diff --git a/commands/ApiController.php b/commands/ApiController.php
index 2696e842..9da2946e 100644
--- a/commands/ApiController.php
+++ b/commands/ApiController.php
@@ -151,6 +151,10 @@ protected function findFiles($path, $except = [])
      */
     protected function findRenderer($template)
     {
+        if (class_exists($template)) {
+            return new $template();
+        }
+
         $rendererClass = 'yii\\apidoc\\templates\\' . $template . '\\ApiRenderer';
         if (!class_exists($rendererClass)) {
             $this->stderr('Renderer not found.' . PHP_EOL);
diff --git a/templates/json/ApiRenderer.php b/templates/json/ApiRenderer.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fb66da43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/json/ApiRenderer.php
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @link http://www.yiiframework.com/
+ * @copyright Copyright (c) 2008 Yii Software LLC
+ * @license http://www.yiiframework.com/license/
+ */
+
+namespace yii\apidoc\templates\json;
+
+use yii\apidoc\models\Context;
+use yii\apidoc\renderers\ApiRenderer as BaseApiRenderer;
+use yii\base\ViewContextInterface;
+use Yii;
+
+/**
+ * The class for outputting documentation data structures as a JSON text.
+ *
+ * @author Tom Worster <fsb@thefsb.org>
+ * @since 2.0.5
+ */
+class ApiRenderer extends BaseApiRenderer implements ViewContextInterface
+{
+
+    /**
+     * Writes a given [[Context]] as JSON text to file 'types.json'.
+     *
+     * @param Context $context the api documentation context to render.
+     * @param $targetDir
+     */
+    public function render($context, $targetDir)
+    {
+        $types = array_merge($context->classes, $context->interfaces, $context->traits);
+        file_put_contents($targetDir . '/types.json', json_encode($types, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @inheritdoc
+     */
+    public function generateApiUrl($typeName)
+    {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @inheritdoc
+     */
+    protected function generateFileName($typeName)
+    {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @inheritdoc
+     */
+    public function getViewPath()
+    {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @inheritdoc
+     */
+    protected function generateLink($text, $href, $options = [])
+    {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @inheritdoc
+     */
+    public function getSourceUrl($type, $line = null)
+    {
+    }
+}