diff --git a/DOCS/client-api-changes.rst b/DOCS/client-api-changes.rst
index c269ea1be0..b1274cad7b 100644
--- a/DOCS/client-api-changes.rst
+++ b/DOCS/client-api-changes.rst
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ API changes
 
 ::
 
+ 1.7    - add mpv_command_node(), mpv_command_node_async()
  1.6    - modify "core-idle" property behavior
         - MPV_EVENT_LOG_MESSAGE now always sends complete lines
         - introduce numeric log levels (mpv_log_level)
diff --git a/libmpv/client.h b/libmpv/client.h
index 9b2d67edd2..084f6e6e6c 100644
--- a/libmpv/client.h
+++ b/libmpv/client.h
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ extern "C" {
  * relational operators (<, >, <=, >=).
  */
 #define MPV_MAKE_VERSION(major, minor) (((major) << 16) | (minor) | 0UL)
-#define MPV_CLIENT_API_VERSION MPV_MAKE_VERSION(1, 6)
+#define MPV_CLIENT_API_VERSION MPV_MAKE_VERSION(1, 7)
 
 /**
  * Return the MPV_CLIENT_API_VERSION the mpv source has been compiled with.
@@ -611,6 +611,11 @@ typedef struct mpv_node_list {
  * Frees any data referenced by the node. It doesn't free the node itself.
  * Call this only if the mpv client API set the node. If you constructed the
  * node yourself (manually), you have to free it yourself.
+ *
+ * If node->format is MPV_FORMAT_NONE, this call does nothing. Likewise, if
+ * the client API sets a node with this format, this function doesn't need to
+ * be called. (This is just a clarification that there's no danger of anything
+ * strange happening in these cases.)
  */
 void mpv_free_node_contents(mpv_node *node);
 
@@ -655,6 +660,24 @@ int mpv_set_option_string(mpv_handle *ctx, const char *name, const char *data);
  */
 int mpv_command(mpv_handle *ctx, const char **args);
 
+/**
+ * Same as mpv_command(), but allows passing structured data in any format.
+ * In particular, calling mpv_command() is exactly like calling
+ * mpv_command_node() with the format set to MPV_FORMAT_NODE_ARRAY, and
+ * every arg passed in order as MPV_FORMAT_STRING.
+ *
+ * @param[in] args mpv_node with format set to MPV_FORMAT_NODE_ARRAY; each entry
+ *                 is an argument using an arbitrary format (the format must be
+ *                 compatible to the used command). Usually, the first item is
+ *                 the command name (as MPV_FORMAT_STRING).
+ * @param[out] result Optional, pass NULL if unused. If not NULL, and if the
+ *                    function succeeds, this is set to command-specific return
+ *                    data. You must call mpv_free_node_contents() to free it
+ *                    (again, only if the command actually succeeds).
+ * @return error code (the result parameter is not set on error)
+ */
+int mpv_command_node(mpv_handle *ctx, mpv_node *args, mpv_node *result);
+
 /**
  * Same as mpv_command, but use input.conf parsing for splitting arguments.
  * This is slightly simpler, but also more error prone, since arguments may
@@ -669,13 +692,30 @@ int mpv_command_string(mpv_handle *ctx, const char *args);
  * MPV_EVENT_COMMAND_REPLY event. (This event will also have an
  * error code set if running the command failed.)
  *
- * @param reply_userdata see section about asynchronous calls
+ * @param reply_userdata the value mpv_event.reply_userdata of the reply will
+ *                       be set to (see section about asynchronous calls)
  * @param args NULL-terminated list of strings (see mpv_command())
- * @return error code
+ * @return error code (if parsing or queuing the command fails)
  */
 int mpv_command_async(mpv_handle *ctx, uint64_t reply_userdata,
                       const char **args);
 
+/**
+ * Same as mpv_command_node(), but run it asynchronously. Basically, this
+ * function is to mpv_command_node() what mpv_command_async() is to
+ * mpv_command().
+ *
+ * See mpv_command_async() for details. Retrieving the result is not
+ * supported yet.
+ *
+ * @param reply_userdata the value mpv_event.reply_userdata of the reply will
+ *                       be set to (see section about asynchronous calls)
+ * @param args as in mpv_command_node()
+ * @return error code (if parsing or queuing the command fails)
+ */
+int mpv_command_node_async(mpv_handle *ctx, uint64_t reply_userdata,
+                           mpv_node *args);
+
 /**
  * Set a property to a given value. Properties are essentially variables which
  * can be queried or set at runtime. For example, writing to the pause property
diff --git a/player/client.c b/player/client.c
index d1bdec001e..6bb9b18160 100644
--- a/player/client.c
+++ b/player/client.c
@@ -880,18 +880,24 @@ int mpv_command(mpv_handle *ctx, const char **args)
     return run_client_command(ctx, mp_input_parse_cmd_strv(ctx->log, args));
 }
 
+int mpv_command_node(mpv_handle *ctx, mpv_node *args, mpv_node *result)
+{
+    int r = run_client_command(ctx, mp_input_parse_cmd_node(ctx->log, args));
+    if (r >= 0)
+        *result = (mpv_node){.format = MPV_FORMAT_NONE};
+    return r;
+}
+
 int mpv_command_string(mpv_handle *ctx, const char *args)
 {
     return run_client_command(ctx,
         mp_input_parse_cmd(ctx->mpctx->input, bstr0((char*)args), ctx->name));
 }
 
-int mpv_command_async(mpv_handle *ctx, uint64_t ud, const char **args)
+static int run_cmd_async(mpv_handle *ctx, uint64_t ud, struct mp_cmd *cmd)
 {
     if (!ctx->mpctx->initialized)
         return MPV_ERROR_UNINITIALIZED;
-
-    struct mp_cmd *cmd = mp_input_parse_cmd_strv(ctx->log, args);
     if (!cmd)
         return MPV_ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;
 
@@ -905,6 +911,16 @@ int mpv_command_async(mpv_handle *ctx, uint64_t ud, const char **args)
     return run_async(ctx, cmd_fn, req);
 }
 
+int mpv_command_async(mpv_handle *ctx, uint64_t ud, const char **args)
+{
+    return run_cmd_async(ctx, ud, mp_input_parse_cmd_strv(ctx->log, args));
+}
+
+int mpv_command_node_async(mpv_handle *ctx, uint64_t ud, mpv_node *args)
+{
+    return run_cmd_async(ctx, ud, mp_input_parse_cmd_node(ctx->log, args));
+}
+
 static int translate_property_error(int errc)
 {
     switch (errc) {