diff --git a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/AutoRest.Core.Tests.csproj b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/AutoRest.Core.Tests.csproj
index cabe0eda3b4ee..e19fdb0d8c5af 100644
--- a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/AutoRest.Core.Tests.csproj
+++ b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/AutoRest.Core.Tests.csproj
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@
     <None Include="Resource\RedisResource.json">
       <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
     </None>
+    <None Include="Resource\SampleSettings.json">
+      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
+    </None>
     <None Include="Templates\SampleModel.cshtml" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/AutoRestSettingsTests.cs b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/AutoRestSettingsTests.cs
index 0b8d7dc34a871..f11f448205c3b 100644
--- a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/AutoRestSettingsTests.cs
+++ b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/AutoRestSettingsTests.cs
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 // Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
 
+using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Reflection;
 using Microsoft.Rest.Generator.Logging;
+using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 using Xunit;
 
 namespace Microsoft.Rest.Generator.Test
@@ -16,11 +20,11 @@ public void CreateWithoutArgumentsReturnsBlankSettings()
         {
             var settings = Settings.Create((string[]) null);
             Assert.NotNull(settings);
-            settings = Settings.Create((IDictionary<string, string>) null);
+            settings = Settings.Create((IDictionary<string, object>) null);
             Assert.NotNull(settings);
             settings = Settings.Create(new string[0]);
             Assert.NotNull(settings);
-            settings = Settings.Create(new Dictionary<string, string>());
+            settings = Settings.Create(new Dictionary<string, object>());
             Assert.NotNull(settings);
         }
 
@@ -33,6 +37,23 @@ public void CreateWithMultipleEmptyKeysStoreInCustomDictonary()
             Assert.Equal("", settings.CustomSettings["Bar"]);
         }
 
+        [Fact]
+        public void LoadCodeGenSettingsFromJsonFile()
+        {
+            var codeBaseUrl = new Uri(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase);
+            var codeBasePath = Uri.UnescapeDataString(codeBaseUrl.AbsolutePath);
+            var dirPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(codeBasePath);
+            var settingsFile = Path.Combine(dirPath, "Resource\\SampleSettings.json");
+            var settings = Settings.Create(new[] {"-cgs", settingsFile});
+            Assert.False((bool) settings.CustomSettings["sampleSwitchFalse"]);
+            Assert.True((bool) settings.CustomSettings["sampleSwitchTrue"]);
+            Assert.Equal("Foo", settings.CustomSettings["sampleString"]);
+            Assert.Equal(typeof (JArray), settings.CustomSettings["filePathArray"].GetType());
+            Assert.Equal(2, ((JArray) settings.CustomSettings["filePathArray"]).Count);
+            Assert.Equal(typeof (JArray), settings.CustomSettings["intArray"].GetType());
+            Assert.Equal(typeof (long), settings.CustomSettings["intFoo"].GetType());
+        }
+
         [Fact]
         public void EmptyCredentialsSettingIsSetToTrueIfPassed()
         {
diff --git a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/Resource/SampleSettings.json b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/Resource/SampleSettings.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6ee036cba2536
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core.Tests/Resource/SampleSettings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+    "sampleSwitchFalse": false,
+    "sampleSwitchTrue": true,
+    "sampleString":  "Foo",
+    "filePathArray": [ "C:\\Foo.dll", "C:\\Bar.dll" ],
+    "intArray": [ 1, 2, 3 ],
+    "intFoo": 5
+}
diff --git a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/CodeGenerator.cs b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/CodeGenerator.cs
index 57dbecb697346..55e20dee7c539 100644
--- a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/CodeGenerator.cs
+++ b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/CodeGenerator.cs
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public virtual string HeaderFileExtension
         /// Populate settings on self and any child objects
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="settings">A dictionary of settings</param>
-        public virtual void PopulateSettings(IDictionary<string, string> settings)
+        public virtual void PopulateSettings(IDictionary<string, object> settings)
         {
             Settings.PopulateSettings(this, settings);
         }
diff --git a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs
index 2ef7dbdc586ae..975a7983ee085 100644
--- a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs
+++ b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs
@@ -78,6 +78,15 @@ internal static string CodeGenerationFailed {
             }
         }
         
