diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7b1ac2b..b59e800 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -105,4 +105,4 @@
     "package-prepare": "npm run eslint && npm run prettier-check && npm run build && npm run test && npm run coverage && npm run docs-generate && npm run generate-third-party",
     "package": "npm run package-clean && npm run package-prepare && npm pack"
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/specs/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetMergerSpec.ts b/specs/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetMergerSpec.ts
index d7a6c54..bd7467e 100644
--- a/specs/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetMergerSpec.ts
+++ b/specs/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetMergerSpec.ts
@@ -67,4 +67,32 @@ describe("TilesetMerger", function () {
     ];
     expect(actualContentUris).toEqual(expectedContentUris);
   });
+
+  it("merges tilesets into a single tileset for mergeJson", async function () {
+    await TilesetOperations.mergeJson(basicInputs, basicOutput, overwrite);
+
+    // Ensure that the output directory contains the expected files:
+    const actualRelativeFiles =
+      SpecHelpers.collectRelativeFileNames(basicOutput);
+    actualRelativeFiles.sort();
+    const expectedRelativeFiles = ["tileset.json"];
+    expect(actualRelativeFiles).toEqual(expectedRelativeFiles);
+
+    // Ensure that the single 'tileset.json' contains the
+    // proper content URIs for the external tilesets:
+    const tilesetJsonBuffer = fs.readFileSync(
+      Paths.join(basicOutput, "tileset.json")
+    );
+    const tileset = JSON.parse(tilesetJsonBuffer.toString());
+    const actualContentUris = await SpecHelpers.collectExplicitContentUris(
+      tileset.root
+    );
+    actualContentUris.sort();
+
+    const expectedContentUris = [
+      "specs/data/mergeTilesets/basicMerge/TilesetA/tileset.json",
+      "specs/data/mergeTilesets/basicMerge/sub/TilesetA/tileset.json",
+    ];
+    expect(actualContentUris).toEqual(expectedContentUris);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/cli/ToolsMain.ts b/src/cli/ToolsMain.ts
index 57050f9..72fcb86 100644
--- a/src/cli/ToolsMain.ts
+++ b/src/cli/ToolsMain.ts
@@ -565,6 +565,18 @@ export class ToolsMain {
     logger.debug(`Executing merge DONE`);
   }
 
