diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/install.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/install.py
index 55edb280c96..1cc7f662244 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/install.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/install.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import errno
+import json
 import operator
 import os
 import shutil
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@
 from pip._internal.locations import get_scheme
 from pip._internal.metadata import get_environment
 from pip._internal.models.format_control import FormatControl
+from pip._internal.models.installation_report import InstallationReport
 from pip._internal.operations.build.build_tracker import get_build_tracker
 from pip._internal.operations.check import ConflictDetails, check_install_conflicts
 from pip._internal.req import install_given_reqs
@@ -223,6 +225,20 @@ def add_options(self) -> None:
             default=True,
             help="Do not warn about broken dependencies",
         )
+
+        self.cmd_opts.add_option(
+            "--report",
+            dest="json_report_file",
+            metavar="file",
+            default=None,
+            help=(
+                "Generate a JSON file describing what pip did to install "
+                "the provided requirements. "
+                "Can be used in combination with --dry-run and --ignore-installed "
+                "to 'resolve' the requirements."
+            ),
+        )
+
         self.cmd_opts.add_option(cmdoptions.no_binary())
         self.cmd_opts.add_option(cmdoptions.only_binary())
         self.cmd_opts.add_option(cmdoptions.prefer_binary())
@@ -340,6 +356,10 @@ def run(self, options: Values, args: List[str]) -> int:
             requirement_set = resolver.resolve(
                 reqs, check_supported_wheels=not options.target_dir
             )
+            if options.json_report_file:
+                report = InstallationReport.from_requirement_set(requirement_set)
+                with open(options.json_report_file, "w") as f:
+                    json.dump(report.to_json(), f)
 
             try:
                 pip_req = requirement_set.get_requirement("pip")
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/models/installation_report.py b/src/pip/_internal/models/installation_report.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..be59d85fd14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/models/installation_report.py
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+from typing import Any, Dict
+
+from pip._internal.req.req_install import InstallRequirement
+from pip._internal.req.req_set import RequirementSet
+from pip._internal.utils.direct_url_helpers import direct_url_for_editable
+
+
+class InstallationReportItem:
+    def __init__(self, install_req: InstallRequirement):
+        self._install_req = install_req
+
+    def to_json(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        is_direct = bool(self._install_req.original_link)
+        assert (
+            self._install_req.download_info
+        ), f"No download_info for {self._install_req}"
+        if self._install_req.editable:
+            download_info = direct_url_for_editable(
+                self._install_req.unpacked_source_directory
+            )
+        else:
+            download_info = self._install_req.download_info
+        res = {
+            # is_direct is true if requirement came from a direct URL reference (which
+            # includes editable requirements), and false if the requirement was
+            # downloaded from a PEP 503 index or --find-links.
+            "is_direct": is_direct,
+            # PEP 610 json for the download URL
+            "download_info": download_info.to_dict(),
+            # PEP 566 json encoding for metadata
+            # https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0566/#json-compatible-metadata
+            # TODO (MVP?) self._install_req.metadata.to_json()
+            "metadata": {
+                "name": self._install_req.name,
+                "version": str(self._install_req.get_dist().version),
+            },
+        }
+        if self._install_req.user_supplied:
+            # TODO (MVP) investigate why self._install_req.req does not reproduce the
+            # user supplied URL in case of direct requirements
+            if self._install_req.original_link:
+                res["requested"] = str(self._install_req.original_link)
+            else:
+                res["requested"] = str(self._install_req.req)
+        # TODO (LATER) information about the index or find-links for non-direct reqs
+        # TODO (LATER) information about pip install options
+        return res
+
+
+class InstallationReport:
+    def __init__(self, items: Dict[str, InstallationReportItem]):
+        self._items = items
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_requirement_set(
+        cls, requirement_set: RequirementSet
+    ) -> "InstallationReport":
+        items = {}
+        for name, requirement in requirement_set.requirements.items():
+            item = InstallationReportItem(requirement)
+            items[name] = item
+        return InstallationReport(items)
+
+    def to_json(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        # TODO (MVP?) platform information (python version, etc)
+        return {
+            "installed": {name: item.to_json() for name, item in self._items.items()}
+        }