diff --git a/code/datums/world_topic.dm b/code/datums/world_topic.dm
index 786a100ca4f..d62a605e1c9 100644
--- a/code/datums/world_topic.dm
+++ b/code/datums/world_topic.dm
@@ -27,11 +27,16 @@
 
 /datum/world_topic/proc/TryRun(list/input)
 	key_valid = config && (CONFIG_GET(string/comms_key) == input["key"])
-	if(require_comms_key && !key_valid)
-		return "Bad Key"
 	input -= "key"
-	. = Run(input)
-	if(islist(.))
+	if(require_comms_key && !key_valid)
+		. = "Bad Key"
+		if (input["format"] == "json")
+			. = list("error" = .)
+	else
+		. = Run(input)
+	if (input["format"] == "json")
+		. = json_encode(.)
+	else if(islist(.))
 		. = list2params(.)
 
 /datum/world_topic/proc/Run(list/input)