diff --git a/lib/canned.js b/lib/canned.js
index cf3f271..75995e9 100644
--- a/lib/canned.js
+++ b/lib/canned.js
@@ -8,8 +8,13 @@ var querystring = require('querystring')
 var url = require('url')
 var cannedUtils = require('./utils')
 var lookup = require('./lookup')
+var ResponseParser = require('./response-parser')
+var RequestParser = require('./request-parser')
 var _ = require('lodash')
 
+var responseParser = new ResponseParser();
+var requestParser = new RequestParser();
+
 function Canned(dir, options) {
   this.logger = options.logger
   this.wildcard = options.wildcard || 'any'
@@ -90,16 +95,6 @@ function getContentType(mimetype){
   return Response.content_types[mimetype]
 }
 
-function stringifyValues(object) {
-  _.each(object, function(value, key) {
-    if (typeof value === "object") {
-      stringifyValues(value);
-    } else {
-      object[key] = String(value)
-    }
-  })
-}
-
 function isContentTypeJson(request) {
   var isJson = false;
   if (request.headers && request.headers['content-type']) {
@@ -108,42 +103,28 @@ function isContentTypeJson(request) {
   return isJson;
 }
 
-
 Canned.prototype.parseMetaData = function(response) {
-  var metaData = {}
+  var metaData = {request: {}},
+      lines;
+
   // convert CR+LF => LF+LF, CR => LF, fixes line breaks causing issues in windows
   response = response.replace("\r", "\n");
-  var lines = response.split("\n")
-  var that = this
 
-  var optionsMatch = new RegExp(/\/\/!.*[statusCode|contentType|customHeaders]/g)
-  var requestMatch = new RegExp(/\/\/! [body|params|header]+: ([\w {}":\[\]\-\+\%,@.\/]*)/g)
+  // we only care about special comment lines
+  lines = response.split("\n").filter(function(line) {
+    return line.indexOf("//!") === 0;
+  })
 
   lines.forEach(function(line) {
-    if(line.indexOf("//!") === 0) { // special comment line
-      var matchedRequest = requestMatch.exec(line)
-      if(matchedRequest) {
-        metaData.request = JSON.parse(matchedRequest[1])
-        stringifyValues(metaData.request);
-        return
-      }
-      var matchedOptions = optionsMatch.exec(line)
-      if(matchedOptions) {
-        try {
-          line = line.replace("//!", '')
-          var content = line.split(',').map(function (s) {
-            var parts = s.split(':');
-            parts[0] = '"' + parts[0].trim() + '"'
-            return parts.join(':')
-          }).join(',')
-          var opts = JSON.parse('{' + content  + '}')
-          cannedUtils.extend(metaData, opts)
-        } catch(e) {
-          that._log('Invalid file header format try //! statusCode: 201')
-        }
-        return
-      }
+    // extract any request attributes
+    var requestAttrs = requestParser.parse(line);
+    if (Object.keys(requestAttrs).length > 0) {
+      cannedUtils.extend(metaData.request, requestAttrs);
     }
+
+    var responseAttrs = responseParser.parse(line);
+    // extract any response attributes
+    cannedUtils.extend(metaData, responseAttrs)
   })
 
   return metaData
@@ -160,7 +141,7 @@ Canned.prototype.getSelectedResponse = function(responses, content, headers) {
     customHeaders: metaData.customHeaders
   }
 
-  stringifyValues(content);
+  cannedUtils.stringifyValues(content);
 
   responses.forEach(function(response) {
     var metaData = that.parseMetaData(response)
@@ -314,7 +295,7 @@ Canned.prototype.responder = function(body, req, res) {
       }
     }
   }
-  
+
   var paths = lookup(httpObj.pathname.join('/'), that.wildcard);
   paths.splice(0,1); // The first path is the default
   responseHandler = function (err, resp) {
@@ -397,4 +378,4 @@ Canned.prototype.responseFilter = function (req, res) {
   }
 }
 
