diff --git a/config-default.toml b/config-default.toml
index 9e57e15..133c979 100644
--- a/config-default.toml
+++ b/config-default.toml
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
-# See https://github.com/mat-1/metasearch2/blob/master/config-base.toml and
-# https://github.com/mat-1/metasearch2/blob/master/src/config.rs for some of
-# the possible options
+# See src/config.rs for all of the possible options
 
 bind = "0.0.0.0:28019"
+api = false
 
 [ui]
 # engine_list_separator = true
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 187c22f..c8a3341 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ use crate::engines::Engine;
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct Config {
     pub bind: SocketAddr,
+    /// Whether the JSON API should be accessible.
+    pub api: bool,
     pub ui: UiConfig,
     pub image_search: ImageSearchConfig,
     pub engines: EnginesConfig,
@@ -16,6 +18,7 @@ pub struct Config {
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
 pub struct PartialConfig {
     pub bind: Option<SocketAddr>,
+    pub api: Option<bool>,
     pub ui: Option<PartialUiConfig>,
     pub image_search: Option<PartialImageSearchConfig>,
     pub engines: Option<PartialEnginesConfig>,
@@ -24,6 +27,7 @@ pub struct PartialConfig {
 impl Config {
     pub fn overlay(&mut self, partial: PartialConfig) {
         self.bind = partial.bind.unwrap_or(self.bind);
+        self.api = partial.api.unwrap_or(self.api);
         self.ui.overlay(partial.ui.unwrap_or_default());
         self.image_search
             .overlay(partial.image_search.unwrap_or_default());
@@ -79,16 +83,16 @@ impl ImageSearchConfig {
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct ImageProxyConfig {
+    /// Whether we should proxy remote images through our server. This is mostly
+    /// a privacy feature.
     pub enabled: bool,
+    /// The maximum size of an image that can be proxied. This is in bytes.
     pub max_download_size: u64,
 }
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug, Default)]
 pub struct PartialImageProxyConfig {
-    /// Whether we should proxy remote images through our server. This is mostly
-    /// a privacy feature.
     pub enabled: Option<bool>,
-    /// The maximum size of an image that can be proxied. This is in bytes.
     pub max_download_size: Option<u64>,
 }
 
@@ -145,7 +149,9 @@ impl EnginesConfig {
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct EngineConfig {
     pub enabled: bool,
+    /// The priority of this engine relative to the other engines.
     pub weight: f64,
+    /// Per-engine configs. These are parsed at request time.
     pub extra: toml::Table,
 }
 
@@ -154,10 +160,8 @@ pub struct PartialEngineConfig {
     #[serde(default)]
     pub enabled: Option<bool>,
 
-    /// The priority of this engine relative to the other engines.
     #[serde(default)]
     pub weight: Option<f64>,
-    /// Per-engine configs. These are parsed at request time.
     #[serde(flatten)]
     pub extra: toml::Table,
 }
@@ -194,6 +198,7 @@ impl Default for Config {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Config {
             bind: "0.0.0.0:28019".parse().unwrap(),
+            api: false,
             ui: UiConfig {
                 show_engine_list_separator: false,
                 show_version_info: false,
diff --git a/src/engines/macros.rs b/src/engines/macros.rs
index 6fbad1c..a8a468f 100644
--- a/src/engines/macros.rs
+++ b/src/engines/macros.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! engines {
     ($($engine:ident = $id:expr),* $(,)?) => {
-        #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, PartialOrd, Ord)]
+        #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, PartialOrd, Ord, Serialize)]
         pub enum Engine {
             $($engine,)*
         }
diff --git a/src/engines/mod.rs b/src/engines/mod.rs
index 3e8cb72..4a3ebe3 100644
--- a/src/engines/mod.rs
+++ b/src/engines/mod.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use eyre::bail;
 use futures::future::join_all;
 use maud::PreEscaped;
 use reqwest::{header::HeaderMap, RequestBuilder};
-use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer};
+use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize};
 use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 use tracing::{error, info};
 
