diff --git a/idf_build_apps/__init__.py b/idf_build_apps/__init__.py
index 24f8012..83ca93e 100644
--- a/idf_build_apps/__init__.py
+++ b/idf_build_apps/__init__.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 from .app import (
     App,
+    AppDeserializer,
     CMakeApp,
     MakeApp,
 )
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@
 
 __all__ = [
     'App',
+    'AppDeserializer',
     'CMakeApp',
     'MakeApp',
     'find_apps',
diff --git a/idf_build_apps/app.py b/idf_build_apps/app.py
index 26b7636..34834f2 100644
--- a/idf_build_apps/app.py
+++ b/idf_build_apps/app.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     Version,
 )
 from pydantic import (
+    Field,
     computed_field,
 )
 
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@
 from .utils import (
     BaseModel,
     BuildError,
+    Literal,
     files_matches_patterns,
     find_first_match,
     rmdir,
@@ -84,8 +86,6 @@ class App(BaseModel):
     INDEX_PLACEHOLDER: t.ClassVar[str] = '@i'  # replace it with the build index
     IDF_VERSION_PLACEHOLDER: t.ClassVar[str] = '@v'  # replace it with the IDF version
 
-    BUILD_SYSTEM: t.ClassVar[str] = 'unknown'
-
     SDKCONFIG_LINE_REGEX: t.ClassVar[t.Pattern] = re.compile(r"^([^=]+)=\"?([^\"\n]*)\"?\n*$")
 
     # could be assigned later, used for filtering out apps by supported_targets
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ class App(BaseModel):
     sdkconfig_path: t.Optional[str] = None
     config_name: t.Optional[str] = None
 
+    build_system: Literal['unknown'] = 'unknown'
     build_status: BuildStatus = BuildStatus.UNKNOWN
     build_comment: t.Optional[str] = None
 
@@ -179,7 +180,7 @@ def __init__(
 
     def __str__(self):
         return '({}) App {}, target {}, sdkconfig {}, build in {}, {} in {}s'.format(
-            self.BUILD_SYSTEM,
+            self.build_system,
             self.app_dir,
             self.target,
             self.sdkconfig_path or '(default)',
@@ -679,10 +680,10 @@ def check_should_build(
 
 
 class MakeApp(App):
-    BUILD_SYSTEM = 'make'
-
     MAKE_PROJECT_LINE: t.ClassVar[str] = r'include $(IDF_PATH)/make/project.mk'
 
+    build_system: Literal['make'] = 'make'
+
     @property
     def supported_targets(self) -> t.List[str]:
         if self.MANIFEST:
@@ -744,8 +745,6 @@ def is_app(cls, path: str) -> bool:
 
 
 class CMakeApp(App):
-    BUILD_SYSTEM = 'cmake'
-
     # If these keys are present in sdkconfig.defaults, they will be extracted and passed to CMake
     SDKCONFIG_TEST_OPTS: t.ClassVar[t.List[str]] = [
         'EXCLUDE_COMPONENTS',
@@ -761,6 +760,7 @@ class CMakeApp(App):
     CMAKE_PROJECT_LINE: t.ClassVar[str] = r'include($ENV{IDF_PATH}/tools/cmake/project.cmake)'
 
     cmake_vars: t.Dict[str, str] = {}
+    build_system: Literal['cmake'] = 'cmake'
 
     def _build(
         self,
@@ -867,3 +867,12 @@ def is_app(cls, path: str) -> bool:
             return False
 
         return True
+
+
+class AppDeserializer(BaseModel):
+    app: t.Union[App, CMakeApp, MakeApp] = Field(discriminator='build_system')
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_json(cls, json_data: t.Union[str, bytes, bytearray]) -> App:
+        json_dict = json.loads(json_data.strip())
+        return cls.model_validate({'app': json_dict}).app
diff --git a/idf_build_apps/utils.py b/idf_build_apps/utils.py
index 35404a3..4d8b22c 100644
--- a/idf_build_apps/utils.py
+++ b/idf_build_apps/utils.py
@@ -24,6 +24,15 @@
     LOGGER,
 )
 
+try:
+    from typing import (
+        Literal,
+    )
+except ImportError:
+    from typing_extensions import (  # isort: skip # noqa: F401
+        Literal,
+    )
+
 
 class ConfigRule:
     def __init__(self, file_name: str, config_name: t.Optional[str]) -> None:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b8f026e..b8614c8 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -127,3 +127,6 @@ select = [
 ]
 line-length = 120
 target-version = "py37"
+typing-modules = [
+    "idf_build_apps.utils"
+]
diff --git a/tests/test_app.py b/tests/test_app.py
index 2286031..df3f0ff 100644
--- a/tests/test_app.py
+++ b/tests/test_app.py
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 from idf_build_apps import (
+    AppDeserializer,
     CMakeApp,
+    MakeApp,
 )
 
 
@@ -12,3 +14,21 @@ def test_serialization():
 
     b = CMakeApp.model_validate_json(a_s)
     assert a == b
+
+
+def test_deserialization(tmp_path):
+    a = CMakeApp('foo', 'bar')
+    b = MakeApp('foo', 'bar')
+
+    assert a != b
+
+    with open(tmp_path / 'test.txt', 'w') as fw:
+        fw.write(a.to_json() + '\n')
+        fw.write(b.to_json() + '\n')
+
+    with open(tmp_path / 'test.txt') as fr:
+        a_s = AppDeserializer.from_json(fr.readline())
+        b_s = AppDeserializer.from_json(fr.readline())
+
+    assert a == a_s
+    assert b == b_s