diff --git a/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/csv.go b/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/csv.go
index 643a0cb5b..47cfd6b98 100644
--- a/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/csv.go
+++ b/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/csv.go
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ func cleanHeader(header string) string {
 	// remove leading and trailing quotes
 	str = strings.Trim(str, "\"")
 
+	// remove leading and trailing spaces
+	str = strings.TrimSpace(str)
+
 	return str
 }
 
@@ -82,6 +85,7 @@ func cleanHeader(header string) string {
 // action input name.
 func (c *CSV) BuildInputs(inputNames map[string]string) ([]map[string]string, error) {
 	resultMap := make([]map[string]string, 0)
+
 	err := c.ForEachRecord(func(record []CSVCell) error {
 		input := make(map[string]string)
 
@@ -140,7 +144,6 @@ type CSVCell struct {
 func (c *CSV) buildCSVCells(record []string) []CSVCell {
 	csvVals := make([]CSVCell, len(record))
 	for i, column := range record {
-
 		csvVals[i] = CSVCell{
 			Column: &c.Header[i],
 			Value:  column,
diff --git a/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/csv_test.go b/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/csv_test.go
index 08b402461..f9a7ea1f4 100644
--- a/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/csv_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/csv_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/kwilteam/kwil-db/cmd/kwil-cli/csv"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 func Test_CSV(t *testing.T) {
@@ -110,3 +111,22 @@ func Test_ReadDoubleQuotes(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(`expected 2 columns, got: `, len(res[0]))
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_JSON(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonCsv, err := os.Open("./json.csv")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	c, err := csv.Read(jsonCsv, csv.ContainsHeader)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	require.Equal(t, c.Header, []string{"col1", "col2"})
+
+	require.Equal(t, 1, len(c.Records))
+	require.Equal(t, 2, len(c.Records[0]))
+	require.Equal(t, "test", c.Records[0][0])
+	require.Equal(t, `{"id":"6814e549-34f2-42db-9db3-61659b12708d","type":"human","level":"human","status":"approved"}`, c.Records[0][1])
+}
diff --git a/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/json.csv b/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/json.csv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..80620ad1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/kwil-cli/csv/json.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+col1, col2
+test,"{""id"":""6814e549-34f2-42db-9db3-61659b12708d"",""type"":""human"",""level"":""human"",""status"":""approved""}"
\ No newline at end of file