diff --git a/heat_integrationtests/api/__init__.py b/heat_integrationtests/api/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/heat_integrationtests/api/gabbits/stacks.yaml b/heat_integrationtests/api/gabbits/stacks.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..30280183f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/heat_integrationtests/api/gabbits/stacks.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+defaults:
+  request_headers:
+    X-Auth-Token: $ENVIRON['OS_TOKEN']
+
+tests:
+- name: stack list
+  GET: /stacks
+  status: 200
+  response_headers:
+    content-type: application/json; charset=UTF-8
+
+- name: create empty stack
+  POST: /stacks
+  request_headers:
+    content-type: application/json
+  data:
+    files: {}
+    disable_rollback: true
+    parameters: {}
+    stack_name: $ENVIRON['PREFIX']-empty
+    environment: {}
+    template:
+      heat_template_version: '2016-04-08'
+
+  status: 201
+  response_headers:
+    location: //stacks/$ENVIRON['PREFIX']-empty/[a-f0-9-]+/
+
+
+- name: poll for empty CREATE_COMPLETE
+  GET: $LOCATION
+  redirects: True
+  poll:
+    count: 5
+    delay: 1.0
+  response_json_paths:
+    $.stack.stack_status: CREATE_COMPLETE
+
+- name: show empty stack
+  GET: $LAST_URL
+  redirects: True
+  status: 200
+
+- name: delete empty stack
+  DELETE: $LAST_URL
+  redirects: True
+  status: 204
diff --git a/heat_integrationtests/api/test_heat_api.py b/heat_integrationtests/api/test_heat_api.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b5713737e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/heat_integrationtests/api/test_heat_api.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+# not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+# a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+"""A test module to exercise the Heat API with gabbi.  """
+
+import os
+
+from gabbi import driver
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
+
+from heat_integrationtests.common import clients
+from heat_integrationtests.common import config
+from heat_integrationtests.common import test
+
+TESTS_DIR = 'gabbits'
+
+
+def load_tests(loader, tests, pattern):
+    """Provide a TestSuite to the discovery process."""
+    test_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), TESTS_DIR)
+
+    conf = config.CONF.heat_plugin
+    manager = clients.ClientManager(conf)
+    endpoint = manager.identity_client.get_endpoint_url(
+        'orchestration', conf.region)
+    host = urlparse.urlparse(endpoint).hostname
+    os.environ['OS_TOKEN'] = manager.identity_client.auth_token
+    os.environ['PREFIX'] = test.rand_name('api')
+
+    return driver.build_tests(test_dir, loader, host=host,
+                              url=endpoint, test_loader_name=__name__)
diff --git a/heat_integrationtests/pre_test_hook.sh b/heat_integrationtests/pre_test_hook.sh
index 1ed7abe689..486818a5b0 100755
--- a/heat_integrationtests/pre_test_hook.sh
+++ b/heat_integrationtests/pre_test_hook.sh
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ echo -e '[heat_api_cloudwatch]\nworkers=2\n' >> $localconf
 
 echo -e '[cache]\nenabled=True\n' >> $localconf
 
+echo -e '[eventlet_opts]\nclient_socket_timeout=120\n' >> $localconf
+
 # Use the lbaas v2 namespace driver for devstack integration testing since
 # octavia uses nested vms.
 if [[ $OVERRIDE_ENABLED_SERVICES =~ "q-lbaasv2" ]]
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index f1ddcc05c2..660803026b 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -27,3 +27,4 @@ reno>=1.8.0 # Apache-2.0
 os-collect-config # Apache-2.0
 paramiko>=2.0 # LGPLv2.1+
 tempest>=12.1.0 # Apache-2.0
+gabbi>=1.26.1  # Apache-2.0