diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/README.md b/tubearchivist/api/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73dd4fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tubearchivist/api/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# TubeArchivist API
+Documentation of available API endpoints.  
+**Note: This is very early alpha and will change!**
+
+## Authentication
+API token will get automatically created, accessible on the settings page. Token needs to be passed as an authorization header with every request. Additionally session based authentication is enabled too: When you are logged into your TubeArchivist instance, you'll have access to the api in the browser for testing.
+
+Curl example:
+```shell
+curl -v /api/video/<video-id>/ \
+    -H "Authorization: Token xxxxxxxxxx"
+```
+
+Python requests example:
+```python
+import requests
+
+url = "/api/video/<video-id>/"
+headers = {"Authorization": "Token xxxxxxxxxx"}
+response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
+```
+
+## Video Item View
+/api/video/\<video_id>/
+
+## Channel List View
+/api/channel/
+
+### Subscribe to a list of channels
+POST /api/channel/
+```json
+{
+    "data": [
+        {"channel_id": "UC9-y-6csu5WGm29I7JiwpnA", "channel_subscribed": true}
+    ]
+}
+```
+
+## Channel Item View
+/api/channel/\<channel_id>/
+
+## Playlists Item View
+/api/playlist/\<playlist_id>/
+
+## Download Queue List View
+/api/download/
+
+### Add list of videos to download queue
+POST /api/download/
+```json
+{
+    "data": [
+        {"youtube_id": "NYj3DnI81AQ", "status": "pending"}
+    ]
+}
+```
+
+## Download Queue Item View
+/api/download/\<video_id>/
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/__init__.py b/tubearchivist/api/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/admin.py b/tubearchivist/api/admin.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4fd5490
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tubearchivist/api/admin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from django.contrib import admin  # noqa: F401
+
+# Register your models here.
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/apps.py b/tubearchivist/api/apps.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9acf5fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tubearchivist/api/apps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+"""apps file for api package"""
+
+from django.apps import AppConfig
+
+
+class ApiConfig(AppConfig):
+    """app config"""
+
+    default_auto_field = "django.db.models.BigAutoField"
+    name = "api"
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/migrations/__init__.py b/tubearchivist/api/migrations/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/models.py b/tubearchivist/api/models.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b225e99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tubearchivist/api/models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""api models"""
+
+# from django.db import models
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/serializers.py b/tubearchivist/api/serializers.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/tests.py b/tubearchivist/api/tests.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e55d689
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tubearchivist/api/tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from django.test import TestCase  # noqa: F401
+
+# Create your tests here.
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/urls.py b/tubearchivist/api/urls.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d39dc30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tubearchivist/api/urls.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+"""all api urls"""
+
+from api.views import (
+    ChannelApiListView,
+    ChannelApiView,
+    DownloadApiListView,
+    DownloadApiView,
+    PlaylistApiView,
+    VideoApiView,
+)
+from django.urls import path
+
+urlpatterns = [
+    path(
+        "video/<slug:video_id>/",
+        VideoApiView.as_view(),
+        name="api-video",
+    ),
+    path(
+        "channel/",
+        ChannelApiListView.as_view(),
+        name="api-channel-list",
+    ),
+    path(
+        "channel/<slug:channel_id>/",
+        ChannelApiView.as_view(),
+        name="api-channel",
+    ),
+    path(
+        "playlist/<slug:playlist_id>/",
+        PlaylistApiView.as_view(),
+        name="api-playlist",
+    ),
+    path(
+        "download/",
+        DownloadApiListView.as_view(),
+        name="api-download-list",
+    ),
+    path(
+        "download/<slug:video_id>/",
+        DownloadApiView.as_view(),
+        name="api-download",
+    ),
+]
diff --git a/tubearchivist/api/views.py b/tubearchivist/api/views.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ccbc22f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tubearchivist/api/views.py
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+"""all API views"""
+
+import requests
+from home.src.config import AppConfig
+from home.src.helper import UrlListParser
+from home.tasks import extrac_dl, subscribe_to
+from rest_framework.authentication import (
+    SessionAuthentication,
+    TokenAuthentication,
+)
+from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated
+from rest_framework.response import Response
+from rest_framework.views import APIView
+
+
+class ApiBaseView(APIView):
+    """base view to inherit from"""
+
+    authentication_classes = [SessionAuthentication, TokenAuthentication]
+    permission_classes = [IsAuthenticated]
+    search_base = False
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.response = {"data": False}
+        self.status_code = False
+        self.context = False
+
+    def config_builder(self):
