_regex_adapter.rs b/sds/src/normalization/rust_regex_adapter.rs
index 01cb4c8d..3a04e3d7 100644
--- a/sds/src/normalization/rust_regex_adapter.rs
+++ b/sds/src/normalization/rust_regex_adapter.rs
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ pub fn convert_to_rust_regex(pattern: &str) -> Result<String, ParseError> {
     Ok(regex_ast.to_string())
 }
 
+pub fn convert_to_ast(pattern: &str) -> Result<SdsAst, ParseError> {
+    let sds_ast = parse_regex_pattern(pattern)?;
+    convert_ast(&sds_ast)?;
+    Ok(sds_ast)
+}
+
 // This is private since only ASTs generated from the parser are supported.
 // (Manually crafted ASTs may cause issues).
 fn convert_ast(sds_ast: &SdsAst) -> Result<RegexAst, ParseError> {
diff --git a/sds/src/parser/ast.rs b/sds/src/parser/ast.rs
index 6ce33902..9d7ee651 100644
--- a/sds/src/parser/ast.rs
+++ b/sds/src/parser/ast.rs
@@ -1,23 +1,58 @@
+use serde::{Serialize, Serializer};
 use std::rc::Rc;
-
+use serde::ser::SerializeMap;
+use regex_syntax::ast::Alternation;
 /// The Abstract Syntax Tree describing a regex pattern. The AST is designed
 /// to preserve behavior, but doesn't necessarily preserve the exact syntax.
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub enum Ast {
     Empty,
+    //Char
     Literal(Literal),
+    //abc  - Alternative
     Concat(Vec<Ast>),
+    // Group
     Group(Rc<Group>),
+    // CharacterClass
     CharacterClass(CharacterClass),
     // May be empty
+    //  Disjunction
+    // a|b|c
     Alternation(Vec<Ast>),
+    // Repetition
     Repetition(Repetition),
+    // Assertion
     Assertion(AssertionType),
+    // Tree -> Flags
     Flags(Flags),
 }
 
-#[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug)]
+
+impl Serialize for Ast {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: Serializer,
+    {
+        let mut state = serializer.serialize_map(Some(2))?;
+        match self {
+         Ast::Literal(literal) => {
+             serializer..se
+        }
+        }
+        state.serialize_entry("type", "Alternative")?;
+
+        if let Ast::Alternation(expression) = self {
+            state.serialize_entry("expressions", expression)?;
+        } else {
+            state.serialize_entry("expressions", &vec![])?;
+        }
+        state.end()
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Copy, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct Literal {
+    #[serde(rename = "value")]
     pub c: char,
 
