diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1baab3825b6..941cdc6ad9f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ doc/source/api/*
 doc/build/*
 api-guide/build/*
 api-ref/build/*
+placement-api-ref/build/*
 etc/nova/nova.conf.sample
 etc/nova/policy.yaml.sample
 etc/nova/policy.yaml.merged
diff --git a/placement-api-ref/source/conf.py b/placement-api-ref/source/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..73d1e01edad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/placement-api-ref/source/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# 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.
+#
+# placement-api-ref documentation build configuration file, created by
+# sphinx-quickstart on Sat May  1 15:17:47 2010.
+#
+# This file is execfile()d with the current directory set to
+# its containing dir.
+#
+# Note that not all possible configuration values are present in this
+# autogenerated file.
+#
+# All configuration values have a default; values that are commented out
+# serve to show the default.
+
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import warnings
+
+import openstackdocstheme
+
+extensions = [
+    'os_api_ref',
+]
+
+
+html_theme = 'openstackdocs'
+html_theme_path = [openstackdocstheme.get_html_theme_path()]
+html_theme_options = {
+    "sidebar_mode": "toc",
+}
+html_context = {'bug_project': 'nova', 'bug_tag': 'placement-api-ref'}
+
+# If extensions (or modules to document with autodoc) are in another directory,
+# add these directories to sys.path here. If the directory is relative to the
+# documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute, like shown here.
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('../../'))
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('../'))
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('./'))
+
+# -- General configuration ----------------------------------------------------
+
+# Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings. They can be
+# extensions coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom ones.
+
+# The suffix of source filenames.
+source_suffix = '.rst'
+
+# The encoding of source files.
+#
+# source_encoding = 'utf-8'
+
+# The master toctree document.
+master_doc = 'index'
+
+# General information about the project.
+project = u'Placement API Reference'
+copyright = u'2010-present, OpenStack Foundation'
+
+# The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
+# |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
+# built documents.
+#
+from nova.version import version_info
+# The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
+release = version_info.release_string()
+# The short X.Y version.
+version = version_info.version_string()
+
+# The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
+# for a list of supported languages.
+#
+# language = None
+
+# There are two options for replacing |today|: either, you set today to some
+# non-false value, then it is used:
+# today = ''
+# Else, today_fmt is used as the format for a strftime call.
+# today_fmt = '%B %d, %Y'
+
+# The reST default role (used for this markup: `text`) to use
+# for all documents.
+# default_role = None
+
+# If true, '()' will be appended to :func: etc. cross-reference text.
+# add_function_parentheses = True
+
+# If true, the current module name will be prepended to all description
+# unit titles (such as .. function::).
+add_module_names = False
+
+# If true, sectionauthor and moduleauthor directives will be shown in the
+# output. They are ignored by default.
+show_authors = False
+
+# The name of the Pygments (syntax highlighting) style to use.
+pygments_style = 'sphinx'
+
+# -- Options for man page output ----------------------------------------------
+
+# Grouping the document tree for man pages.
+# List of tuples 'sourcefile', 'target', u'title', u'Authors name', 'manual'
+
+
+# -- Options for HTML output --------------------------------------------------
+
+# The theme to use for HTML and HTML Help pages.  Major themes that come with
+# Sphinx are currently 'default' and 'sphinxdoc'.
+# html_theme_path = ["."]
+# html_theme = '_theme'
+
+# Theme options are theme-specific and customize the look and feel of a theme
+# further.  For a list of options available for each theme, see the
+# documentation.
+# html_theme_options = {}
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom themes here, relative to this directory.
+# html_theme_path = []
+
+# The name for this set of Sphinx documents.  If None, it defaults to
+# "<project> v<release> documentation".
+# html_title = None
+
+# A shorter title for the navigation bar.  Default is the same as html_title.
+# html_short_title = None
+
+# The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top
+# of the sidebar.
+# html_logo = None
+
+# The name of an image file (within the static path) to use as favicon of the
+# docs.  This file should be a Windows icon file (.ico) being 16x16 or 32x32
+# pixels large.
