diff --git a/scripts/dev/api.bash b/scripts/dev/api.bash
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5539e4fef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/dev/api.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# vim: set expandtab ts=2 sw=2:
+
+token=$(lotus auth create-token --perm admin)
+
+runAPI() {
+  curl -X POST \
+    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+    --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"Filecoin.'"$1"'","params":'"${2:-null}"'}' \
+    'http://127.0.0.1:1234/rpc/v0?token='"$token"
+}