diff --git a/api.php b/api.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..42bfaae4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api.php
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+<?php
+require __DIR__ . '/lib/classes/api/api_includes.inc.php';
+
+// check whether API interface is enabled after all
+if (Settings::Get('api.enabled') != 1) {
+	// not enabled
+	header("Status: 404 Not found", 404);
+	header($_SERVER["SERVER_PROTOCOL"] . " 404 Not found", 404);
+	exit();
+}
+
+// we're talking json here
+header("Content-Type:application/json");
+
+// get our request
+$request = isset($_GET['request']) ? $_GET['request'] : null;
+if (empty($request)) {
+	$request = isset($_POST['request']) ? $_POST['request'] : null;
+}
+
+// check if present
+if (empty($request)) {
+	json_response(400, "Invalid request");
+}
+
+// decode json request
+$decoded_request = json_decode(stripslashes($request), true);
+
+// is it valid?
+if (is_null($decoded_request)) {
+	json_response(400, "Invalid JSON");
+}
+
+// validate content
+try {
+	$request = FroxlorRPC::validateRequest($decoded_request);
+	// now actually do it
+	$cls = $request['command']['class'];
+	$method = $request['command']['method'];
+	$apiObj = new $cls($decoded_request['header'], $request['params']);
+	// call the method with the params if any
+	echo $apiObj->$method();
+} catch (Exception $e) {
+	json_response($e->getCode(), $e->getMessage());
+}
+
+exit();
+
+/**
+ * output json result
+ *
+ * @param int $status
+ * @param string $status_message
+ * @param mixed $data
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+function json_response($status, $status_message, $data = null)
+{
+	header("HTTP/1.1 " . $status);
+	
+	$response['status'] = $status;
+	$response['status_message'] = $status_message;
+	$response['data'] = $data;
+	
+	$json_response = json_encode($response, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
+	echo $json_response;
+	exit();
+}
diff --git a/install/froxlor.sql b/install/froxlor.sql
index 870e30d4..5a262c55 100644
--- a/install/froxlor.sql
+++ b/install/froxlor.sql
@@ -1042,3 +1042,18 @@ CREATE TABLE `panel_plans` (
   KEY adminid (adminid)
 ) ENGINE=MyISAM CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_general_ci;
 