+# html_favicon = None
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
+# relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
+# so a file named "default.css" will overwrite the builtin "default.css".
+# html_static_path = ['_static']
+
+# If not '', a 'Last updated on:' timestamp is inserted at every page bottom,
+# using the given strftime format.
+# html_last_updated_fmt = '%b %d, %Y'
+git_cmd = ["git", "log", "--pretty=format:'%ad, commit %h'", "--date=local",
+    "-n1"]
+try:
+    html_last_updated_fmt = subprocess.Popen(
+        git_cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE).communicate()[0].decode()
+except Exception:
+    warnings.warn('Cannot get last updated time from git repository. '
+                  'Not setting "html_last_updated_fmt".')
+
+# If true, SmartyPants will be used to convert quotes and dashes to
+# typographically correct entities.
+# html_use_smartypants = True
+
+# Custom sidebar templates, maps document names to template names.
+# html_sidebars = {}
+
+# Additional templates that should be rendered to pages, maps page names to
+# template names.
+# html_additional_pages = {}
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+# html_use_modindex = True
+
+# If false, no index is generated.
+# html_use_index = True
+
+# If true, the index is split into individual pages for each letter.
+# html_split_index = False
+
+# If true, links to the reST sources are added to the pages.
+# html_show_sourcelink = True
+
+# If true, an OpenSearch description file will be output, and all pages will
+# contain a <link> tag referring to it.  The value of this option must be the
+# base URL from which the finished HTML is served.
+# html_use_opensearch = ''
+
+# If nonempty, this is the file name suffix for HTML files (e.g. ".xhtml").
+# html_file_suffix = ''
+
+# Output file base name for HTML help builder.
+htmlhelp_basename = 'placementdoc'
+
+
+# -- Options for LaTeX output -------------------------------------------------
+
+# The paper size ('letter' or 'a4').
+# latex_paper_size = 'letter'
+
+# The font size ('10pt', '11pt' or '12pt').
+# latex_font_size = '10pt'
+
+# Grouping the document tree into LaTeX files. List of tuples
+# (source start file, target name, title, author, documentclass
+# [howto/manual]).
+latex_documents = [
+    ('index', 'Placement.tex', u'OpenStack Placement API Documentation',
+     u'OpenStack Foundation', 'manual'),
+]
+
+# The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top of
+# the title page.
+# latex_logo = None
+
+# For "manual" documents, if this is true, then toplevel headings are parts,
+# not chapters.
+# latex_use_parts = False
+
+# Additional stuff for the LaTeX preamble.
+# latex_preamble = ''
+
+# Documents to append as an appendix to all manuals.
+# latex_appendices = []
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+# latex_use_modindex = True
diff --git a/placement-api-ref/source/get-root.json b/placement-api-ref/source/get-root.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bdb92c3dece
--- /dev/null
+++ b/placement-api-ref/source/get-root.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+    "versions" : [
+        {
+            "min_version" : "1.0",
+            "id" : "v1.0",
+            "max_version" : "1.2"
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/placement-api-ref/source/index.rst b/placement-api-ref/source/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5044dcda7f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/placement-api-ref/source/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+:tocdepth: 2
+
+===============
+ Placement API
+===============
+
+.. TODO(cdent) this is a big pile of todo
+
+This is a reference for the Openstack Placement API. To learn more about
+Openstack Placement API concepts, please refer to the
+`Placement Introduction <http://docs.openstack.org/developer/nova/placement.html>`_.
+
+.. rest_expand_all::
+
+========
+Versions
+========
+
+List Versions
+=============
+
+.. rest_method:: GET /
+
+Fetch information about all known major versions of the placement API,
+including information about the minimum and maximum microversions.
+
+.. note:: At this time there is only one major version of the placement API:
+          version 1.0.
+
+Normal Response Codes: 200
+
+Response
+--------
+
+.. rest_parameters:: parameters.yaml
+
+  - versions: versions
+  - id: version_id
+  - min_version: version_min
+  - max_version: version_max
+
+Response Example
+----------------
+
+.. literalinclude:: get-root.json
+   :language: javascript
diff --git a/placement-api-ref/source/parameters.yaml b/placement-api-ref/source/parameters.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9a8f9e96492
--- /dev/null
+++ b/placement-api-ref/source/parameters.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+version_id:
+  type: string
+  in: body
+  required: true
+  description: >
+    A common name for the version being described. Informative only.