     // whether a literal is escaped or not can change the behavior in some cases,
@@ -32,24 +67,52 @@ pub enum Group {
     NamedCapturing(NamedCapturingGroup),
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+impl Serialize for Group {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: Serializer,
+    {
+        let mut state = serializer.serialize_map(Some(4))?;
+        state.serialize_entry("type", "Group")?;
+        match self {
+            Group::Capturing(group) => {
+                state.serialize_entry("capturing", &false)?;
+                state.serialize_entry("name", "")?;
+                state.serialize_entry("expression", &group.inner)?;
+            }
+            Group::NonCapturing(group) => {
+                state.serialize_entry("capturing", &true)?;
+                state.serialize_entry("name", "")?;
+                state.serialize_entry("expression", &group.inner)?;
+            }
+            Group::NamedCapturing(group) => {
+                state.serialize_entry("capturing", &true)?;
+                state.serialize_entry("name", &group.name)?;
+                state.serialize_entry("expression", &group.inner)?;
+            }
+        }
+        state.end()
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct CaptureGroup {
     pub inner: Ast,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct NonCapturingGroup {
     pub flags: Flags,
     pub inner: Ast,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct NamedCapturingGroup {
     pub name: String,
     pub inner: Ast,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub enum CharacterClass {
     Bracket(BracketCharacterClass),
     Perl(PerlCharacterClass),
@@ -61,13 +124,13 @@ pub enum CharacterClass {
     UnicodeProperty(UnicodePropertyClass),
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct UnicodePropertyClass {
     pub negate: bool,
     pub name: String,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub enum QuantifierKind {
     /// *
     ZeroOrMore,
@@ -83,13 +146,13 @@ pub enum QuantifierKind {
     OneOrMore,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct Quantifier {
     pub lazy: bool,
     pub kind: QuantifierKind,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub enum PerlCharacterClass {
     Digit,
     Space,
@@ -99,13 +162,13 @@ pub enum PerlCharacterClass {
     NonWord,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct BracketCharacterClass {
     pub negated: bool,
     pub items: Vec<BracketCharacterClassItem>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub enum BracketCharacterClassItem {
     Literal(char),
     Range(char, char),
@@ -118,13 +181,13 @@ pub enum BracketCharacterClassItem {
     NotVerticalWhitespace,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct AsciiClass {
     pub negated: bool,
     pub kind: AsciiClassKind,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub enum AsciiClassKind {
     Alnum,
     Alpha,
@@ -142,13 +205,13 @@ pub enum AsciiClassKind {
     Xdigit,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct Repetition {
     pub quantifier: Quantifier,
     pub inner: Rc<Ast>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub enum AssertionType {
     /// \b
     WordBoundary,
@@ -172,7 +235,7 @@ pub enum AssertionType {
     EndTextOptionalNewline,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct Flags {
     /// Flags before a "-"
     pub add: Vec<Flag>,
@@ -180,7 +243,7 @@ pub struct Flags {
     pub remove: Vec<Flag>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Copy, Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord)]
 pub enum Flag {
     /// i
     CaseInsensitive,
diff --git a/sds/src/validation.rs b/sds/src/validation.rs
index 89921b65..17974d59 100644
--- a/sds/src/validation.rs
+++ b/sds/src/validation.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-use crate::normalization::rust_regex_adapter::{convert_to_rust_regex, QUANTIFIER_LIMIT};
+use crate::normalization::rust_regex_adapter::{
+    convert_to_ast, convert_to_rust_regex, QUANTIFIER_LIMIT,
+};
 use crate::parser::error::ParseError;
 use regex_automata::meta::{self};
 use thiserror::Error;
@@ -40,6 +42,17 @@ pub fn validate_regex(input: &str) -> Result<(), RegexValidationError> {
     validate_and_create_regex(input).map(|_| ())
 }
 
+/// Checks that a regex pattern is valid for using in an SDS scanner
+pub fn validate_regex_and_get_ast(
+    input: &str,
+) -> Result<crate::parser::ast::Ast, RegexValidationError> {
+    // This is the same as `validate_and_create_regex`, but removes the actual Regex type
+    // to create a more stable API for external users of the crate.
+    validate_and_create_regex(input)?;
+    let ast = convert_to_ast(input)?;
+    Ok(ast)
+}
+
 pub fn get_regex_complexity_estimate_very_slow(input: &str) -> Result<usize, RegexValidationError> {
     // The regex crate doesn't directly give you access to the "complexity", but it does
     // reject if it's too large, so we can binary search to find the limit.
@@ -113,6 +126,7 @@ fn build_regex(
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
+    use crate::validate_regex_and_get_ast;
     use crate::validation::{
         get_regex_complexity_estimate_very_slow, validate_and_create_regex, validate_regex,
         RegexValidationError,
@@ -135,6 +149,14 @@ mod test {
         assert!(validate_regex("(a|)b").is_ok(),);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_ast() {
+        // simple case that matches (only) empty string
+        assert_eq!(
+            validate_regex_and_get_ast("(a|.{2,4})b").map(|ast| {serde_json::to_string(&ast).unwrap()}).unwrap(),
+            "{\"type\":\"Concat\",\"content\":[{\"type\":\"Group\",\"content\":{\"Capturing\":{\"inner\":{\"type\":\"Alternation\",\"content\":[{\"type\":\"Literal\",\"content\":{\"value\":\"a\",\"escaped\":false}},{\"type\":\"Repetition\",\"content\":{\"quantifier\":{\"lazy\":false,\"kind\":{\"RangeMinMax\":[2,4]}},\"inner\":{\"type\":\"CharacterClass\",\"content\":\"Dot\"}}}]}}}},{\"type\":\"Literal\",\"content\":{\"value\":\"b\",\"escaped\":false}}]}");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn too_complex_pattern_is_rejected() {
         assert_eq!(