+        """build confic context"""
+        default_conf = AppConfig().config
+        self.context = {
+            "es_url": default_conf["application"]["es_url"],
+            "es_auth": default_conf["application"]["es_auth"],
+        }
+
+    def get_document(self, document_id):
+        """get single document from es"""
+        es_url = self.context["es_url"]
+        url = f"{es_url}{self.search_base}{document_id}"
+        print(url)
+        response = requests.get(url, auth=self.context["es_auth"])
+        try:
+            self.response["data"] = response.json()["_source"]
+        except KeyError:
+            print(f"item not found: {document_id}")
+            self.response["data"] = False
+        self.status_code = response.status_code
+
+    def get_paginate(self):
+        """add pagination detail to response"""
+        self.response["paginate"] = False
+
+    def get_document_list(self, data):
+        """get a list of results"""
+        es_url = self.context["es_url"]
+        url = f"{es_url}{self.search_base}"
+        print(url)
+        response = requests.get(url, json=data, auth=self.context["es_auth"])
+        all_hits = response.json()["hits"]["hits"]
+        self.response["data"] = [i["_source"] for i in all_hits]
+        self.status_code = response.status_code
+
+
+class VideoApiView(ApiBaseView):
+    """resolves to /api/video/<video_id>/
+    GET: returns metadata dict of video
+    """
+
+    search_base = "/ta_video/_doc/"
+
+    def get(self, request, video_id):
+        # pylint: disable=unused-argument
+        """get request"""
+        self.config_builder()
+        self.get_document(video_id)
+        return Response(self.response, status=self.status_code)
+
+
+class ChannelApiView(ApiBaseView):
+    """resolves to /api/channel/<channel_id>/
+    GET: returns metadata dict of channel
+    """
+
+    search_base = "/ta_channel/_doc/"
+
+    def get(self, request, channel_id):
+        # pylint: disable=unused-argument
+        """get request"""
+        self.config_builder()
+        self.get_document(channel_id)
+        return Response(self.response, status=self.status_code)
+
+
+class ChannelApiListView(ApiBaseView):
+    """resolves to /api/channel/
+    GET: returns list of channels
+    POST: edit a list of channels
+    """
+
+    search_base = "/ta_channel/_search/"
+
+    def get(self, request):
+        # pylint: disable=unused-argument
+        """get request"""
+        data = {"query": {"match_all": {}}}
+        self.config_builder()
+        self.get_document_list(data)
+        self.get_paginate()
+
+        return Response(self.response)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def post(request):
+        """subscribe to list of channels"""
+        data = request.data
+        try:
+            to_add = data["data"]
+        except KeyError:
+            message = "missing expected data key"
+            print(message)
+            return Response({"message": message}, status=400)
+
+        pending = [i["channel_id"] for i in to_add if i["channel_subscribed"]]
+        url_str = " ".join(pending)
+        subscribe_to.delay(url_str)
+
+        return Response(data)
+
+
+class PlaylistApiView(ApiBaseView):
+    """resolves to /api/playlist/<playlist_id>/
+    GET: returns metadata dict of playlist
+    """
+
+    search_base = "/ta_playlist/_doc/"
+
+    def get(self, request, playlist_id):
+        # pylint: disable=unused-argument
+        """get request"""
+        self.config_builder()
+        self.get_document(playlist_id)
+        return Response(self.response, status=self.status_code)
+
+
+class DownloadApiView(ApiBaseView):
+    """resolves to /api/download/<video_id>/
+    GET: returns metadata dict of an item in the download queue
+    """
+
+    search_base = "/ta_download/_doc/"
+
+    def get(self, request, video_id):
+        # pylint: disable=unused-argument
+        """get request"""
+        self.config_builder()
+        self.get_document(video_id)
+        return Response(self.response, status=self.status_code)
+
+
+class DownloadApiListView(ApiBaseView):
+    """resolves to /api/download/
+    GET: returns latest videos in the download queue
+    POST: add a list of videos to download queue
+    """
+
+    search_base = "/ta_download/_search/"
+
+    def get(self, request):
+        # pylint: disable=unused-argument
+        """get request"""
+        data = {"query": {"match_all": {}}}
+        self.config_builder()
+        self.get_document_list(data)
+        self.get_paginate()
+        return Response(self.response)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def post(request):
+        """add list of videos to download queue"""
+        data = request.data
+        try:
+            to_add = data["data"]
+        except KeyError:
+            message = "missing expected data key"
+            print(message)
+            return Response({"message": message}, status=400)
+
+        pending = [i["youtube_id"] for i in to_add if i["status"] == "pending"]
+        url_str = " ".join(pending)
+        try:
+            youtube_ids = UrlListParser(url_str).process_list()
+        except ValueError:
+            message = f"failed to parse: {url_str}"
+            print(message)
+            return Response({"message": message}, status=400)
+
+        extrac_dl.delay(youtube_ids)
+
+        return Response(data)
diff --git a/tubearchivist/config/settings.py b/tubearchivist/config/settings.py
index 8324c89..cb12ad6 100644
--- a/tubearchivist/config/settings.py
+++ b/tubearchivist/config/settings.py
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = [
     "whitenoise.runserver_nostatic",
     "django.contrib.staticfiles",
     "django.contrib.humanize",
+    "rest_framework",
+    "rest_framework.authtoken",
+    "api",
 ]
 