+        /// <summary>
+        ///   Looks up a localized string similar to Could not load CodeGenSettings file &apos;{0}&apos;. Exception: &apos;{1}&apos;..
+        /// </summary>
+        internal static string CodeGenSettingsFileInvalid {
+            get {
+                return ResourceManager.GetString("CodeGenSettingsFileInvalid", resourceCulture);
+            }
+        }
+        
         /// <summary>
         ///   Looks up a localized string similar to \\\\.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Properties/Resources.resx b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Properties/Resources.resx
index 18688acae3326..17f3fe59fa18b 100644
--- a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Properties/Resources.resx
+++ b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Properties/Resources.resx
@@ -123,6 +123,9 @@
   <data name="CodeGenerationFailed" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Code generation failed with errors. See inner exceptions for details.</value>
   </data>
+  <data name="CodeGenSettingsFileInvalid" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Could not load CodeGenSettings file '{0}'. Exception: '{1}'.</value>
+  </data>
   <data name="CommentString" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>\\\\</value>
   </data>
diff --git a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Settings.cs b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Settings.cs
index 63675cf0e46b4..81ea5ca05c3df 100644
--- a/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Settings.cs
+++ b/AutoRest/AutoRest.Core/Settings.cs
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 using Microsoft.Rest.Generator.Properties;
 using Microsoft.Rest.Generator.Utilities;
 using System.Globalization;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 
 namespace Microsoft.Rest.Generator
 {
@@ -46,7 +48,7 @@ public Settings()
         {
             FileSystem = new FileSystem();
             OutputDirectory = Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "Generated");
-            CustomSettings = new Dictionary<string, string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+            CustomSettings = new Dictionary<string, object>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
             Header = string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DefaultCodeGenerationHeader, AutoRest.Version);
             CodeGenerator = "CSharp";
             Modeler = "Swagger";
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ public Settings()
         /// <summary>
         /// Custom provider specific settings.
         /// </summary>
-        public IDictionary<string, string> CustomSettings { get; private set; }
+        public IDictionary<string, object> CustomSettings { get; private set; }
 
         // The CommandLineInfo attribute is reflected to display help.
         // Prefer to show required properties before optional.
@@ -215,6 +217,9 @@ public string Header
         [SettingsInfo("Package version of then generated code package. Should be then version wanted for the package in then package manager.")]
         public string PackageVersion { get; set; }
 
+        [SettingsAlias("cgs")]
+        [SettingsInfo("The path for a json file containing code generation settings.")]
+        public string CodeGenSettings { get; set; }
         /// <summary>
         /// Factory method to generate CodeGenerationSettings from command line arguments.
         /// Matches dictionary keys to the settings properties.
@@ -223,7 +228,7 @@ public string Header
         /// <returns>CodeGenerationSettings</returns>
         public static Settings Create(string[] arguments)
         {
-            var argsDictionary = new Dictionary<string, string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+            var argsDictionary = new Dictionary<string, object>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
             if (arguments != null && arguments.Length > 0)
             {
                 string key = null;
@@ -257,7 +262,7 @@ public static Settings Create(string[] arguments)
             return Create(argsDictionary);
         }
 
-        private static void AddArgumentToDictionary(string key, string value, Dictionary<string, string> argsDictionary)
+        private static void AddArgumentToDictionary(string key, string value, IDictionary<string, object> argsDictionary)
         {
             key = key ?? "Default";
             value = value ?? String.Empty;
@@ -270,7 +275,7 @@ private static void AddArgumentToDictionary(string key, string value, Dictionary
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="settings">Dictionary of settings</param>
         /// <returns>Settings</returns>
-        public static Settings Create(IDictionary<string, string> settings)
+        public static Settings Create(IDictionary<string, object> settings)
         {
             var autoRestSettings = new Settings();
             if (settings == null || settings.Count == 0)
@@ -281,6 +286,16 @@ public static Settings Create(IDictionary<string, string> settings)
             PopulateSettings(autoRestSettings, settings);
 
