diff --git a/src/amcli.php b/src/amcli.php
index 3d1b850b1d37629675998ade4df3c851ae631a8b..db4bba27305f8b7054e98890861e76d964382a2d 100755
--- a/src/amcli.php
+++ b/src/amcli.php
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
  * 
  * ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  * 2025-03-04  v0.1    Initial version
+ * 2025-03-05  v0.2    slack notification as hash from ini; check params can be an hash value or JSON
  * ======================================================================
  */
 
@@ -181,9 +182,14 @@ if (!file_exists($inifile)) {
     exit(4);
 }
 
-$aIni = parse_ini_file($inifile, true);
-if (!is_array($aIni)) {
+try{
+    $aIni = parse_ini_file($inifile, true);
+} catch (Exception $e) {
     echo "ERROR: INI File '$inifile' could not be parsed.\n";
+    exit(5);    
+}
+if (!is_array($aIni)) {
+    echo "ERROR: INI File '$inifile' could not be parsed as array.\n";
     exit(5);
 }
 
@@ -199,12 +205,7 @@ _set("setTtl", $aIni['meta']['ttl'] ?? null);
 foreach ($aIni['notifications']['email'] ?? [] as $sValue) {
     _set("addEmail", $sValue);
 }
-foreach ($aIni['notifications']['slack'] ?? [] as $sValue) {
-
-    $aArray = json_decode($sValue, 1);
-    $sChannel = array_keys($aArray)[0];
-    $sWebhook = array_values($aArray)[0];
-
+foreach ($aIni['notifications']['slack'] ?? [] as $sChannel => $sWebhook) {
     _set("addSlackWebhook", $sChannel, $sWebhook);
 }
 
@@ -215,16 +216,20 @@ $aChecks = $aIni;
 unset($aChecks["meta"]);
 unset($aChecks["notifications"]);
 
-$aArray = [];
 foreach ($aChecks as $sKey => $aCheck) {
     $aChecks[$sKey]['name'] = $aCheck['name'] ?? $sKey;
-    if ($aCheck['params']) {
-        $aArray = json_decode($aCheck['params'], 1);
-        if (!is_array($aArray)) {
-            echo "ERROR: key 'params' for check [$sKey] must be JSON.\n";
-            echo "Value in $inifile: $aCheck[params]\n";
-            exit(6);
+    $aArray=$aCheck['params']??[];
+    if ($aArray) {
+        if(!is_array($aCheck['params'])){
+            $aArray = json_decode($aCheck['params'], 1);
+            if (!is_array($aArray)) {
+                echo "ERROR: key 'params' for check [$sKey] must be JSON.\n";
+                echo "Value in $inifile: $aCheck[params]\n";
+                exit(6);
+            }
         }
+    } else {
+        $aArray = [];
     }
 
     $aAddCheck = [
@@ -242,7 +247,6 @@ foreach ($aChecks as $sKey => $aCheck) {
     }
     _wd("Execute Check '$sKey': " . print_r($aAddCheck, 1));
     $oMonitor->addCheck($aAddCheck);
-
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/simple.ini b/src/simple.ini
index 56e1efa96ee88aeff33a5951703f30c9fe8aadc0..02653f0b14b049f9ee19783161ec87b57ec54928 100644
--- a/src/simple.ini
+++ b/src/simple.ini
@@ -27,20 +27,22 @@ email[]="support@example.com"
 email[]="webmaster@example.com"
 
 ; for slack use the following format
-; <channelname> + comma + <webhook url>
-; slack[]="#support-channel,https://hooks.slack.com/services/XXXXXX/YYYYYY/ZZZZZ"
-slack[]='{ "#support-channel": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/XXXXXX/YYYYYY/ZZZZZ" }'
-
+slack["#support-channel"]="https://hooks.slack.com/services/XXXXXX/YYYYYY/ZZZZZ"
 
 ; -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 ; CHECKS
 ; -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 ["hello plugin"]
-description="I sust wann say hello"
+description="I just wann say hello"
 function="hello"
-params='{
-"message": "Here I am"
-}'
+
+; JSON example ... variables cannot be expanded
+; params='{
+;     "message": "Here I am"
+; }'
+;
+; ... but in double quotes the expansion works
+params[message]="Here is ${USER}"
 
 ; -----------------------------------------------------------------------