diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 2f56176..35faafb 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -692,6 +692,12 @@ version = "0.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2304e00983f87ffb38b55b444b5e3b60a884b5d30c0fca7d82fe33449bbe55ea"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hermit-abi"
+version = "0.3.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d231dfb89cfffdbc30e7fc41579ed6066ad03abda9e567ccafae602b97ec5024"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "http"
 version = "1.1.0"
@@ -1210,6 +1216,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "autocfg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "num_cpus"
+version = "1.16.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4161fcb6d602d4d2081af7c3a45852d875a03dd337a6bfdd6e06407b61342a43"
+dependencies = [
+ "hermit-abi",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "object"
 version = "0.36.1"
@@ -1249,6 +1265,29 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "parking_lot"
+version = "0.12.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f1bf18183cf54e8d6059647fc3063646a1801cf30896933ec2311622cc4b9a27"
+dependencies = [
+ "lock_api",
+ "parking_lot_core",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "parking_lot_core"
+version = "0.9.10"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1e401f977ab385c9e4e3ab30627d6f26d00e2c73eef317493c4ec6d468726cf8"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "libc",
+ "redox_syscall",
+ "smallvec",
+ "windows-targets 0.52.6",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "paste"
 version = "1.0.15"
@@ -1319,6 +1358,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "palette",
  "rayon",
  "rgb",
+ "tokio",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1536,6 +1576,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "crossbeam-utils",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "redox_syscall"
+version = "0.5.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c82cf8cff14456045f55ec4241383baeff27af886adb72ffb2162f99911de0fd"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "regex"
 version = "1.10.5"
@@ -1678,6 +1727,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "signal-hook-registry"
+version = "1.4.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a9e9e0b4211b72e7b8b6e85c807d36c212bdb33ea8587f7569562a84df5465b1"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "simd-adler32"
 version = "0.3.7"
@@ -1830,9 +1888,13 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "eb2caba9f80616f438e09748d5acda951967e1ea58508ef53d9c6402485a46df"
 dependencies = [
  "backtrace",
+ "bytes",
  "libc",
  "mio",
+ "num_cpus",
+ "parking_lot",
  "pin-project-lite",
+ "signal-hook-registry",
  "socket2",
  "tokio-macros",
  "windows-sys 0.48.0",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d6c7840..45cdc67 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,3 +20,4 @@ num-traits = "0.2.19"
 palette = "0.7.6"
 rayon = "1.10.0"
 rgb = "0.8.40"
+tokio = { version = "1.38.1", features = ["full"] }
diff --git a/src/api.rs b/src/api.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b61f66e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/api.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+use axum::{Router};
+
+
+/// API routes for axum
+/// Start with the basics: Send an image, crop it, dither, and upload.
+/// we defer the upload to a separate task.
+
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 0800518..79d666c 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #[cfg(feature = "eink")]
 pub mod display;
 pub mod imageproc;
+pub mod api;
 
 use crate::display::Wrapper;
 use crate::imageproc::{DiffusionMatrix, Ditherer, EInkImage, ErrorDiffusionDither};
@@ -25,7 +26,8 @@ enum Command {
     Serve,
 }
 
-fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let cli = Cli::parse();
     println!("CLI {cli:?}");