 MIDDLEWARE = [
diff --git a/tubearchivist/config/urls.py b/tubearchivist/config/urls.py
index b857f01..11a1ed7 100644
--- a/tubearchivist/config/urls.py
+++ b/tubearchivist/config/urls.py
@@ -18,5 +18,6 @@ from django.urls import include, path
 
 urlpatterns = [
     path("", include("home.urls")),
+    path("api/", include("api.urls")),
     path("admin/", admin.site.urls),
 ]
diff --git a/tubearchivist/home/templates/home/settings.html b/tubearchivist/home/templates/home/settings.html
index f18a578..291e862 100644
--- a/tubearchivist/home/templates/home/settings.html
+++ b/tubearchivist/home/templates/home/settings.html
@@ -97,6 +97,10 @@
         </div>
         <div class="settings-group">
             <h2 id="integrations">Integrations</h2>
+            <div class="settings-item">
+                <p>API token:</p>
+                <p>{{ api_token }}</p>
+            </div>
             <div class="settings-item">
                 <p>Integrate with <a href="https://returnyoutubedislike.com/">returnyoutubedislike.com</a> to get dislikes and average ratings back: <span class="settings-current">{{ config.downloads.integrate_ryd }}</span></p>
                 <i>Before activating that, make sure you have a scraping sleep interval of at least 3 secs set to avoid ratelimiting issues.</i><br>
diff --git a/tubearchivist/home/views.py b/tubearchivist/home/views.py
index 5dbfdb7..62b22e7 100644
--- a/tubearchivist/home/views.py
+++ b/tubearchivist/home/views.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from home.src.index import YoutubePlaylist
 from home.src.index_management import get_available_backups
 from home.src.searching import Pagination, SearchHandler
 from home.tasks import extrac_dl, subscribe_to
+from rest_framework.authtoken.models import Token
 
 
 class ArchivistViewConfig(View):
@@ -683,8 +684,7 @@ class SettingsView(View):
     take post request from the form to update settings
     """
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def get(request):
+    def get(self, request):
         """read and display current settings"""
         config_handler = AppConfig(request.user.id)
         colors = config_handler.colors
@@ -693,10 +693,12 @@ class SettingsView(View):
         user_form = UserSettingsForm()
         app_form = ApplicationSettingsForm()
         scheduler_form = SchedulerSettingsForm()
+        token = self.get_token(request)
 
         context = {
             "title": "Settings",
             "config": config_handler.config,
+            "api_token": token,
             "colors": colors,
             "available_backups": available_backups,
             "user_form": user_form,
@@ -706,6 +708,14 @@ class SettingsView(View):
 
         return render(request, "home/settings.html", context)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_token(request):
+        """get existing or create new token of user"""
+        # pylint: disable=no-member
+        token = Token.objects.get_or_create(user=request.user)[0]
+        print(token)
+        return token
+
     @staticmethod
     def post(request):
         """handle form post to update settings"""
diff --git a/tubearchivist/requirements.txt b/tubearchivist/requirements.txt
index a3bc158..3ebbf26 100644
--- a/tubearchivist/requirements.txt
+++ b/tubearchivist/requirements.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 beautifulsoup4==4.10.0
 celery==5.2.3
 Django==4.0.1
+djangorestframework==3.13.1
 Pillow==9.0.0
 redis==4.1.0
 requests==2.27.1