diff --git a/schemas/validate.py b/schemas/validate.py
index 694f5f2..a5e315e 100644
--- a/schemas/validate.py
+++ b/schemas/validate.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import argparse
+import sys
 import json
 import jsonschema
 import jsonschema.protocols
@@ -11,14 +12,14 @@ from referencing.jsonschema import DRAFT202012
 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
     description="Validate a JSON document against a JSON schema"
 )
-parser.add_argument("file", type=str, help="the JSON file to validate")
+parser.add_argument("-f", "--file",
+                    help="file containing the JSON document to validate. " +
+                    "If absent, the JSON document is read from the standard input")
 parser.add_argument("-s", "--schema", required=True, 
-                    help="file containing the schema definition."
+                    help="file containing the schema definition"
                     )
-parser.add_argument("-r", "--resource", action="append", default=[],
-                    help="additional schemas to be added to the registry " +
-                    "for reference resolution. Multiple schema files can " +
-                    "be added by specifying the option multiple times.")
+parser.add_argument("-r", "--resource", nargs="+", default=[],
+                    help="additional schemas to be added to the registry for reference resolution")
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     args = parser.parse_args()
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
         )
         registry = resource @ registry
     # Load the JSON document to validate
-    with open(file=args.file, mode="r") as f:
+    with open(file=args.file, mode="r") if args.file else sys.stdin as f:
         document = json.load(f)
     # Set the validator with the desired schema and check the schema itself before validating the document
     validator = jsonschema.validators.validator_for(schema)(schema, registry=registry)