diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8aa98112..43bb095c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -56,4 +56,7 @@ _build
 debian/files
 
 # intellij
-/.idea
\ No newline at end of file
+/.idea
+
+# vscode
+.vscode
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/stream_evaluator.go b/pkg/yqlib/stream_evaluator.go
index cda18624..55eb6623 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/stream_evaluator.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/stream_evaluator.go
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func (s *streamEvaluator) Evaluate(filename string, reader io.Reader, node *Expr
 			Node:      &dataBucket,
 			FileIndex: s.fileIndex,
 		}
-		//move document comments into candidate node
+		// move document comments into candidate node
 		// otherwise unwrap drops them.
 		candidateNode.TrailingContent = dataBucket.FootComment
 		dataBucket.FootComment = ""
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/string_evaluator.go b/pkg/yqlib/string_evaluator.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..62bc253d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/string_evaluator.go
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+package yqlib
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"container/list"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+
+	yaml "gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+)
+
+type StringEvaluator interface {
+	Evaluate(expression string, input string, encoder Encoder, leadingContentPreProcessing bool, decoder Decoder) (string, error)
+}
+
+type stringEvaluator struct {
+	treeNavigator DataTreeNavigator
+	fileIndex     int
+}
+
+func NewStringEvaluator() StringEvaluator {
+	return &stringEvaluator{
+		treeNavigator: NewDataTreeNavigator(),
+	}
+}
+
+func (s *stringEvaluator) Evaluate(expression string, input string, encoder Encoder, leadingContentPreProcessing bool, decoder Decoder) (string, error) {
+
+	// Use bytes.Buffer for output of string
+	out := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	printer := NewPrinter(encoder, NewSinglePrinterWriter(out))
+
+	InitExpressionParser()
+	node, err := ExpressionParser.ParseExpression(expression)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	reader, leadingContent, err := readString(input, leadingContentPreProcessing)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	var currentIndex uint
+	decoder.Init(reader)
+	for {
+		var dataBucket yaml.Node
+		errorReading := decoder.Decode(&dataBucket)
+
+		if errors.Is(errorReading, io.EOF) {
+			s.fileIndex = s.fileIndex + 1
+			return out.String(), nil
+		} else if errorReading != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("bad input '%v': %w", input, errorReading)
+		}
+
+		candidateNode := &CandidateNode{
+			Document:  currentIndex,
+			Node:      &dataBucket,
+			FileIndex: s.fileIndex,
+		}
+		// move document comments into candidate node
+		// otherwise unwrap drops them.
+		candidateNode.TrailingContent = dataBucket.FootComment
+		dataBucket.FootComment = ""
+
+		if currentIndex == 0 {
+			candidateNode.LeadingContent = leadingContent
+		}
+		inputList := list.New()
+		inputList.PushBack(candidateNode)
+
+		result, errorParsing := s.treeNavigator.GetMatchingNodes(Context{MatchingNodes: inputList}, node)
+		if errorParsing != nil {
+			return "", errorParsing
+		}
+		err = printer.PrintResults(result.MatchingNodes)
+
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		currentIndex = currentIndex + 1
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/string_evaluator_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/string_evaluator_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a359b3c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/string_evaluator_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package yqlib
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/mikefarah/yq/v4/test"
+)
+
+func TestStringEvaluator_Evaluate_Nominal(t *testing.T) {
+	expected_output := `` +
+		`yq` + "\n" +
+		`---` + "\n" +
+		`jq` + "\n"
+	expression := ".[].name"
+	input := `` +
+		` - name: yq` + "\n" +
+		`   description: yq is a portable command-line YAML, JSON and XML processor` + "\n" +
+		`---` + "\n" +
+		` - name: jq` + "\n" +
+		`   description: Command-line JSON processor` + "\n"
+	encoder := NewYamlEncoder(2, true, true, true)
+	decoder := NewYamlDecoder()
+
+	result, err := NewStringEvaluator().Evaluate(expression, input, encoder, true, decoder)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	test.AssertResult(t, expected_output, result)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/utils.go b/pkg/yqlib/utils.go
index ecb00ef4..27964d58 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/utils.go
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@ func readStream(filename string, leadingContentPreProcessing bool) (io.Reader, s
 	return processReadStream(reader)
 }
 
+func readString(input string, leadingContentPreProcessing bool) (io.Reader, string, error) {
+	reader := bufio.NewReader(strings.NewReader(input))
+	if !leadingContentPreProcessing {
+		return reader, "", nil
+	}
+	return processReadStream(reader)
+}
+
 func writeString(writer io.Writer, txt string) error {
 	_, errorWriting := writer.Write([]byte(txt))
 	return errorWriting