diff --git a/src/cfnlint/data/schemas/other/ssm/__init__.py b/src/cfnlint/data/schemas/other/ssm/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/src/cfnlint/data/schemas/other/ssm/document.json b/src/cfnlint/data/schemas/other/ssm/document.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f02293cf68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cfnlint/data/schemas/other/ssm/document.json
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+ "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema",
+ "additionalProperties": true,
+ "properties": {
+  "assumeRole": {
+   "type": "string"
+  },
+  "description": {
+   "type": "string"
+  },
+  "schemaVersion": {
+   "description": "The schema version to use.",
+   "enum": [
+    "0.3",
+    "1.2",
+    "2.0",
+    "2.2"
+   ],
+   "type": "string"
+  }
+ },
+ "required": [
+  "schemaVersion"
+ ],
+ "title": "JSON schema for AWS Automation Documents",
+ "type": "object"
+}
diff --git a/src/cfnlint/rules/resources/ssm/Document.py b/src/cfnlint/rules/resources/ssm/Document.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..27c9b36c77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cfnlint/rules/resources/ssm/Document.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+"""
+Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT-0
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import Any
+
+import cfnlint.data.schemas.other.ssm
+from cfnlint.decode import decode_str
+from cfnlint.jsonschema import ValidationError, ValidationResult, Validator
+from cfnlint.rules.jsonschema.CfnLintJsonSchema import CfnLintJsonSchema, SchemaDetails
+from cfnlint.schema.resolver import RefResolver
+
+
+class Document(CfnLintJsonSchema):
+    id = "E3051"
+    shortdesc = "Validate the structure of a SSM document"
+    description = (
+        "SSM documents are nested JSON/YAML in CloudFormation "
+        "this rule adds validation to those documents"
+    )
+    source_url = "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements.html"
+    tags = ["properties", "ssm", "document"]
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__(
+            ["Resources/AWS::SSM::Document/Properties/Content"],
+            schema_details=SchemaDetails(
+                module=cfnlint.data.schemas.other.ssm,
+                filename="document.json",
+            ),
+        )
+
+        store = {
+            "document": self.schema,
+        }
+
+        self.resolver = RefResolver.from_schema(self.schema, store=store)
+
+    # pylint: disable=unused-argument
+    def validate(
+        self,
+        validator: Validator,
+        _: Any,
+        instance: Any,
+        schema: dict[str, Any],
+    ) -> ValidationResult:
+        # First time child rules are configured against the rule
+        # so we can run this now
+
+        if validator.is_type(instance, "string"):
+            ssm_validator = validator.evolve(
+                context=validator.context.evolve(
+                    functions=[],
+                    strict_types=True,
+                ),
+                resolver=self.resolver,
+                schema=self.schema,
+            )
+
+            instance, errs = decode_str(instance)
+            if errs:
+                yield ValidationError(
+                    "Document is not of type 'object'",
+                    validator="type",
+                    rule=self,
+                )
+                return
+        else:
+            ssm_validator = validator.evolve(
+                cfn=validator.cfn,
+                context=validator.context.evolve(
+                    strict_types=True,
+                ),
+                resolver=self.resolver,
+                schema=self.schema,
+            )
+
+        for err in ssm_validator.iter_errors(instance):
+            if not err.validator.startswith("fn_") and err.validator not in ["cfnLint"]:
+                err.rule = self
+            yield err
diff --git a/src/cfnlint/rules/resources/ssm/__init__.py b/src/cfnlint/rules/resources/ssm/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/test/unit/rules/resources/ssm/__init__.py b/test/unit/rules/resources/ssm/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/test/unit/rules/resources/ssm/test_document.py b/test/unit/rules/resources/ssm/test_document.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..be0eb92ef4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/rules/resources/ssm/test_document.py
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+"""
+Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT-0
+"""
+
+from collections import deque
+
+import pytest
+
+from cfnlint.jsonschema.validators import ValidationError
+from cfnlint.rules.resources.ssm.Document import Document
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def rule():
+    rule = Document()
+    yield rule
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "name,document,expected",
+    [
+        (
+            "Valid string yaml",
+            """
+            schemaVersion: "2.2"
+            mainSteps:
+                - action: aws:runShellScript
+            """,
+            [],
+        ),
+        (
+            "Valid string json",
+            """
+            {
+                "schemaVersion": "2.2",
+                "mainSteps": [
+                    {
+                        "action": "aws:runShellScript"
+                    }
+                ]
+            }
+            """,
+            [],
+        ),
+        (
+            "Valid object",
+            {
+                "schemaVersion": "2.2",
+                "mainSteps": [
+                    {"action": "aws:runShellScript"},
+                ],
+            },
+            [],
+        ),
+        (
+            "InValid string yaml",
+            """
+            schemaVersion: 2.2
+            mainSteps:
+                - action: aws:runShellScript
+            """,
+            [
+                ValidationError(
+                    "2.2 is not of type 'string'",
+                    rule=Document(),
+                    validator="type",
+                    schema_path=deque(["properties", "schemaVersion", "type"]),
+                    path=deque(["schemaVersion"]),
+                )
+            ],
+        ),
+        (
+            "Not a valid json or yaml object",
+            "arn:aws-us-gov:iam::123456789012:role/test",
+            [
+                ValidationError(
+                    "Document is not of type 'object'",
+                    rule=Document(),
+                    validator="type",
+                    schema_path=deque([]),
+                    path=deque([]),
+                )
+            ],
+        ),
+        (
+            "Invalid schema version in object",
+            {
+                "schemaVersion": 2.2,
+                "mainSteps": [
+                    {"action": "aws:runShellScript"},
+                ],
+            },
+            [
+                ValidationError(
+                    "2.2 is not of type 'string'",
+                    rule=Document(),
+                    validator="type",
+                    schema_path=deque(["properties", "schemaVersion", "type"]),
+                    path=deque(["schemaVersion"]),
+                )
+            ],
+        ),
+        (
+            "Invalid type",
+            [],
+            [
+                ValidationError(
+                    "[] is not of type 'object'",
+                    rule=Document(),
+                    validator="type",
+                    schema_path=deque(["type"]),
+                    path=deque([]),
+                )
+            ],
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_validate(
+    name,
+    document,
+    expected,
+    rule,
+    validator,
+):
+    errs = list(rule.validate(validator, {}, document, {}))
+
+    assert errs == expected