-module.exports = Canned;
\ No newline at end of file
+module.exports = Canned;
diff --git a/lib/request-parser.js b/lib/request-parser.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f73d595
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/request-parser.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+var cannedUtils = require('./utils');
+var requestMatch = /\/\/!.*(?:body|params|header):\s+([\w {}":\[\]\-\+\%,@.\/]*)/g;
+
+var RequestParser = function() {}
+
+function parseRequestOptions(line) {
+    var match,
+        requestItems = {};
+
+    while (match = requestMatch.exec(line)) {
+        try {
+            cannedUtils.recursiveMerge(requestItems, JSON.parse(match[1]));
+        } catch (e) {
+            console.log(e);
+            //@todo some logging
+        }
+    }
+
+    return requestItems;
+}
+
+function parseEntry(lines) {
+    var result = {};
+    lines.split('\n').forEach(function(line) {
+        cannedUtils.recursiveMerge(result, parseRequestOptions(line));
+    });
+    return result;
+}
+
+RequestParser.prototype.parse = parseRequestOptions;
+RequestParser.prototype.parseEntry = parseEntry;
+
+module.exports = RequestParser;
diff --git a/lib/response-parser.js b/lib/response-parser.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5165902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/response-parser.js
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+var cannedUtils = require('./utils');
+
+var responseMatch = /\/\/!.*(?:statusCode|contentType|customHeaders)/g;
+
+/**
+ * the ResponseParser is responsible for collecting the intended return
+ * status code, content type and header declarations.
+ */
+function ResponseParser() {}
+
+/**
+ * _parseresponse takes a single line from a file and extracts
+ * JSON data if possible. Returns an object.
+ */
+function parseLine(line) {
+    var match,
+        response = {};
+
+    while (responseMatch.exec(line)) {
+        try {
+            // drop the magix comment
+            line = line.replace("//!", '').trim();
+
+            var content = line.split(',').map(function (s) {
+                var parts = s.split(':');
+                if (parts[0].trim()[-1] !== '"') {
+                    parts[0] = '"' + parts[0].trim() + '"'
+                }
+                return parts.join(':')
+            }).join(',')
+
+            response = cannedUtils.recursiveMerge(response, JSON.parse('{' + content  + '}'))
+        } catch(e) {
+            console.log(e);
+            //@todo pass in log and get cracking
+        }
+    }
+
+    return response;
+}
+
+function parseEntry(lines) {
+    var result = {};
+    lines.split('\n').forEach(function(line) {
+        cannedUtils.recursiveMerge(result, parseLine(line));
+    });
+    return result;
+}
+
+ResponseParser.prototype.parse = parseLine;
+ResponseParser.prototype.parseEntry = parseEntry;
+
+module.exports = ResponseParser;
diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index 5334365..71e8731 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 "use strict";
 
+var _ = require('lodash')
+
 var utils = module.exports = {}
 
 utils.escapeRegexSpecialChars = function (text) {
@@ -18,6 +20,31 @@ utils.extend = function (target) {
   return target
 }
 
