diff --git a/src/routes/api/v1/categories/+server.ts b/src/routes/api/v1/categories/+server.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79c0c4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/routes/api/v1/categories/+server.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { json } from '@sveltejs/kit';
+import type { RequestHandler } from './$types';
+
+export const GET: RequestHandler = async ({ platform }) => {
+	const db = platform?.env.DB;
+	if (!db) return json({ error: 'Database not connected' }, { status: 500 });
+
+	try {
+		const { results } = await db
+			.prepare('SELECT id, name, slug FROM categories ORDER BY name ASC')
+			.all();
+
+		return json({
+			data: results
+		});
+	} catch (err: unknown) {
+		console.error('Failed to get categories', err);
+		return json({ error: 'Failed to retrieve categories' }, { status: 500 });
+	}
+};