             autoRestSettings.CustomSettings = settings;
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(autoRestSettings.CodeGenSettings))
+            {
+                var settingsContent = autoRestSettings.FileSystem.ReadFileAsText(autoRestSettings.CodeGenSettings);
+                var codeGenSettingsDictionary =
+                    JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, object>>(settingsContent);
+                foreach (var pair in codeGenSettingsDictionary)
+                {
+                    autoRestSettings.CustomSettings[pair.Key] = pair.Value;
+                }
+            }
             return autoRestSettings;
         }
 
@@ -290,7 +305,7 @@ public static Settings Create(IDictionary<string, string> settings)
         /// <param name="entityToPopulate">Object to populate from dictionary.</param>
         /// <param name="settings">Dictionary of settings.Settings that are populated get removed from the dictionary.</param>
         /// <returns>Dictionary of settings that were not matched.</returns>
-        public static void PopulateSettings(object entityToPopulate, IDictionary<string, string> settings)
+        public static void PopulateSettings(object entityToPopulate, IDictionary<string, object> settings)
         {
             if (entityToPopulate == null)
             {
@@ -311,13 +326,33 @@ public static void PopulateSettings(object entityToPopulate, IDictionary<string,
                     {
                         try
                         {
-                            if (setting.Value.IsNullOrEmpty() && property.PropertyType == typeof(bool))
+                            if (property.PropertyType == typeof(bool) && (setting.Value == null || setting.Value.ToString().IsNullOrEmpty()))
                             {
                                 property.SetValue(entityToPopulate, true);
                             }
                             else if (property.PropertyType.IsEnum)
                             {
-                                property.SetValue(entityToPopulate, Enum.Parse(property.PropertyType, setting.Value, true));
+                                property.SetValue(entityToPopulate, Enum.Parse(property.PropertyType, setting.Value.ToString(), true));
+                            }
+                            else if (property.PropertyType.IsArray && setting.Value.GetType() == typeof(JArray))
+                            {
+                                var elementType = property.PropertyType.GetElementType();
+                                if (elementType == typeof(string))
+                                {
+                                    var stringArray = ((JArray) setting.Value).Children().
+                                    Select(
+                                        c => c.ToString())
+                                    .ToArray();
+  
+                                    property.SetValue(entityToPopulate, stringArray);
+                                }
+                                else if (elementType == typeof (int))
+                                {
+                                    var intValues = ((JArray)setting.Value).Children().
+                                         Select(c => (int)Convert.ChangeType(c, elementType, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture))
+                                         .ToArray();
+                                    property.SetValue(entityToPopulate, intValues);
+                                }
                             }
                             else
                             {
diff --git a/AutoRest/Generators/CSharp/Azure.CSharp/AzureCSharpCodeNamer.cs b/AutoRest/Generators/CSharp/Azure.CSharp/AzureCSharpCodeNamer.cs
index 2fb396c256361..2b5f005ed0323 100644
--- a/AutoRest/Generators/CSharp/Azure.CSharp/AzureCSharpCodeNamer.cs
+++ b/AutoRest/Generators/CSharp/Azure.CSharp/AzureCSharpCodeNamer.cs
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public AzureCSharpCodeNamer(Settings settings)
                     if (setting.Equals("useDateTimeOffset", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                     {
                         bool toUse;
-                        if (bool.TryParse(settings.CustomSettings[setting], out toUse))
+                        if (bool.TryParse(settings.CustomSettings[setting].ToString(), out toUse))
                         {
                             UseDateTimeOffset = toUse;
                         }
diff --git a/AutoRest/Generators/CSharp/CSharp/CSharpCodeGenerator.cs b/AutoRest/Generators/CSharp/CSharp/CSharpCodeGenerator.cs
index 5b3ba7981eb0c..8834f4c010834 100644
--- a/AutoRest/Generators/CSharp/CSharp/CSharpCodeGenerator.cs
+++ b/AutoRest/Generators/CSharp/CSharp/CSharpCodeGenerator.cs
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ public override string ImplementationFileExtension
             get { return ".cs"; }
         }
 
