diff --git a/api/agent/protocol/cloudevent.go b/api/agent/protocol/cloudevent.go
index 203a06484..d9f9a4eaa 100644
--- a/api/agent/protocol/cloudevent.go
+++ b/api/agent/protocol/cloudevent.go
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ type CloudEvent struct {
 	Source             string                 `json:"source"`
 	EventType          string                 `json:"eventType"`
 	EventTypeVersion   string                 `json:"eventTypeVersion"`
-	EventTime          time.Time              `json:"eventTime"` // TODO: ensure rfc3339 format
+	EventTime          time.Time              `json:"eventTime"`
 	SchemaURL          string                 `json:"schemaURL"`
 	ContentType        string                 `json:"contentType"`
 	Extensions         map[string]interface{} `json:"extensions"`
-	Data               interface{}            `json:"data"` // from docs: the payload is encoded into a media format which is specified by the contentType attribute (e.g. application/json)
+	Data               interface{}            `json:"data,omitempty"` // docs: the payload is encoded into a media format which is specified by the contentType attribute (e.g. application/json)
 }
 
 type cloudEventIn struct {
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ func (h *CloudEventProtocol) writeJSONToContainer(ci CallInfo) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// TODO: handle binary
+
 	var in cloudEventIn
 	if ci.IsCloudEvent() {
 		// then it's already in the right format, let's parse it, then modify
@@ -80,18 +82,13 @@ func (h *CloudEventProtocol) writeJSONToContainer(ci CallInfo) error {
 				Source:             ci.RequestURL(),
 			},
 		}
-		if buf.Len() == 0 {
-			// nada
-			// todo: should we leave as null, pass in empty string, omitempty or some default for the content type, eg: {} for json?
-		} else if ci.ContentType() == "application/json" {
-			d := map[string]interface{}{}
-			err = json.NewDecoder(buf).Decode(&d)
+		// NOTE: data is an optional field, we can leave it as nil
+		if buf.Len() > 0 {
+			// NOTE: if it's not contentType=application/json, then a string is a valid json value, so this will work.
+			err := json.NewDecoder(buf).Decode(&in.Data)
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("Invalid json body with contentType 'application/json'. %v", err)
 			}
-			in.Data = d
-		} else {
-			in.Data = buf.String()
 		}
 	}
 	// todo: deal with the dual ID's, one from outside, one from inside
diff --git a/api/agent/protocol/cloudevent_test.go b/api/agent/protocol/cloudevent_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be8bed402
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/agent/protocol/cloudevent_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+package protocol
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/go-openapi/strfmt"
+)
+
+// implements CallInfo, modify as needed
+type testCall struct {
+	cloud       bool
+	contentType string
+	input       io.Reader
+}
+
+func (t *testCall) IsCloudEvent() bool  { return t.cloud }
+func (t *testCall) CallID() string      { return "foo" }
+func (t *testCall) ContentType() string { return t.contentType }
+func (t *testCall) Input() io.Reader    { return t.input }
+func (t *testCall) Deadline() strfmt.DateTime {
+	return strfmt.DateTime(time.Now().Add(30 * time.Second))
+}
+func (t *testCall) CallType() string             { return "sync" }
+func (t *testCall) ProtocolType() string         { return "http" }
+func (t *testCall) Request() *http.Request       { return nil } // unused here
+func (t *testCall) Method() string               { return "GET" }
+func (t *testCall) RequestURL() string           { return "http://example.com/r/yo/dawg" }
+func (t *testCall) Headers() map[string][]string { return map[string][]string{} }
+
+func TestJSONMap(t *testing.T) {
+	in := strings.NewReader(`{"yo":"dawg"}`)
+
+	var ib, ob bytes.Buffer
+	cep := &CloudEventProtocol{
+		in:  &ib,
+		out: &ob,
+	}
+
+	tc := &testCall{false, "application/json; charset=utf-8", in}
+
+	err := cep.writeJSONToContainer(tc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	var oce CloudEvent
+	err = json.NewDecoder(&ib).Decode(&oce)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	mappo, ok := oce.Data.(map[string]interface{})
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("data field should be map[string]interface{}: %T", oce.Data)
+	}
+
+	v, ok := mappo["yo"].(string)
+	if v != "dawg" {
+		t.Fatal("value in map is wrong", v)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestJSONNotMap(t *testing.T) {
+	// we accept all json values here https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7159#section-3
+	in := strings.NewReader(`true`)
+
+	var ib, ob bytes.Buffer
+	cep := &CloudEventProtocol{
+		in:  &ib,
+		out: &ob,
+	}
+
+	tc := &testCall{false, "application/json", in}
+
+	err := cep.writeJSONToContainer(tc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	var oce CloudEvent
+	err = json.NewDecoder(&ib).Decode(&oce)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	boolo, ok := oce.Data.(bool)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("data field should be bool: %T", oce.Data)
+	}
+
+	if !boolo {
+		t.Fatal("bool should be true", boolo)
+	}
+}