diff --git a/test_tools/log_parser/parser.py b/test_tools/log_parser/parser.py
index bf90e8d0d..430417157 100755
--- a/test_tools/log_parser/parser.py
+++ b/test_tools/log_parser/parser.py
@@ -6,10 +6,14 @@
 import json
 import struct
 import datetime
+import argparse
+
 
 PREAMBLE_LENGTH = 8
 PRETTY_PRINT_JSON=False
 
+print_short_message=False
+print_file_summary=False
 
 def fmt_payload(payload):
     payload = bytearray(payload).decode('utf-8')
@@ -129,9 +133,10 @@ def dump_event_batch(buf):
     meta = batch.Metadata()
     enc = meta.ContentEncoding().decode('utf-8')
     print(f'event-batch evt-count:{batch.EventsLength()} enc:{enc}')
-    is_dedup = b'DEDUP' == meta.ContentEncoding()
-    for i in range(0, batch.EventsLength()):
-        dump_event(batch.Events(i).PayloadAsNumpy(), i)
+    if not print_short_message:
+        is_dedup = b'DEDUP' == meta.ContentEncoding()
+        for i in range(0, batch.EventsLength()):
+            dump_event(batch.Events(i).PayloadAsNumpy(), i)
     print("----\n")
 
 
@@ -141,6 +146,7 @@ def dump_preamble_file(file_name, buf):
     dump_event_batch(buf[PREAMBLE_LENGTH : PREAMBLE_LENGTH + preamble["msg_size"]])
 
 MSG_TYPE_HEADER = 0x55555555
+MSG_TYPE_CHECKPOINT = 0x11111111
 MSG_TYPE_REGULAR = 0xFFFFFFFF
 MSG_TYPE_EOF = 0xAAAAAAAA
 
@@ -172,6 +178,7 @@ def read_message(self):
         kind = struct.unpack('I', self.read(4))[0]
         length = struct.unpack('I', self.read(4))[0]
         payload = self.read(length)
+
         #discard padding
         self.read(length % 8)
         return (kind, payload)
@@ -187,11 +194,38 @@ def read_file_header(self):
             self.headers[p.Key().decode('utf-8')] = p.Value().decode('utf-8')
 
     def messages(self):
-        while True:
+        while self.offset < len(self.buf):
             msg = self.read_message()
             if msg[0] == MSG_TYPE_EOF:
+                print('got eof')
                 break
-            yield JoinedPayload.GetRootAsJoinedPayload(msg[1], 0)
+            yield (msg[0], msg[1])
+            
+
+def print_checkpoint(msg, msg_count, msg_size):
+    if print_file_summary:
+        print(f'checkpoint len:{len(msg)} messages before:{msg_count} data before:{msg_size} bytes')
+        return
+
+    if print_short_message:
+        print(f'checkpoint len: {len(msg)}')
+        return
+    
+    info = RewardFunctionInfo.GetRootAsRewardFunctionInfo(msg, 0)
+    print(f'checkpoint agg-type:{info.Type()} default-reward: {info.DefaultReward()}')
+
+def print_regular_msg(msg, reader):
+    if print_file_summary:
+        return
+    if print_short_message:
+        print(f'regular-msg len: {len(msg)} offset {reader.offset}')
+        return
+    
+    payload = JoinedPayload.GetRootAsJoinedPayload(msg, 0)
+    print(f'joined-batch events: {payload.EventsLength()}')
+    for i in range(payload.EventsLength()):
+        joined_event = payload.Events(i)
+        dump_event(joined_event.EventAsNumpy(), i, joined_event.Timestamp())
 
 def dump_joined_log_file(file_name, buf):
     reader = JoinedLogStreamReader(buf)
@@ -199,19 +233,33 @@ def dump_joined_log_file(file_name, buf):
     for k in reader.headers:
         print(f'\t{k} = {reader.headers[k]}')
 
-    for msg in reader.messages():
-        print(f'joined-batch events: {msg.EventsLength()}')
-        for i in range(msg.EventsLength()):
-            joined_event = msg.Events(i)
-            dump_event(joined_event.EventAsNumpy(), i, joined_event.Timestamp())
+    msg_count = 0
+    msg_size = 0
 
-def dump_file(f):
-    buf = bytearray(open(f, 'rb').read())
+    for msg in reader.messages():
+        if msg[0] == MSG_TYPE_HEADER:
+           print('Header message found after first message. THIS IS A BUG')
+        elif msg[0] == MSG_TYPE_CHECKPOINT:
+            print_checkpoint(msg[1], msg_count, msg_size)
+            msg_count = 0
+            msg_size = 0
+        elif msg[0] == MSG_TYPE_REGULAR:
+            msg_count += 1
+            msg_size += len(msg[1])
+            print_regular_msg(msg[1], reader)
+        else:
+            print(f'invalid message type {msg[0]:X}')
+    if print_file_summary:
+        print(f'finished reading remaining messages: {msg_count} size: {msg_size} bytes')
+    print(f'offset is {reader.offset}')
+
+def dump_file(file_name):
+    buf = bytearray(open(file_name, 'rb').read())
 
     if buf[0:4] == b'VWFB':
-        dump_joined_log_file(f, buf)
+        dump_joined_log_file(file_name, buf)
     else:
-        dump_preamble_file(f, buf)
+        dump_preamble_file(file_name, buf)
 
 
 # Generate FB serializers if they are not available
@@ -249,5 +297,15 @@ def dump_file(f):
 from reinforcement_learning.messages.flatbuff.v2.JoinedPayload import *  
 from reinforcement_learning.messages.flatbuff.v2.RewardFunctionInfo import *
 
-for input_file in sys.argv[1:]:
+
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+parser.add_argument('--short', help='Print a short description of each message', action="store_true")
+parser.add_argument('--summary', help='Print a Summary of the file', action="store_true")
+parser.add_argument('files', metavar='N', type=str, nargs='+', help='Files to parse')
+vm = parser.parse_args()
+
+print_short_message=vm.short
+print_file_summary=vm.summary
+
+for input_file in vm.files:
     dump_file(input_file)