diff --git a/web/src/app/api/discover/search/route.test.ts b/web/src/app/api/discover/search/route.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..467bd55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/app/api/discover/search/route.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from "vitest";
+
+vi.mock("@/lib/musicbrainz", () => ({ searchArtists: vi.fn() }));
+vi.mock("@/lib/listenbrainz", () => ({ similarArtists: vi.fn() }));
+import { searchArtists } from "@/lib/musicbrainz";
+import { similarArtists } from "@/lib/listenbrainz";
+import { GET } from "./route";
+
+const mockSearch = vi.mocked(searchArtists);
+const mockSimilar = vi.mocked(similarArtists);
+afterEach(() => { mockSearch.mockReset(); mockSimilar.mockReset(); });
+
+function req(artist?: string) {
+  const u = new URL("http://localhost/api/discover/search");
+  if (artist !== undefined) u.searchParams.set("artist", artist);
+  return new Request(u);
+}
+
+describe("discover search API", () => {
+  it("400s when artist is missing/blank", async () => {
+    expect((await GET(req())).status).toBe(400);
+    expect((await GET(req("  "))).status).toBe(400);
+  });
+
+  it("resolves the top MB hit then returns its similar artists", async () => {
+    mockSearch.mockResolvedValue([{ mbid: "seed", name: "Boygenius", disambiguation: "" }]);
+    mockSimilar.mockResolvedValue([{ mbid: "c1", name: "Cand", score: 9 }]);
+    const body = await (await GET(req("boygenius"))).json();
+    expect(body.seed).toMatchObject({ mbid: "seed", name: "Boygenius" });
+    expect(body.similar).toEqual([{ mbid: "c1", name: "Cand", score: 9 }]);
+    expect(mockSimilar).toHaveBeenCalledWith("seed");
+  });
+
+  it("returns empty when MB has no hit, 502 on failures", async () => {
+    mockSearch.mockResolvedValue([]);
+    expect(await (await GET(req("nobody"))).json()).toEqual({ seed: null, similar: [] });
+    mockSearch.mockRejectedValue(new Error("mb down"));
+    expect((await GET(req("x"))).status).toBe(502);
+    mockSearch.mockResolvedValue([{ mbid: "seed", name: "X", disambiguation: "" }]);
+    mockSimilar.mockRejectedValue(new Error("lb down"));
+    expect((await GET(req("x"))).status).toBe(502);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/web/src/app/api/discover/search/route.ts b/web/src/app/api/discover/search/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8cc0f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/app/api/discover/search/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { searchArtists } from "@/lib/musicbrainz";
+import { similarArtists } from "@/lib/listenbrainz";
+
+export async function GET(request: Request) {
+  const artist = new URL(request.url).searchParams.get("artist");
+  if (!artist || !artist.trim()) {
+    return Response.json({ error: "artist is required" }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+  let hits;
+  try {
+    hits = await searchArtists(artist.trim());
+  } catch {
+    return Response.json({ error: "MusicBrainz unavailable" }, { status: 502 });
+  }
+  if (hits.length === 0) return Response.json({ seed: null, similar: [] });
+  const seed = hits[0];
+  let similar;
+  try {
+    similar = await similarArtists(seed.mbid);
+  } catch {
+    return Response.json({ error: "ListenBrainz unavailable" }, { status: 502 });
+  }
+  return Response.json({ seed, similar });
+}