diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fa88aa1..faefe63 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -173,6 +173,32 @@ All commands can be imported and run programmatically.
 >>> pull(['--text', '--meta', '--publish-opt-in'])
 ```
 
+There is also a Magic Word interface. It supports the following API:
+
+> magic_word(word, fresh)
+
+- **word**: The magic word to match pad text against (e.g. `__PUB_CLUB__`)
+- **fresh** (default: `True`): Whether or not run a `etherpump pull` each time
+
+Here is an example:
+
+```python
+from etherpump.api import magic_word
+
+@magic_word("__PUB_CLUB__", fresh=False)
+def pub_club_texts(pads):
+    for name in pads:
+        print(pads[name]["txt"])
+
+
+pub_club_texts()
+```
+
+`pads` is a dictionary which contains pad names as keys and pad text as values.
+
+Normally, the `fresh=False` is useful when you're hacking away and want to read
+pad contents from the local file system and not over the network each time.
+
 ## Subcommands
 
 To see all available subcommands, run:
diff --git a/etherpump/api/__init__.py b/etherpump/api/__init__.py
index 0c06b93..8bcca11 100644
--- a/etherpump/api/__init__.py
+++ b/etherpump/api/__init__.py
@@ -1,15 +1,67 @@
+from functools import wraps
+from os.path import exists
+from pathlib import Path
+from urllib.parse import urlencode
+
+from etherpump.commands.common import getjson, loadpadinfo
 from etherpump.commands.creatediffhtml import main as creatediffhtml  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.deletepad import main as deletepad  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.dumpcsv import main as dumpcsv  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.gethtml import main as gethtml  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.gettext import main as gettext  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.index import main as index  # noqa
+from etherpump.commands.init import main  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.init import main as init  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.list import main as list  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.listauthors import main as listauthors  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.publication import main as publication  # noqa
-from etherpump.commands.pull import main as pull  # noqa
+from etherpump.commands.pull import main as pull
 from etherpump.commands.revisionscount import main as revisionscount  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.sethtml import main as sethtml  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.settext import main as settext  # noqa
 from etherpump.commands.showmeta import main as showmeta  # noqa
+
+
+def ensure_init():
+    path = Path(".etherpump/settings.json").absolute()
+    if not exists(path):
+        try:
+            main([])
+        except SystemExit:
+            pass
+
+
+def get_pad_ids():
+    info = loadpadinfo(Path(".etherpump/settings.json"))
+    data = {"apikey": info["apikey"]}
+    url = info["localapiurl"] + "listAllPads?" + urlencode(data)
+    return getjson(url)["data"]["padIDs"]
+
+
+def magic_word(word, fresh=True):
+    ensure_init()
+
+    if fresh:
+        pull(["--text", "--meta", "--publish-opt-in", "--publish", word])
+
+    pads = {}
+    pad_ids = get_pad_ids()
+    for pad_id in pad_ids:
+        path = Path("./p/{}.raw.txt".format(pad_id)).absolute()
+        try:
+            with open(path, "r") as handle:
+                text = handle.read()
+            if word in text:
+                pads[pad_id] = {}
+                pads[pad_id]["txt"] = text
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            continue
+
+    def _magic_word(func):
+        @wraps(func)
+        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
+            return func(pads)
+
+        return wrapper
+
+    return _magic_word