diff --git a/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1470.v2.yml b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1470.v2.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..17d666b67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1470.v2.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+type: improvement
+improvement:
+  description: Create api project for schema lock file
+  links:
+  - https://github.com/palantir/sls-packaging/pull/1470
diff --git a/gradle-sls-packaging-api/build.gradle b/gradle-sls-packaging-api/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dd794cdf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle-sls-packaging-api/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+apply plugin: 'com.palantir.external-publish-jar'
+apply plugin: 'org.inferred.processors'
+
+dependencies {
+    implementation 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind'
+    implementation 'com.palantir.safe-logging:preconditions'
+
+    compileOnly 'org.immutables:value::annotations'
+    annotationProcessor 'org.immutables:value'
+}
diff --git a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaMigration.java b/gradle-sls-packaging-api/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaMigration.java
similarity index 100%
rename from gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaMigration.java
rename to gradle-sls-packaging-api/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaMigration.java
diff --git a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaVersionLockFile.java b/gradle-sls-packaging-api/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaVersionLockFile.java
similarity index 95%
rename from gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaVersionLockFile.java
rename to gradle-sls-packaging-api/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaVersionLockFile.java
index 0f3c865b5..d2f708304 100644
--- a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaVersionLockFile.java
+++ b/gradle-sls-packaging-api/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/SchemaVersionLockFile.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package com.palantir.gradle.dist;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonDeserialize;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonSerialize;
 import com.palantir.logsafe.Preconditions;
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ default String getComment() {
         return COMMENT;
     }
 
+    @JsonProperty("schemaMigrations")
     List<SchemaMigration> getSchemaMigrations();
 
     @Value.Default
diff --git a/gradle-sls-packaging/build.gradle b/gradle-sls-packaging/build.gradle
index 5c130b4e5..a1095c8a5 100644
--- a/gradle-sls-packaging/build.gradle
+++ b/gradle-sls-packaging/build.gradle
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ dependencies {
 
     api gradleApi()
     api project(':gradle-recommended-product-dependencies')
+    api project(':gradle-sls-packaging-api')
     api 'com.google.guava:guava'
     api 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind'
     api 'com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat:jackson-dataformat-yaml'
diff --git a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/ObjectMappers.java b/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/ObjectMappers.java
index 298e18d3d..9a43eb5c2 100644
--- a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/ObjectMappers.java
+++ b/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/ObjectMappers.java
@@ -37,12 +37,7 @@ public final class ObjectMappers {
             .disable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES)
             .registerModule(new GuavaModule());
 
-    private static final ObjectMapper ymlMapper = new ObjectMapper(new YAMLFactory())
-            .setSerializationInclusion(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
-            .setPropertyNamingStrategy(PropertyNamingStrategies.KEBAB_CASE)
-            .enable(SerializationFeature.INDENT_OUTPUT)
-            .disable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES)
-            .registerModule(new GuavaModule());
+    private static final ObjectMapper ymlMapper = new ObjectMapper(new YAMLFactory()).registerModule(new GuavaModule());
 
     public static void writeProductDependencyManifest(ProductDependencyManifest pdm, File outputFile) {
         try {
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
index b8ffcc998..e234ebe74 100644
--- a/settings.gradle
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 rootProject.name = 'sls-packaging'
 include 'gradle-sls-packaging'
+include 'gradle-sls-packaging-api'
 include 'gradle-recommended-product-dependencies'