+version_max:
+  type: string
+  in: body
+  required: true
+  description: >
+    The maximum microversion that is supported.
+version_min:
+  type: string
+  in: body
+  required: true
+  description: >
+    The minimum microversion that is supported.
+versions:
+  type: array
+  in: body
+  required: true
+  description: >
+    A list of version objects that describe the API versions available.
diff --git a/tools/placement_api_docs.py b/tools/placement_api_docs.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..652800cf8d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/placement_api_docs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+#    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.
+"""Test to see if docs exists for routes and methods in the placement API."""
+
+import sys
+
+from nova.api.openstack.placement import handler
+
+# A humane ordering of HTTP methods for sorted output.
+ORDERED_METHODS = ['GET', 'POST', 'PUT', 'PATCH', 'DELETE']
+
+
+def _header_line(map_entry):
+    method, route = map_entry
+    line = '.. rest_method:: %s %s' % (method, route)
+    return line
+
+
+def inspect_doc(doc_file):
+    """Load up doc_file and see if any routes are missing.
+
+    The routes are defined in handler.ROUTE_DECLARATIONS.
+    """
+    routes = []
+    for route in sorted(handler.ROUTE_DECLARATIONS, key=len):
+        # Skip over the '' route.
+        if route:
+            for method in ORDERED_METHODS:
+                if method in handler.ROUTE_DECLARATIONS[route]:
+                    routes.append((method, route))
+
+    header_lines = []
+    for map_entry in routes:
+        header_lines.append(_header_line(map_entry))
+
+    with open(doc_file) as doc_fh:
+        content_lines = doc_fh.read().splitlines()
+
+    missing_lines = []
+    for line in header_lines:
+        if line not in content_lines:
+            missing_lines.append(line)
+
+    if missing_lines:
+        print('Documentation likely missing for the following routes:')
+        for line in missing_lines:
+            print(line)
+        return 1
+
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    doc_file = sys.argv[1]
+    sys.exit(inspect_doc(doc_file))
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index ed5f8b74e9f..bb1c961bcb6 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ commands = {posargs}
 # with python 3.x
 basepython = python2.7
 commands =
-  rm -rf doc/source/api doc/build api-guide/build api-ref/build
+  rm -rf doc/source/api doc/build api-guide/build api-ref/build placement-api-ref/build
   python setup.py build_sphinx
   # Check that all JSON files don't have \r\n in line.
   bash -c "! find doc/ -type f -name *.json | xargs grep -U -n $'\r'"
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ commands =
   oslopolicy-policy-generator --namespace nova --output-file etc/nova/policy.yaml.merged
   sphinx-build -W -b html api-guide/source api-guide/build/html
   sphinx-build -W -b html api-ref/source api-ref/build/html
+  sphinx-build -W -b html placement-api-ref/source placement-api-ref/build/html
 
 [testenv:api-guide]
 # This environment is called from CI scripts to test and publish
@@ -144,6 +145,18 @@ commands =
   rm -rf api-ref/build
   sphinx-build -W -b html -d api-ref/build/doctrees api-ref/source api-ref/build/html
 
+[testenv:placement-api-ref]
+# This environment is called from CI scripts to test and publish
+# the Placement API Ref to developer.openstack.org.
+commands =
+  # Check that all placement api routes are in the documentation
+  # TODO(cdent): Get rid of the leading '-' after all the existing
+  # routes have been documented. It causes the non-zero exit code to
+  # ignored.
+  - python tools/placement_api_docs.py placement-api-ref/source/index.rst
+  rm -rf placement-api-ref/build
+  sphinx-build -W -b html -d placement-api-ref/build/doctrees placement-api-ref/source placement-api-ref/build/html
+
 [testenv:bandit]
 # NOTE(browne): This is required for the integration test job of the bandit
 # project. Please do not remove.