diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..13b5d5d47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# exclude the compiled binary
+/server
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/server/main.go b/cmd/server/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e62f7f96d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/server/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"github.com/gotosocial/server/internal/api"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	router := api.NewRouter()
+	router.Route()
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..03ab30879
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+module github.com/gotosocial/server
+
+go 1.16
+
+require github.com/gin-gonic/gin v1.6.3 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b0eea91ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/gin-contrib/sse v0.1.0 h1:Y/yl/+YNO8GZSjAhjMsSuLt29uWRFHdHYUb5lYOV9qE=
+github.com/gin-contrib/sse v0.1.0/go.mod h1:RHrZQHXnP2xjPF+u1gW/2HnVO7nvIa9PG3Gm+fLHvGI=
+github.com/gin-gonic/gin v1.6.3 h1:ahKqKTFpO5KTPHxWZjEdPScmYaGtLo8Y4DMHoEsnp14=
+github.com/gin-gonic/gin v1.6.3/go.mod h1:75u5sXoLsGZoRN5Sgbi1eraJ4GU3++wFwWzhwvtwp4M=
+github.com/go-playground/assert/v2 v2.0.1/go.mod h1:VDjEfimB/XKnb+ZQfWdccd7VUvScMdVu0Titje2rxJ4=
+github.com/go-playground/locales v0.13.0 h1:HyWk6mgj5qFqCT5fjGBuRArbVDfE4hi8+e8ceBS/t7Q=
+github.com/go-playground/locales v0.13.0/go.mod h1:taPMhCMXrRLJO55olJkUXHZBHCxTMfnGwq/HNwmWNS8=
+github.com/go-playground/universal-translator v0.17.0 h1:icxd5fm+REJzpZx7ZfpaD876Lmtgy7VtROAbHHXk8no=
+github.com/go-playground/universal-translator v0.17.0/go.mod h1:UkSxE5sNxxRwHyU+Scu5vgOQjsIJAF8j9muTVoKLVtA=
+github.com/go-playground/validator/v10 v10.2.0 h1:KgJ0snyC2R9VXYN2rneOtQcw5aHQB1Vv0sFl1UcHBOY=
+github.com/go-playground/validator/v10 v10.2.0/go.mod h1:uOYAAleCW8F/7oMFd6aG0GOhaH6EGOAJShg8Id5JGkI=
+github.com/golang/protobuf v1.3.3 h1:gyjaxf+svBWX08ZjK86iN9geUJF0H6gp2IRKX6Nf6/I=
+github.com/golang/protobuf v1.3.3/go.mod h1:vzj43D7+SQXF/4pzW/hwtAqwc6iTitCiVSaWz5lYuqw=
+github.com/google/gofuzz v1.0.0/go.mod h1:dBl0BpW6vV/+mYPU4Po3pmUjxk6FQPldtuIdl/M65Eg=
+github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.9 h1:9yzud/Ht36ygwatGx56VwCZtlI/2AD15T1X2sjSuGns=
+github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.9/go.mod h1:KdQUCv79m/52Kvf8AW2vK1V8akMuk1QjK/uOdHXbAo4=
+github.com/leodido/go-urn v1.2.0 h1:hpXL4XnriNwQ/ABnpepYM/1vCLWNDfUNts8dX3xTG6Y=
+github.com/leodido/go-urn v1.2.0/go.mod h1:+8+nEpDfqqsY+g338gtMEUOtuK+4dEMhiQEgxpxOKII=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12 h1:wuysRhFDzyxgEmMf5xjvJ2M9dZoWAXNNr5LSBS7uHXY=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12/go.mod h1:cbi8OIDigv2wuxKPP5vlRcQ1OAZbq2CE4Kysco4FUpU=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421 h1:ZqeYNhU3OHLH3mGKHDcjJRFFRrJa6eAM5H+CtDdOsPc=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
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+github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v0.0.0-20180701023420-4b7aa43c6742/go.mod h1:bx2lNnkwVCuqBIxFjflWJWanXIb3RllmbCylyMrvgv0=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0/go.mod h1:M5WIy9Dh21IEIfnGCwXGc5bZfKNJtfHm1UVUgZn+9EI=
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+golang.org/x/text v0.3.2/go.mod h1:bEr9sfX3Q8Zfm5fL9x+3itogRgK3+ptLWKqgva+5dAk=
+golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20180917221912-90fa682c2a6e/go.mod h1:n7NCudcB/nEzxVGmLbDWY5pfWTLqBcC2KZ6jyYvM4mQ=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.2/go.mod h1:hI93XBmqTisBFMUTm0b8Fm+jr3Dg1NNxqwp+5A1VGuI=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.8 h1:obN1ZagJSUGI0Ek/LBmuj4SNLPfIny3KsKFopxRdj10=
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diff --git a/internal/api/api.go b/internal/api/api.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c233705f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/api.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package api
+
+// API is the API exposed to the outside world for access by front-ends; this is distinct from the federation API
+type API interface {
+
+}
+
+// api implements Api interface
+type api struct {
+
+}
diff --git a/internal/api/route_statuses.go b/internal/api/route_statuses.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..422f6292b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/route_statuses.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package api
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+)
+
+func statusGet(c *gin.Context) {
+	c.HTML(http.StatusOK, "index.tmpl", gin.H{
+		"title": "Posts",
+	})
+}
diff --git a/internal/api/router.go b/internal/api/router.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3b0570779
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/router.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package api
+
+import "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+
+// Router provides the http routes used by the API
+type Router interface {
+	Route()
+}
+
+// NewRouter returns a new router
+func NewRouter() Router {
+	return &router{}
+}
+
+// router implements the router interface
+type router struct {
+
+}
+
+func (r *router) Route() {
+	ginRouter := gin.Default()
+	ginRouter.LoadHTMLGlob("web/template/*")
+
+	apiGroup := ginRouter.Group("/api")
+	{
+		v1 := apiGroup.Group("/v1")
+		{
+			statusesGroup := v1.Group("/statuses")
+			{
+				statusesGroup.GET(":id", statusGet)
+			}
+
+		}
+	}
+	ginRouter.Run()
+}
diff --git a/web/template/index.tmpl b/web/template/index.tmpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1656bf72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/template/index.tmpl
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<html>
+	<h1>
+		{{ .title }}
+	</h1>
+</html>