+/**
+ * recursively merge an object onto target, preserving existing keys.
+ * Modified from http://stackoverflow.com/a/383245/771564
+ */
+utils.recursiveMerge = function(target, other) {
+  if (!other) {
+    return target;
+  }
+
+  for (var prop in other) {
+    try {
+      // Property in destination targetect set; update its value.
+      if ( other[prop].constructor == Object ) {
+        target[prop] = utils.recursiveMerge(target[prop], other[prop]);
+      } else {
+        target[prop] = other[prop];
+      }
+    } catch(e) {
+      // Property in destination targetect not set; create it and set its value.
+      target[prop] = other[prop];
+    }
+  }
+  return target;
+}
+
 utils.removeJSLikeComments = function (text) {
   return text.replace(/\/\*.+?\*\/|\/\/\s.*(?=[\n\r])/g, '')
 }
@@ -27,3 +54,13 @@ utils.removeSpecialComments = function (data) {
     return line.indexOf("//!") !== 0
   }).join("\n").trim()
 }
+
+utils.stringifyValues = function(object) {
+  _.each(object, function(value, key) {
+    if (typeof value === "object") {
+      utils.stringifyValues(value);
+    } else {
+      object[key] = String(value)
+    }
+  })
+}
diff --git a/spec/canned.spec.js b/spec/canned.spec.js
index 56d5f07..321f4d2 100644
--- a/spec/canned.spec.js
+++ b/spec/canned.spec.js
@@ -556,15 +556,104 @@ describe('canned', function () {
         expect(parsedMeta).toEqual({
           request: {
             serialkey: 'abc'
-          },
-          params: {
-            serialkey: '12121'
           }
         });
         done();
     })
   })
 
