diff --git a/display/middleware/src/modules/mqtt/payload-parser.ts b/display/middleware/src/modules/mqtt/payload-parser.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..673addf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/display/middleware/src/modules/mqtt/payload-parser.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/**
+ * Extract a value from a JSON payload using a simple dot-notation JSON path.
+ *
+ * Supported path format: "$.field" or "$.field.nested.deep"
+ * - Returns the raw payload string if no path is provided (undefined, null, or empty string).
+ * - Returns null if the JSON is invalid or the path does not exist.
+ * - Returns the extracted value as a string (numbers, booleans, null are stringified).
+ * - Objects and arrays are returned as their JSON string representation.
+ */
+export function extractValue(
+  payload: string,
+  jsonPath: string | null | undefined
+): string | null {
+  // No path — return raw payload as-is
+  if (!jsonPath) {
+    return payload;
+  }
+
+  // Parse JSON
+  let parsed: unknown;
+  try {
+    parsed = JSON.parse(payload);
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  // Remove leading "$." and split on dots
+  const pathWithoutRoot = jsonPath.startsWith('$.') ? jsonPath.slice(2) : jsonPath;
+
+  if (!pathWithoutRoot) {
+    // Path was just "$" — return the whole object as JSON
+    return JSON.stringify(parsed);
+  }
+
+  const segments = pathWithoutRoot.split('.');
+
+  // Traverse the parsed object
+  let current: unknown = parsed;
+  for (const segment of segments) {
+    if (current === null || typeof current !== 'object' || Array.isArray(current)) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    const obj = current as Record<string, unknown>;
+    if (!Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(obj, segment)) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    current = obj[segment];
+  }
+
+  // Convert result to string
+  if (current === undefined) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  if (current === null) {
+    return 'null';
+  }
+  if (typeof current === 'object') {
+    // Arrays and objects: return JSON string without spaces
+    return JSON.stringify(current);
+  }
+  return String(current);
+}
diff --git a/display/middleware/tests/payload-parser.test.ts b/display/middleware/tests/payload-parser.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c702832
--- /dev/null
+++ b/display/middleware/tests/payload-parser.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { extractValue } from '../src/modules/mqtt/payload-parser';
+
+describe('extractValue', () => {
+  describe('no JSON path', () => {
+    it('should return raw payload when no jsonPath provided', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('42.5', undefined)).toBe('42.5');
+    });
+
+    it('should return raw payload when jsonPath is null', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('hello world', null)).toBe('hello world');
+    });
+
+    it('should return raw payload when jsonPath is empty string', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"temp":22}', '')).toBe('{"temp":22}');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('simple field extraction', () => {
+    it('should extract top-level field', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"temp":22.5}', '$.temp')).toBe('22.5');
+    });
+
+    it('should extract string field', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"status":"running"}', '$.status')).toBe('running');
+    });
+
+    it('should extract integer field', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"count":42}', '$.count')).toBe('42');
+    });
+
+    it('should extract boolean field as string', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"active":true}', '$.active')).toBe('true');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('nested field extraction', () => {
+    it('should extract nested field with dot notation', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"sensor":{"temp":23.1}}', '$.sensor.temp')).toBe('23.1');
+    });
+
+    it('should extract deeply nested field', () => {
+      expect(
+        extractValue('{"a":{"b":{"c":"deep"}}}', '$.a.b.c')
+      ).toBe('deep');
+    });
+
+    it('should extract nested integer', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"data":{"humidity":65}}', '$.data.humidity')).toBe('65');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('missing path', () => {
+    it('should return null when path does not exist in JSON', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"temp":22}', '$.humidity')).toBeNull();
+    });
+
+    it('should return null when nested path does not exist', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"sensor":{}}', '$.sensor.temp')).toBeNull();
+    });
+
+    it('should return null when intermediate key is missing', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{}', '$.a.b.c')).toBeNull();
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('invalid JSON', () => {
+    it('should return null for invalid JSON with a path', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('not json', '$.field')).toBeNull();
+    });
+
+    it('should return null for malformed JSON with a path', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{broken}', '$.field')).toBeNull();
+    });
+
+    it('should return raw string for invalid JSON without path', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('not json', null)).toBe('not json');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('edge cases', () => {
+    it('should handle null value in JSON', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"value":null}', '$.value')).toBe('null');
+    });
+
+    it('should handle zero value', () => {
+      expect(extractValue('{"count":0}', '$.count')).toBe('0');
+    });
+
+    it('should handle array field (returns JSON string)', () => {
+      const result = extractValue('{"arr":[1,2,3]}', '$.arr');
+      expect(result).toBe('[1,2,3]');
+    });
+  });
+});