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `api_keys`;
+CREATE TABLE `api_keys` (
+  `id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
+  `adminid` int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
+  `customerid` int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
+  `apikey` varchar(500) NOT NULL default '',
+  `secret` varchar(500) NOT NULL default '',
+  `allowed_from` text NOT NULL,
+  `valid_until` int(15) NOT NULL default '0',
+  PRIMARY KEY  (id),
+  KEY adminid (adminid),
+  KEY customerid (customerid)
+) ENGINE=MyISAM CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_general_ci;
+
diff --git a/lib/classes/api/abstract.ApiCommand.php b/lib/classes/api/abstract.ApiCommand.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..43a5b688
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/classes/api/abstract.ApiCommand.php
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+<?php
+
+abstract class ApiCommand
+{
+
+	private $is_admin = false;
+
+	private $user_data = null;
+
+	private $logger = null;
+
+	private $cmd_params = null;
+
+	public function __construct($header = null, $params = null, $userinfo = null)
+	{
+		$this->cmd_params = $params;
+		if (! empty($header)) {
+			$this->readUserData($header);
+		} elseif (! empty($userinfo)) {
+			$this->user_data = $userinfo;
+			$this->is_admin = ($userinfo['adminsession'] == 1 && $userinfo['adminid'] > 0) ? true : false;
+		} else {
+			throw new Exception("Invalid user data", 500);
+		}
+		$this->logger = FroxlorLogger::getInstanceOf($this->user_data);
+	}
+
+	public static function getLocal($userinfo = null, $params = null)
+	{
+		return new static(null, $params, $userinfo);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * admin flag
+	 *
+	 * @return boolean
+	 */
+	protected function isAdmin()
+	{
+		return $this->is_admin;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * return field from user-table
+	 *
+	 * @param string $detail
+	 *
+	 * @return string
+	 */
+	protected function getUserDetail($detail = null)
+	{
+		return (isset($this->user_data[$detail]) ? $this->user_data[$detail] : null);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * receive field from parameter-list
+	 *
+	 * @param string $param
+	 *
+	 * @throws Exception
+	 * @return mixed
+	 */
+	protected function getParam($param = null)
+	{
+		if (isset($this->cmd_params[$param])) {
+			return $this->cmd_params[$param];
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * return logger instance
+	 *
+	 * @return FroxlorLogger
+	 */
+	protected function logger()
+	{
+		return $this->logger;
+	}
+
+	protected function response($status, $status_message, $data = null)
+	{
+		header("HTTP/1.1 " . $status);
+		
+		$response['status'] = $status;
+		$response['status_message'] = $status_message;
+		$response['data'] = $data;
+		
+		$json_response = json_encode($response, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
+		return $json_response;
+	}
+
+	public abstract function list();
+
+	public abstract function get();
+
+	public abstract function add();
+	
+	public abstract function update();
+
+	public abstract function delete();
+
+	private function readUserData($header = null)
+	{
+		$sel_stmt = Database::prepare("SELECT * FROM `api_keys` WHERE `apikey` = :ak AND `secret` = :as");
+		$result = Database::pexecute_first($sel_stmt, array(
+			'ak' => $header['apikey'],
+			'as' => $header['secret']
+		), true, true);
+		if ($result) {
+			// admin or customer?
+			if ($result['customerid'] == 0) {
+				$this->is_admin = true;
+				$table = 'panel_admins';
+				$key = "adminid";
+			} else {
+				$this->is_admin = false;
+				$table = 'panel_customers';
+				$key = "customerid";
+			}
+			$sel_stmt = Database::prepare("SELECT * FROM `" . $table . "` WHERE `" . $key . "` = :id");
+			$this->user_data = Database::pexecute_first($sel_stmt, array(
+				'id' => ($this->is_admin ? $result['adminid'] : $result['customerid'])
+			), true, true);
+			return true;
+		}
+		throw new Exception("Invalid API credentials", 400);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/lib/classes/api/api_includes.inc.php b/lib/classes/api/api_includes.inc.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..09b3cd84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/classes/api/api_includes.inc.php
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<?php
+if (! defined('FROXLOR_INSTALL_DIR')) {
+	define('FROXLOR_INSTALL_DIR', dirname(dirname(dirname(__DIR__))));
+	require_once FROXLOR_INSTALL_DIR . '/lib/tables.inc.php';
+	require_once FROXLOR_INSTALL_DIR . '/lib/functions.php';
+}
diff --git a/lib/classes/api/class.FroxlorRPC.php b/lib/classes/api/class.FroxlorRPC.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..693d4ee7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/classes/api/class.FroxlorRPC.php
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+<?php
+
+class FroxlorRPC
+{
+
+	/**
+	 * validate a given request
+	 *
+	 * @param array $request
+	 *
+	 * @throws Exception
+	 * @return array
+	 */
+	public static function validateRequest($request)
+	{
+		// check header
+		if (! isset($request['header']) || empty($request['header'])) {
+			throw new Exception("Invalid request header", 400);
+		}
+		
+		// check authorization
+		if (! isset($request['header']['apikey']) || empty($request['header']['apikey']) || ! isset($request['header']['secret']) || empty($request['header']['secret'])) {
+			throw new Exception("No authorization credentials given", 400);
+		}
+		self::validateAuth($request['header']['apikey'], $request['header']['secret']);
+		
+		// check command
+		return self::validateBody($request);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * validates the given api credentials
+	 *
+	 * @param string $key
+	 * @param string $secret
+	 *
+	 * @throws Exception
+	 * @return boolean
+	 */
+	private static function validateAuth($key, $secret)
+	{
+		$sel_stmt = Database::prepare("SELECT * FROM `api_keys` WHERE `apikey` = :ak AND `secret` = :as");
+		$result = Database::pexecute_first($sel_stmt, array(
+			'ak' => $key,
+			'as' => $secret
+		), true, true);
+		if ($result) {
+			if ($result['apikey'] == $key && $result['secret'] == $secret && ($result['valid_until'] == -1 || $result['valid_until'] >= time())) {
+				if (!empty($result['allowed_from'])) {
+					$ip_list = explode(",", $result['allowed_from']);
+					$access_ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
+					// @fixme finish me
+				}
+				return true;
+			}
+		}
+		throw new Exception("Invalid authorization credentials", 400);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * validates the given command
+	 *
+	 * @param array $body
+	 *
+	 * @throws Exception
+	 * @return boolean
+	 */
+	private static function validateBody($request)
+	{
+		// check body
+		if (! isset($request['body']) || empty($request['body'])) {
+			throw new Exception("Invalid request body", 400);
+		}
+		
+		// check command exists
+		if (! isset($request['body']['command']) || empty($request['body']['command'])) {
+			throw new Exception("No command given", 400);
+		}
+		
+		$command = explode(".", $request['body']['command']);
+		
+		if (count($command) != 2) {
+			throw new Exception("Invalid command", 400);
+		}
+		// simply check for file-existance, as we do not want to use our autoloader because this way
+		// it will recognize non-api classes+methods as valid commands
+		$apiclass = FROXLOR_INSTALL_DIR . '/lib/classes/api/commands/class.' . $command[0] . '.php';
+		if (! file_exists($apiclass) || ! @method_exists($command[0], $command[1])) {
+			// there will be an exception from the autoloader for class_exists hence the try-catch-block
+			throw new Exception("Unknown command", 400);
+		}
+		return array(
+			'command' => array(
+				'class' => $command[0],
+				'method' => $command[1]
+			),
+			'params' => isset($request['body']['params']) ? $request['body']['params'] : null
+		);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/lib/classes/database/class.Database.php b/lib/classes/database/class.Database.php
index 3174c2b3..7f6c7d46 100644
--- a/lib/classes/database/class.Database.php
+++ b/lib/classes/database/class.Database.php
@@ -67,11 +67,11 @@ class Database {
 	 * @param array $params (optional)
 	 * @param bool $showerror suppress errordisplay (default true)
 	 */
-	public static function pexecute(&$stmt, $params = null, $showerror = true) {
+	public static function pexecute(&$stmt, $params = null, $showerror = true, $json_response = false) {
 		try {
 			$stmt->execute($params);
 		} catch (PDOException $e) {
-			self::_showerror($e, $showerror);
+			self::_showerror($e, $showerror, $json_response);
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@ class Database {
 	 *
 	 * @return array
 	 */
-	public static function pexecute_first(&$stmt, $params = null, $showerror = true) {
-		self::pexecute($stmt, $params, $showerror);
+	public static function pexecute_first(&$stmt, $params = null, $showerror = true, $json_response = false) {
+		self::pexecute($stmt, $params, $showerror, $json_response);
 		return $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
 	}
 
