diff --git a/docs/api-reference.rst b/docs/api-reference.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4ad14b45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/api-reference.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+API Reference
+=============
+
+Here.
+
+Core components
+---------------
+
+Here.
+
+.. error::
+
+   Can't import source code documentation with ``autodoc`` because flowcept requires a running database just to import the package. This needs be fixed before any API documentation can be generated by Sphinx. See `issue 144 <https://github.com/ORNL/flowcept/issues/144>`_ on GitHub repository for more information.
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 5a555153..5c1558d3 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
 # https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/configuration.html#general-configuration
 
-extensions = []
+extensions = ["sphinx.ext.autodoc"]
 
 templates_path = ["_templates"]
 exclude_patterns = ["_build", "Thumbs.db", ".DS_Store"]
diff --git a/docs/index.rst b/docs/index.rst
index 73e22fa6..9abed32b 100644
--- a/docs/index.rst
+++ b/docs/index.rst
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@ documentation for details.
 
    getstarted
    contributing
+   api-reference