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ impl From<HttpResponse> for reqwest::Response {
     }
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 pub struct EngineSearchResult {
     pub url: String,
     pub title: String,
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ impl EngineImagesResponse {
     }
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 pub struct EngineImageResult {
     pub image_url: String,
     pub page_url: String,
@@ -602,35 +602,38 @@ pub static CLIENT: LazyLock<reqwest::Client> = LazyLock::new(|| {
         .unwrap()
 });
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 pub struct Response {
     pub search_results: Vec<SearchResult<EngineSearchResult>>,
     pub featured_snippet: Option<FeaturedSnippet>,
     pub answer: Option<Answer>,
     pub infobox: Option<Infobox>,
+    #[serde(skip)]
     pub config: Arc<Config>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 pub struct ImagesResponse {
     pub image_results: Vec<SearchResult<EngineImageResult>>,
+    #[serde(skip)]
     pub config: Arc<Config>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
+#[serde(untagged)]
 pub enum ResponseForTab {
     All(Response),
     Images(ImagesResponse),
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
-pub struct SearchResult<R> {
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
+pub struct SearchResult<R: Serialize> {
     pub result: R,
     pub engines: BTreeSet<Engine>,
     pub score: f64,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 pub struct FeaturedSnippet {
     pub url: String,
     pub title: String,
@@ -638,14 +641,16 @@ pub struct FeaturedSnippet {
     pub engine: Engine,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 pub struct Answer {
+    #[serde(serialize_with = "serialize_markup")]
     pub html: PreEscaped<String>,
     pub engine: Engine,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 pub struct Infobox {
+    #[serde(serialize_with = "serialize_markup")]
     pub html: PreEscaped<String>,
     pub engine: Engine,
 }
@@ -654,3 +659,10 @@ pub struct AutocompleteResult {
     pub query: String,
     pub score: f64,
 }
+
+fn serialize_markup<S>(markup: &PreEscaped<String>, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+where
+    S: serde::Serializer,
+{
+    serializer.serialize_str(&markup.0)
+}
diff --git a/src/web/search.rs b/src/web/search.rs
index bf3c31d..20e8acb 100644
--- a/src/web/search.rs
+++ b/src/web/search.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use axum::{
     extract::{ConnectInfo, Query, State},
     http::{header, HeaderMap, StatusCode},
     response::IntoResponse,
+    Json,
 };
 use bytes::Bytes;
 use maud::{html, PreEscaped, DOCTYPE};
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ pub async fn route(
     State(config): State<Arc<Config>>,
     headers: HeaderMap,
     ConnectInfo(addr): ConnectInfo<SocketAddr>,
-) -> impl IntoResponse {
+) -> axum::response::Response {
     let query = params
         .get("q")
         .cloned()
@@ -144,7 +145,8 @@ pub async fn route(
                 (header::CONTENT_TYPE, "text/html; charset=utf-8"),
             ],
             Body::from("<a href=\"/\">No query provided, click here to go back to index</a>"),
-        );
+        )
+            .into_response();
     }
 
     let search_tab = params
@@ -176,6 +178,29 @@ pub async fn route(
         config: config.clone(),
     };
 
+    let trying_to_use_api =
+        query.request_headers.get("accept") == Some(&"application/json".to_string());
+    if trying_to_use_api {
+        if !config.api {
+            return (StatusCode::FORBIDDEN, "API access is disabled").into_response();
+        }
+
+        let (progress_tx, mut progress_rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::unbounded_channel();
+        let search_future = tokio::spawn(async move { engines::search(&query, progress_tx).await });
+        if let Err(e) = search_future.await {
+            return (StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, e.to_string()).into_response();
+        }
+
+        let mut results = Vec::new();
+        while let Some(progress_update) = progress_rx.recv().await {
+            if let ProgressUpdateData::Response(r) = progress_update.data {
+                results.push(r);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return Json(results).into_response();
+    }
+
     let s = stream! {
         type R = Result<Bytes, eyre::Error>;
 
@@ -238,11 +263,11 @@ pub async fn route(
     let stream = Body::from_stream(s);
 
     (
-        StatusCode::OK,
         [
             (header::CONTENT_TYPE, "text/html; charset=utf-8"),
             (header::TRANSFER_ENCODING, "chunked"),
         ],
         stream,
     )
+        .into_response()
 }