diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 7addde3a4f..350bedc9a5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -207,6 +207,9 @@ devel
 
 * fixed internal #2215's failedleader timeout, when in todo
 
+* Foxx manifest.json files can now contain a $schema key with the value
+  of "http://json.schemastore.org/foxx-manifest" to improve tooling support.
+
 * added `@arangodb/locals` module to expose the Foxx service context as an
   alternative to using `module.context` directly.
 
diff --git a/js/server/modules/@arangodb/foxx/manifest.js b/js/server/modules/@arangodb/foxx/manifest.js
index 9d4067d964..68ee9b7254 100644
--- a/js/server/modules/@arangodb/foxx/manifest.js
+++ b/js/server/modules/@arangodb/foxx/manifest.js
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ const ArangoError = arangodb.ArangoError;
 const errors = arangodb.errors;
 const il = require('@arangodb/util').inline;
 
+const CANONICAL_SCHEMA = 'http://json.schemastore.org/foxx-manifest';
+exports.schemaUrl = CANONICAL_SCHEMA;
+
 // Regular expressions for joi patterns
 const RE_EMPTY = /^$/;
 const RE_NOT_EMPTY = /./;
@@ -37,6 +40,7 @@ configTypes.int = configTypes.integer;
 configTypes.bool = configTypes.boolean;
 
 const manifestSchema = {
+  $schema: joi.forbidden().allow(CANONICAL_SCHEMA).default(CANONICAL_SCHEMA),
   // FoxxStore metadata
   name: joi.string().regex(/^[-_a-z][-_a-z0-9]*$/i).optional(),
   version: joi.string().optional(),
@@ -167,11 +171,20 @@ function checkManifest (filename, inputManifest, mount, complainAboutVersionMism
     const value = inputManifest[key];
     const result = joi.validate(value, schema);
     if (result.error) {
-      const error = result.error.message.replace(/^"value"/, 'Value');
-      errors.push(il`
-        Service at "${mount}" specifies manifest field "${key}"
-        with invalid value "${util.format(value)}": ${error}
-      `);
+      if (key === '$schema') {
+        manifest[key] = CANONICAL_SCHEMA;
+        console.warnLines(il`
+          Service at "${mount}" specifies manifest field "$schema"
+          with invalid value "${util.format(value)}".
+          Did you mean "${CANONICAL_SCHEMA}"?
+        `);
+      } else {
+        const error = result.error.message.replace(/^"value"/, 'Value');
+        errors.push(il`
+          Service at "${mount}" specifies manifest field "${key}"
+          with invalid value "${util.format(value)}": ${error}
+        `);
+      }
     } else {
       manifest[key] = result.value;
     }
@@ -384,3 +397,4 @@ function validateManifestFile (filename, mount, complainAboutVersionMismatches)
 
 exports.configTypes = configTypes;
 exports.validate = validateManifestFile;
+exports.validateJson = checkManifest;
diff --git a/js/server/tests/shell/shell-foxx-manifest-spec.js b/js/server/tests/shell/shell-foxx-manifest-spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..487b8136ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/server/tests/shell/shell-foxx-manifest-spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*global describe, it */
+'use strict';
+const expect = require('chai').expect;
+const validateManifest = require('@arangodb/foxx/manifest').validateJson;
+const CANONICAL_SCHEMA = require('@arangodb/foxx/manifest').schemaUrl;
+const request = require('@arangodb/request');
+const db = require('@arangodb').db;
+
+describe('Foxx manifest $schema field', () => {
+  it(`defaults to "${CANONICAL_SCHEMA}"`, () => {
+    const manifest = validateManifest('fake', {}, '/fake');
+    expect(manifest).to.have.property('$schema', CANONICAL_SCHEMA);
+  });
+  it('warns (but does not fail validation) if invalid', () => {
+    const BAD_VALUE = 'http://badvalue.to/log';
+    try {
+      validateManifest('fake', { $schema: BAD_VALUE }, '/fake');
+    } catch (e) {
+      expect.fail();
+    }
+    const logs = request.get(`/_db/${db._name()}/_admin/log`, {json: true}).json;
+    expect(logs.text.filter(text => text.includes(BAD_VALUE))).not.to.be.empty;
+  });
+  it(`falls back to "${CANONICAL_SCHEMA}" if invalid`, () => {
+    const manifest = validateManifest('fake', { $schema: 'http://example.com' }, '/fake');
+    expect(manifest).to.have.property('$schema', CANONICAL_SCHEMA);
+  });
+});