diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9dd0d6ce..f94b4a6f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ node_modules
 build
 dist
 docs/_build
+docs/source/_static/rest-api
 .ipynb_checkpoints
 # ignore config file at the top-level of the repo
 # but not sub-dirs
diff --git a/docs/rest-api.yml b/docs/rest-api.yml
index 0bd731c0..15482634 100644
--- a/docs/rest-api.yml
+++ b/docs/rest-api.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,60 @@ produces:
 consumes:
   - application/json
 paths:
+  /:
+    get:
+      summary: See the version of JupyterHub itself
+      description: |
+        This endpoint is not authenticated,
+        so clients can identify the version of JupyterHub before setting up authentication.
+      responses:
+        '200':
+          description: The version of JupyterHub itself
+          schema:
+            type: object
+            properties:
+              version:
+                type: string
+                description: The version of JupyterHub itself
+  /info:
+    get:
+      summary: Get detailed info about JupyterHub
+      description: |
+        Detailed information about JupyterHub,
+        including information about Python, JupyterHub's version,
+        and what Authenticators and Spawners are in use.
+      responses:
+        '200':
+          schema:
+            type: object
+            properties:
+              version:
+                type: string
+                description: The version of JupyterHub itself
+              python:
+                type: string
+                description: The version of Python, as returned by sys.version
+              sys_executable:
+                type: string
+                description: The path to sys.executable running JupyterHub
+              authenticator:
+                type: object
+                properties:
+                  class:
+                    type: string
+                    description: The Python class currently in use
+                  version:
+                    type: string
+                    description: The version of the package providing the Authenticator class
+              spawner:
+                type: object
+                properties:
+                  class:
+                    type: string
+                    description: The Python class currently in use for spawning single-user servers
+                  version:
+                    type: string
+                    description: The version of the package providing the Spawner class
   /users:
     get:
       summary: List users
@@ -332,6 +386,15 @@ paths:
   /shutdown:
     post:
       summary: Shutdown the Hub
+      parameters:
+        - name: proxy
+          in: body
+          type: bool
+          description: Whether the proxy should be shutdown as well (default from Hub config)
+        - name: servers
+          in: body
+          type: bool
+          description: Whether users's servers should be shutdown as well (default from Hub config)
       responses:
         '200':
           description: Hub has shutdown
diff --git a/jupyterhub/apihandlers/hub.py b/jupyterhub/apihandlers/hub.py
index 35880681..77b7b758 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/apihandlers/hub.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/apihandlers/hub.py
@@ -4,12 +4,15 @@
 # Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
 
 import json
+import sys
 
 from tornado import web
 from tornado.ioloop import IOLoop
 
 from ..utils import admin_only
 from .base import APIHandler
+from ..version import __version__
+
 
 class ShutdownAPIHandler(APIHandler):
     
@@ -49,6 +52,56 @@ class ShutdownAPIHandler(APIHandler):
         loop.add_callback(loop.stop)
 
 
+class RootAPIHandler(APIHandler):
+
+    def get(self):
+        """GET /api/ returns info about the Hub and its API.
+
+        It is not an authenticated endpoint.
+        
+        For now, it just returns the version of JupyterHub itself.
+        """
+        data = {
+            'version': __version__,
+        }
+        self.finish(json.dumps(data))
+
+
+class InfoAPIHandler(APIHandler):
+
+    @admin_only
+    def get(self):
+        """GET /api/info returns detailed info about the Hub and its API.
+
+        It is not an authenticated endpoint.
+        
+        For now, it just returns the version of JupyterHub itself.
+        """
+        def _class_info(typ):
+            """info about a class (Spawner or Authenticator)"""
+            info = {
+                'class': '{mod}.{name}'.format(mod=typ.__module__, name=typ.__name__),
+            }
+            pkg = typ.__module__.split('.')[0]
+            try:
+                version = sys.modules[pkg].__version__
+            except (KeyError, AttributeError):
+                version = 'unknown'
+            info['version'] = version
+            return info
+
+        data = {
+            'version': __version__,
+            'python': sys.version,
+            'sys_executable': sys.executable,
+            'spawner': _class_info(self.settings['spawner_class']),
+            'authenticator': _class_info(self.authenticator.__class__),
+        }
+        self.finish(json.dumps(data))
+
+
 default_handlers = [
     (r"/api/shutdown", ShutdownAPIHandler),
+    (r"/api/?", RootAPIHandler),
+    (r"/api/info", InfoAPIHandler),
 ]
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_api.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_api.py
index 493f46d1..e14b0662 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_api.py
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@
 import json
 import time
 from queue import Queue
+import sys
 from urllib.parse import urlparse, quote
 
 import requests
 
 from tornado import gen
 
+import jupyterhub
 from .. import orm
 from ..user import User
 from ..utils import url_path_join as ujoin
@@ -657,6 +659,41 @@ def test_group_delete_users(app):
     assert sorted([ u.name for u in group.users ]) == sorted(names[2:])
 
 
+def test_root_api(app):
+    base_url = app.hub.server.url
+    url = ujoin(base_url, 'api')
+    r = requests.get(url)
+    r.raise_for_status()
+    expected = {
+        'version': jupyterhub.__version__
+    }
+    assert r.json() == expected
+
+
+def test_info(app):
+    r = api_request(app, 'info')
+    r.raise_for_status()
+    data = r.json()
+    assert data['version'] == jupyterhub.__version__
+    assert sorted(data) == [
+        'authenticator',
+        'python',
+        'spawner',
+        'sys_executable',
+        'version',
+    ]
+    assert data['python'] == sys.version
+    assert data['sys_executable'] == sys.executable
+    assert data['authenticator'] == {
+        'class': 'jupyterhub.tests.mocking.MockPAMAuthenticator',
+        'version': jupyterhub.__version__,
+    }
+    assert data['spawner'] == {
+        'class': 'jupyterhub.tests.mocking.MockSpawner',
+        'version': jupyterhub.__version__,
+    }
+
+
 # general API tests
 
 def test_options(app):