-        public override void PopulateSettings(IDictionary<string, string> settings)
+        public override void PopulateSettings(IDictionary<string, object> settings)
         {
             base.PopulateSettings(settings);
             Settings.PopulateSettings(_namer, settings);
diff --git a/AutoRest/Generators/Ruby/Ruby/RubyCodeGenerator.cs b/AutoRest/Generators/Ruby/Ruby/RubyCodeGenerator.cs
index 368888b082657..114540a6c5372 100644
--- a/AutoRest/Generators/Ruby/Ruby/RubyCodeGenerator.cs
+++ b/AutoRest/Generators/Ruby/Ruby/RubyCodeGenerator.cs
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public RubyCodeGenerator(Settings settings) : base(settings)
 
             if (Settings.CustomSettings.ContainsKey("Name"))
             {
-                this.sdkName = Settings.CustomSettings["Name"];
+                this.sdkName = Settings.CustomSettings["Name"].ToString();
             }
 
             if (sdkName == null)
diff --git a/AutoRest/Modelers/Swagger/SwaggerModeler.cs b/AutoRest/Modelers/Swagger/SwaggerModeler.cs
index 9a009c4a77d99..829fbc174cad2 100644
--- a/AutoRest/Modelers/Swagger/SwaggerModeler.cs
+++ b/AutoRest/Modelers/Swagger/SwaggerModeler.cs
@@ -144,7 +144,9 @@ private void UpdateSettings()
             {
                 foreach (var key in ServiceDefinition.Info.CodeGenerationSettings.Extensions.Keys)
                 {
-                    this.Settings.CustomSettings[key] = ServiceDefinition.Info.CodeGenerationSettings.Extensions[key].ToString();
+                    //Don't overwrite settings that come in from the command line
+                    if (!this.Settings.CustomSettings.ContainsKey(key))
+                        this.Settings.CustomSettings[key] = ServiceDefinition.Info.CodeGenerationSettings.Extensions[key];
                 }
                 Settings.PopulateSettings(this.Settings, this.Settings.CustomSettings);
             }
diff --git a/Documentation/cli.md b/Documentation/cli.md
index 4dddaeec8a919..ee9159e5f39d9 100644
--- a/Documentation/cli.md
+++ b/Documentation/cli.md
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
   **-OutputFileName** If set, will cause generated code to be output to a single file. Not supported by all code generators.
   
   **-Verbose** If set, will output verbose diagnostic messages.
-
+  
+  **-CodeGenSettings** Optionally specifies a JSON file that contains code generation settings equivalent to the swagger document containing the same content in the [x-ms-code-generation-settings] extension. Aliases: -cgs
 ##Code Generators
   **Ruby** Generic Ruby code generator.
   
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ AutoRest.exe -Namespace MyNamespace -Input swagger.json
 AutoRest.exe -Namespace MyNamespace -Header "Copyright Contoso Ltd" -Input swagger.json
 ```
 
-  - Generate C# client with a credentials property in MyNamespace from swagger.json input:
+  - Generate C# client with a credentials property in MyNamespace from swagger.json input and with code generation settings specified by settings.json:
 ```bash
-AutoRest.exe -AddCredentials true -Namespace MyNamespace -CodeGenerator CSharp -Modeler Swagger -Input swagger.json
+AutoRest.exe -AddCredentials true -Namespace MyNamespace -CodeGenerator CSharp -Modeler Swagger -Input swagger.json -CodeGenSettings settings.json
 ```
diff --git a/Documentation/swagger-extensions.md b/Documentation/swagger-extensions.md
index 1fbf0efe46d71..af5ab33f28f9b 100644
--- a/Documentation/swagger-extensions.md
+++ b/Documentation/swagger-extensions.md
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ Field Name | Type | Description
 "info": {
    "x-ms-code-generation-settings": {
       "header": "MIT",
-      "internalConstructors": true
+      "internalConstructors": true,
+      "useDateTimeOffset": true
    }
 }
 ```