+  static async mergeJson(inputs: string[], output: string, force: boolean) {
+    logger.debug(`Executing mergeJson`);
+    logger.debug(`  inputs: ${inputs}`);
+    logger.debug(`  output: ${output}`);
+    logger.debug(`  force: ${force}`);
+
+    ToolsMain.ensureCanWrite(output, force);
+    await TilesetOperations.mergeJson(inputs, output, force);
+
+    logger.debug(`Executing merge DONE`);
+  }
+
   static async pipeline(input: string, force: boolean) {
     logger.debug(`Executing pipeline`);
     logger.debug(`  input: ${input}`);
diff --git a/src/cli/main.ts b/src/cli/main.ts
index d5e4104..337dfad 100644
--- a/src/cli/main.ts
+++ b/src/cli/main.ts
@@ -257,7 +257,18 @@ function parseToolArgs(a: string[]) {
     .command(
       "merge",
       "Merge any number of tilesets together into a single tileset.",
-      { i: inputArrayDefinition, o: outputStringDefinition }
+      {
+        i: inputArrayDefinition,
+        o: outputStringDefinition,
+      }
+    )
+    .command(
+      "mergeJson",
+      "Merge any number of tilesets together into a single tileset without copying resources to output directory.",
+      {
+        i: inputArrayDefinition,
+        o: outputStringDefinition,
+      }
     )
     .command(
       "upgrade",
@@ -537,6 +548,8 @@ async function runCommand(command: string, toolArgs: any, optionArgs: any) {
     );
   } else if (command === "merge") {
     await ToolsMain.merge(inputs, output, force);
+  } else if (command === "mergeJson") {
+    await ToolsMain.mergeJson(inputs, output, force);
   } else if (command === "pipeline") {
     await ToolsMain.pipeline(input, force);
   } else if (command === "analyze") {
diff --git a/src/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetMerger.ts b/src/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetMerger.ts
index 7f64020..1cf7d9e 100644
--- a/src/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetMerger.ts
+++ b/src/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetMerger.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,50 @@ export class TilesetMerger {
     tilesetSourceNames: string[],
     tilesetTargetName: string,
     overwrite: boolean
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    return this.mergeOperation(
+      tilesetSourceNames,
+      tilesetTargetName,
+      overwrite,
+      false
+    );
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Merges the tileset from the specified sources into one tileset
+   * that refers to the sources as external ones, and writes the
+   * result into the given target without copying resources to
+   * output directory.
+   *
+   * @param tilesetSourceNames - The tileset source names
+   * @param tilesetTargetName - The tileset target name
+   * @param overwrite - Whether target files should be overwritten
+   * @returns A promise that resolves when the process is finished
+   * @throws TilesetError When the input could not be processed
+   * @throws TilesetError When the output already exists
+   * and `overwrite` was `false`.
+   */
+  async mergeJson(
+    tilesetSourceNames: string[],
+    tilesetTargetName: string,
+    overwrite: boolean
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    return this.mergeOperation(
+      tilesetSourceNames,
+      tilesetTargetName,
+      overwrite,
+      true
+    );
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Internal method to differentiate between `merge` and `mergeJson`
+   */
+  async mergeOperation(
+    tilesetSourceNames: string[],
+    tilesetTargetName: string,
+    overwrite: boolean,
+    jsonOnly: boolean
   ): Promise<void> {
     // Create the sources and target
     for (const tilesetSourceName of tilesetSourceNames) {
@@ -106,7 +150,9 @@ export class TilesetMerger {
       const tilesetSource = TilesetSources.createAndOpen(tilesetSourceName);
       this.tilesetSources.push(tilesetSource);
       this.tilesetSourceJsonFileNames.push(tilesetSourceJsonFileName);
-      this.tilesetSourceIdentifiers.push(tilesetSourceIdentifier);
+      this.tilesetSourceIdentifiers.push(
+        !jsonOnly ? tilesetSourceIdentifier : tilesetSourceName
+      );
     }
 
     this.tilesetTargetJsonFileName =
@@ -117,7 +163,7 @@ export class TilesetMerger {
     );
 
     // Perform the actual merge
-    this.mergeInternal();
+    this.mergeInternal(jsonOnly);
 
     // Clean up by closing the sources and the target
     for (const tilesetSource of this.tilesetSources) {
@@ -134,7 +180,7 @@ export class TilesetMerger {
   /**
    * Internal method for `merge`
    */
-  private mergeInternal() {
+  private mergeInternal(jsonOnly: boolean) {
     if (
       this.tilesetSources.length == 0 ||
       !this.tilesetTarget ||
@@ -192,7 +238,7 @@ export class TilesetMerger {
     );
 
     // Copy the resources from the sources to the target
-    this.copyResources();
+    if (!jsonOnly) this.copyResources();
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetOperations.ts b/src/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetOperations.ts
index f05e468..892878a 100644
--- a/src/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetOperations.ts
+++ b/src/tools/tilesetProcessing/TilesetOperations.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,30 @@ export class TilesetOperations {
     await tilesetMerger.merge(tilesetSourceNames, tilesetTargetName, overwrite);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Performs the `mergeJson` command line operation.
+   *
+   * @param tilesetSourceName - The tileset source name
+   * @param tilesetTargetName - The tileset target name
+   * @param overwrite - Whether the target should be overwritten if
+   * it already exists
+   * @returns A promise that resolves when the process is finished
+   * @throws TilesetError When the input could not be processed,
+   * or when the output already exists and `overwrite` was `false`.
+   */
+  static async mergeJson(
+    tilesetSourceNames: string[],
+    tilesetTargetName: string,
+    overwrite: boolean
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    const tilesetMerger = new TilesetMerger();
+    await tilesetMerger.mergeJson(
+      tilesetSourceNames,
+      tilesetTargetName,
+      overwrite
+    );
+  }
+
   /**
    * Performs the `upgrade` command line operation.
    *