+  describe("parsing metadata", function() {
+    var Canned, can;
+
+    beforeEach(function() {
+      Canned = require('../lib/canned')
+      can = new Canned('./spec/test_responses', {});
+    })
+
+    it("Should accept statusCode", function(done) {
+      var mock_text = '//! statusCode: 418';
+      var parsedMeta = can.parseMetaData(mock_text);
+
+      expect(parsedMeta).toEqual({
+        statusCode: 418
+      });
+      done();
+    })
+
+    it("Should accept customHeaders", function(done) {
+      var mock_text = '//! statusCode: 418\n' +
+                      '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "Bearer xyz"}';
+      var parsedMeta = can.parseMetaData(mock_text);
+
+      expect(parsedMeta).toEqual({
+        statusCode: 418,
+        customHeaders: {
+          Authorization: 'Bearer xyz'
+        }
+      });
+      done();
+    })
+
+    it("Should accept request body", function(done) {
+      var mock_text = '//! statusCode: 418\n' +
+                      '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "Bearer xyz"}\n' +
+                      '//! customHeaders: {"Location": "Wimbledon Common"}\n' +
+                      '//! body: {"colour": "green"}';
+      var parsedMeta = can.parseMetaData(mock_text);
+
+      expect(parsedMeta).toEqual({
+        statusCode: 418,
+        customHeaders: {
+          Authorization: 'Bearer xyz',
+          Location: 'Wimbledon Common'
+        },
+        request: {
+          colour: 'green'
+        }
+      });
+      done();
+    })
+
+    it("Should accept request body", function(done) {
+      var Canned = require('../lib/canned')
+      var can = new Canned('./spec/test_responses', {});
+      var mock_text = '//! statusCode: 418\n' +
+                      '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "Bearer xyz"}\n' +
+                      '//! body: {"colour": "green"}';
+      var parsedMeta = can.parseMetaData(mock_text);
+
+      expect(parsedMeta).toEqual({
+        statusCode: 418,
+        customHeaders: {
+          Authorization: 'Bearer xyz'
+        },
+        request: {
+          colour: 'green'
+        }
+      });
+      done();
+    })
+
+    it("Should apply the latest request params, body or header specified", function(done) {
+      var mock_text = '//! statusCode: 418\n' +
+                      '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "Bearer xyz"}\n' +
+                      '//! body: {"colour": "green"}\n' +
+                      '//! params: {"count": 126}';
+      var parsedMeta = can.parseMetaData(mock_text);
+
+      expect(parsedMeta).toEqual({
+        statusCode: 418,
+        customHeaders: {
+          Authorization: 'Bearer xyz'
+        },
+        request: {
+          count: '126',
+        }
+      });
+      done();
+    })
+  })
+
   describe("variable POST responses", function() {
     var req, data
     beforeEach(function() {
diff --git a/spec/request-parser.spec.js b/spec/request-parser.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e764622
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/request-parser.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+var RequestParser = require('../lib/request-parser');
+
+describe("request parser", function() {
+  var parser;
+
+  beforeEach(function() {
+    parser = new RequestParser();
+  })
+
+  it("does something useful", function(done) {
+    var fake_content = '//! body: {"frog_count": 200}';
+    res = parser.parse(fake_content);
+    expect(res).toEqual({
+      frog_count: 200
+    });
+    done();
+  })
+
+  it("returns an empty object if there are no params", function(done) {
+    var fake_file_content = '//! statusCode: 418\n' +
+                            '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "13r098asflj"}\n' +
+                            '//! customHeaders: {"Location": "https://example.com"}';
+
+    res = parser.parseEntry(fake_file_content);
+    expect(res).toEqual({});
+    done();
+  })
+
+   it("Should accept request body", function(done) {
+    var mock_text = '//! statusCode: 418\n' +
+                    '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "Bearer xyz"}\n' +
+                    '//! customHeaders: {"Location": "Wimbledon Common"}\n' +
+                    '//! body: {"colour": "green"}';
+    var parsedMeta = parser.parseEntry(mock_text);
+
+    expect(parsedMeta).toEqual({
+      colour: "green"
+    });
+    done();
+  })
+})
diff --git a/spec/response-parser.spec.js b/spec/response-parser.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..675ed98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/response-parser.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+var ResponseParser = require('../lib/response-parser');
+
+describe("response parser", function() {
+  var parser;
+
+  beforeEach(function() {
+    parser = new ResponseParser();
+  })
+
+  it("does something useful", function(done) {
+    var fake_content = "//! statusCode: 200";
+    res = parser.parse(fake_content);
+    expect(res).toEqual({
+      statusCode: 200
+    });
+    done();
+  })
+
+  it("does something useful", function(done) {
+    var fake_content = '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "13r098asflj"}';
+    res = parser.parse(fake_content);
+    expect(res).toEqual({
+      customHeaders: {
+        Authorization: "13r098asflj"
+      }
+    });
+    done();
+  })
+
+  it("combines for ultimate badassery", function(done) {
+    var fake_file_content = '//! statusCode: 418\n' +
+                            '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "13r098asflj"}\n' +
+                            '//! customHeaders: {"Location": "https://example.com"}';
+
+    res = parser.parseEntry(fake_file_content);
+    expect(res).toEqual({
+      statusCode: 418,
+      customHeaders: {
+        Authorization: "13r098asflj",
+        Location: "https://example.com"
+      }
+    });
+    done();
+  })
+
+   it("Should accept request body", function(done) {
+    var mock_text = '//! statusCode: 418\n' +
+                    '//! customHeaders: {"Authorization": "Bearer xyz"}\n' +
+                    '//! customHeaders: {"Location": "Wimbledon Common"}\n' +
+                    '//! body: {"colour": "green"}';
+    var parsedMeta = parser.parseEntry(mock_text);
+
+    expect(parsedMeta).toEqual({
+      statusCode: 418,
+      customHeaders: {
+        Authorization: 'Bearer xyz',
+        Location: 'Wimbledon Common'
+      }
+    });
+    done();
+  })
+})
diff --git a/spec/utils.spec.js b/spec/utils.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..965b737
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/utils.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+var utils = require('../lib/utils');
+
+describe('recursiveMerge', function() {
+    it("adds properties to the target object", function(done) {
+        var first = {},
+            second = { "horses": "best of all the animals" };
+
+        utils.recursiveMerge(first, second);
+
+        expect(first).toEqual(second);
+
+        done();
+    })
+
+    it("merges properties on the target object without clobbering", function(done) {
+        var first = {"animals": {"frogs": "jump a lot"}},
+            second = { "animals" : { "horses": "best of all the animals" } };
+
+        utils.recursiveMerge(first, second);
+
+        expect(first).toEqual({"animals": {"frogs": "jump a lot", "horses": "best of all the animals"}});
+
+        done();
+    })
+})