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ class Database {
 	 * @param PDOException $error
 	 * @param bool $showerror if set to false, the error will be logged but we go on
 	 */
-	private static function _showerror($error, $showerror = true) {
+	private static function _showerror($error, $showerror = true, $json_response = false) {
 		global $userinfo, $theme, $linker;
 
 		// include userdata.inc.php
@@ -367,6 +367,10 @@ class Database {
 		@fwrite($errlog, "|TRACE\n".$error_trace."\n");
 		@fclose($errlog);
 
+		if ($showerror && $json_response) {
+			throw new Exception($error_message, 500);
+		}
+
 		if ($showerror) {
 			if (empty($sql['debug'])) {
 				$error_trace = '';
diff --git a/lib/functions/output/function.standard_error.php b/lib/functions/output/function.standard_error.php
index 03fb272f..9e8bd7fb 100644
--- a/lib/functions/output/function.standard_error.php
+++ b/lib/functions/output/function.standard_error.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
  * @author Florian Lippert <flo@syscp.org>
  * @author Ron Brand <ron.brand@web.de>
  */
-function standard_error($errors = '', $replacer = '') {
+function standard_error($errors = '', $replacer = '', $throw_exception = false) {
 
 	global $userinfo, $s, $header, $footer, $lng, $theme;
 
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ function standard_error($errors = '', $replacer = '') {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if ($throw_exception) {
+		throw new Exception($error);
+	}
 	eval("echo \"" . getTemplate('misc/error', '1') . "\";");
 	exit;
 }
diff --git a/lib/functions/validate/function.validate.php b/lib/functions/validate/function.validate.php
index eddb8c3c..355f48e1 100644
--- a/lib/functions/validate/function.validate.php
+++ b/lib/functions/validate/function.validate.php
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
  *
  */
 
-function validate($str, $fieldname, $pattern = '', $lng = '', $emptydefault = array()) {
+function validate($str, $fieldname, $pattern = '', $lng = '', $emptydefault = array(), $throw_exception = false) {
 
 	global $log, $theme;
 
@@ -74,6 +74,6 @@ function validate($str, $fieldname, $pattern = '', $lng = '', $emptydefault = ar
 		$lng = 'stringformaterror';
 	}
 
-	standard_error($lng, $fieldname);
+	standard_error($lng, $fieldname, $throw_exception);
 	exit;
 }
diff --git a/lib/functions/validate/function.validate_ip.php b/lib/functions/validate/function.validate_ip.php
index f3caa492..2a30150b 100644
--- a/lib/functions/validate/function.validate_ip.php
+++ b/lib/functions/validate/function.validate_ip.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
  * @return mixed 	ip address on success, standard_error on failure
  * @deprecated use validate_ip2
  */
-function validate_ip($ip, $return_bool = false, $lng = 'invalidip') {
+function validate_ip($ip, $return_bool = false, $lng = 'invalidip', $throw_exception = false) {
 
 	if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_IPV6) === false
 			&& filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_IPV4) === false
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ function validate_ip($ip, $return_bool = false, $lng = 'invalidip') {
 		if ($return_bool) {
 			return false;
 		} else {
-			standard_error($lng, $ip);
+			standard_error($lng, $ip, $throw_exception);
 			exit();
 		}
 	} else {
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ function validate_ip($ip, $return_bool = false, $lng = 'invalidip') {
  *
  * @return string|bool ip address on success, false on failure
  */
-function validate_ip2($ip, $return_bool = false, $lng = 'invalidip', $allow_localhost = false, $allow_priv = false, $allow_cidr = false) {
+function validate_ip2($ip, $return_bool = false, $lng = 'invalidip', $allow_localhost = false, $allow_priv = false, $allow_cidr = false, $throw_exception = false) {
 
 	$cidr = "";
 	if ($allow_cidr) {
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ function validate_ip2($ip, $return_bool = false, $lng = 'invalidip', $allow_loca
 		if ($return_bool) {
 			return false;
 		} else {
-			standard_error($lng, $ip);
+			standard_error($lng, $ip, $throw_exception);
 			exit();
 		}
 	}
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ function validate_ip2($ip, $return_bool = false, $lng = 'invalidip', $allow_loca
 	if ($return_bool) {
 		return false;
 	} else {
-		standard_error($lng, $ip);
+		standard_error($lng, $ip, $throw_exception);
 		exit();
 	}
 }