diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/index.js b/src/plugins/kibana/index.js
index b1ea675fd1057..88ab65eb3d38a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana/index.js
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/index.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import ingest from './server/routes/api/ingest';
+import search from './server/routes/api/search';
 
 module.exports = function (kibana) {
   return new kibana.Plugin({
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ module.exports = function (kibana) {
 
     init: function (server, options) {
       ingest(server);
+      search(server);
     }
   });
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/server/routes/api/search/count/register_count.js b/src/plugins/kibana/server/routes/api/search/count/register_count.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8e542afe70cf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/server/routes/api/search/count/register_count.js
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import _ from 'lodash';
+import handleESError from '../../../../lib/handle_es_error';
+
+export default function registerCount(server) {
+  server.route({
+    path: '/api/kibana/{id}/_count',
+    method: ['POST', 'GET'],
+    handler: function (req, reply) {
+      const boundCallWithRequest = _.partial(server.plugins.elasticsearch.callWithRequest, req);
+
+      boundCallWithRequest('count', {
+        allowNoIndices: false,
+        index: req.params.id
+      })
+      .then(
+        function (res) {
+          reply({count: res.count});
+        },
+        function (error) {
+          reply(handleESError(error));
+        }
+      );
+    }
+  });
+}
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/server/routes/api/search/index.js b/src/plugins/kibana/server/routes/api/search/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2dfea0d380d4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/server/routes/api/search/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import registerCount from './count/register_count';
+
+export default function (server) {
+  registerCount(server);
+}
diff --git a/test/api_intern.js b/test/api_intern.js
index c8b9b9aee4040..c30303e96c593 100644
--- a/test/api_intern.js
+++ b/test/api_intern.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 define({
   suites: [
-    'test/unit/api/ingest/index'
+    'test/unit/api/ingest/index',
+    'test/unit/api/search/index'
   ],
   excludeInstrumentation: /(fixtures|node_modules)\//,
   loaderOptions: {
diff --git a/test/unit/api/search/_count.js b/test/unit/api/search/_count.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..239a936cfd1ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/api/search/_count.js
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+define(function (require) {
+  var Promise = require('bluebird');
+  var _ = require('intern/dojo/node!lodash');
+  var expect = require('intern/dojo/node!expect.js');
+
+  return function (bdd, scenarioManager, request) {
+    bdd.describe('Count API', function postIngest() {
+
+      bdd.before(function () {
+        return scenarioManager.client.create({
+          index: 'foo-1',
+          type: 'bar',
+          id: '1',
+          body: {
+            foo: 'bar'
+          }
+        })
+        .then(function () {
+          return scenarioManager.client.create({
+            index: 'foo-2',
+            type: 'bar',
+            id: '2',
+            body: {
+              foo: 'bar'
+            }
+          });
+        })
+        .then(function () {
+          return scenarioManager.client.indices.refresh({
+            index: ['foo-1', 'foo-2']
+          });
+        });
+      });
+
+      bdd.after(function () {
+        return scenarioManager.reload('emptyKibana')
+        .then(function () {
+          scenarioManager.client.indices.delete({
+            index: 'foo*'
+          });
+        });
+      });
+
+      bdd.it('should return 200 with a document count for existing indices', function () {
+        return request.post('/kibana/foo-*/_count')
+        .expect(200)
+        .then(function (response) {
+          expect(response.body.count).to.be(2);
+        });
+      });
+
+      bdd.it('should support GET requests as well', function () {
+        return request.get('/kibana/foo-*/_count')
+          .expect(200)
+          .then(function (response) {
+            expect(response.body.count).to.be(2);
+          });
+      });
+
+      bdd.it('should return 404 if a pattern matches no indices', function () {
+        return request.post('/kibana/doesnotexist-*/_count')
+        .expect(404);
+      });
+
+      bdd.it('should return 404 if a concrete index does not exist', function () {
+        return request.post('/kibana/concrete/_count')
+          .expect(404);
+      });
+
+    });
+  };
+});
diff --git a/test/unit/api/search/index.js b/test/unit/api/search/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..85fd81bc12253
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/api/search/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+define(function (require) {
+  var bdd = require('intern!bdd');
+  var serverConfig = require('intern/dojo/node!../../../server_config');
+  var ScenarioManager = require('intern/dojo/node!../../../fixtures/scenario_manager');
+  var request = require('intern/dojo/node!supertest-as-promised');
+  var url = require('intern/dojo/node!url');
+  var count = require('./_count');
+
+  bdd.describe('search API', function () {
+    var scenarioManager = new ScenarioManager(url.format(serverConfig.servers.elasticsearch));
+    request = request(url.format(serverConfig.servers.kibana) + '/api');
+
+    bdd.before(function () {
+      return scenarioManager.load('emptyKibana');
+    });
+
+    bdd.after(function () {
+      return scenarioManager.unload('emptyKibana');
+    });
+
+    count(bdd, scenarioManager, request);
+  });
+});