diff --git a/IPython/html/base/handlers.py b/IPython/html/base/handlers.py
index 03070c0..56772f9 100644
--- a/IPython/html/base/handlers.py
+++ b/IPython/html/base/handlers.py
@@ -159,6 +159,10 @@ class IPythonHandler(AuthenticatedHandler):
         return self.settings['session_manager']
     
     @property
+    def kernel_spec_manager(self):
+        return self.settings['kernel_spec_manager']
+
+    @property
     def project_dir(self):
         return self.notebook_manager.notebook_dir
     
diff --git a/IPython/html/kernelspecs/__init__.py b/IPython/html/kernelspecs/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/html/kernelspecs/__init__.py
diff --git a/IPython/html/kernelspecs/handlers.py b/IPython/html/kernelspecs/handlers.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26eecf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/html/kernelspecs/handlers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+from tornado import web
+from ..base.handlers import IPythonHandler
+from ..services.kernelspecs.handlers import kernel_name_regex
+
+class KernelSpecResourceHandler(web.StaticFileHandler, IPythonHandler):
+    SUPPORTED_METHODS = ('GET', 'HEAD')
+
+    def initialize(self):
+        web.StaticFileHandler.initialize(self, path='')
+
+    @web.authenticated
+    def get(self, kernel_name, path, include_body=True):
+        ksm = self.kernel_spec_manager
+        try:
+            self.root = ksm.get_kernel_spec(kernel_name).resource_dir
+        except KeyError:
+            raise web.HTTPError(404, u'Kernel spec %s not found' % kernel_name)
+        self.log.debug("Serving kernel resource from: %s", self.root)
+        return web.StaticFileHandler.get(self, path, include_body=include_body)
+
+    @web.authenticated
+    def head(self, kernel_name, path):
+        self.get(kernel_name, path, include_body=False)
+
+default_handlers = [
+    (r"/kernelspecs/%s/(?P<path>.*)" % kernel_name_regex, KernelSpecResourceHandler),
+]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/IPython/html/notebookapp.py b/IPython/html/notebookapp.py
index fc08f6b..9c555d6 100644
--- a/IPython/html/notebookapp.py
+++ b/IPython/html/notebookapp.py
@@ -67,12 +67,13 @@ from IPython.core.application import (
 )
 from IPython.core.profiledir import ProfileDir
 from IPython.kernel import KernelManager
+from IPython.kernel.kernelspec import KernelSpecManager
 from IPython.kernel.zmq.session import default_secure, Session
 from IPython.nbformat.sign import NotebookNotary
 from IPython.utils.importstring import import_item
 from IPython.utils import submodule
 from IPython.utils.traitlets import (
-    Dict, Unicode, Integer, List, Bool, Bytes,
+    Dict, Unicode, Integer, List, Bool, Bytes, Instance,
     DottedObjectName, TraitError,
 )
 from IPython.utils import py3compat
@@ -118,19 +119,21 @@ def load_handlers(name):
 class NotebookWebApplication(web.Application):
 
     def __init__(self, ipython_app, kernel_manager, notebook_manager,
-                 cluster_manager, session_manager, log, base_url,
-                 settings_overrides, jinja_env_options):
+                 cluster_manager, session_manager, kernel_spec_manager, log,
+                 base_url, settings_overrides, jinja_env_options):
 
         settings = self.init_settings(
             ipython_app, kernel_manager, notebook_manager, cluster_manager,
-            session_manager, log, base_url, settings_overrides, jinja_env_options)
+            session_manager, kernel_spec_manager, log, base_url,
+            settings_overrides, jinja_env_options)
         handlers = self.init_handlers(settings)
 
         super(NotebookWebApplication, self).__init__(handlers, **settings)
 
     def init_settings(self, ipython_app, kernel_manager, notebook_manager,
-                      cluster_manager, session_manager, log, base_url,
-                      settings_overrides, jinja_env_options=None):
+                      cluster_manager, session_manager, kernel_spec_manager,
+                      log, base_url, settings_overrides,
+                      jinja_env_options=None):
         # Python < 2.6.5 doesn't accept unicode keys in f(**kwargs), and
         # base_url will always be unicode, which will in turn
         # make the patterns unicode, and ultimately result in unicode
@@ -162,6 +165,7 @@ class NotebookWebApplication(web.Application):
             notebook_manager=notebook_manager,
             cluster_manager=cluster_manager,
             session_manager=session_manager,
+            kernel_spec_manager=kernel_spec_manager,
 
             # IPython stuff
             nbextensions_path = ipython_app.nbextensions_path,
@@ -183,11 +187,13 @@ class NotebookWebApplication(web.Application):
         handlers.extend(load_handlers('auth.logout'))
         handlers.extend(load_handlers('notebook.handlers'))
         handlers.extend(load_handlers('nbconvert.handlers'))
+        handlers.extend(load_handlers('kernelspecs.handlers'))
         handlers.extend(load_handlers('services.kernels.handlers'))
         handlers.extend(load_handlers('services.notebooks.handlers'))
         handlers.extend(load_handlers('services.clusters.handlers'))
         handlers.extend(load_handlers('services.sessions.handlers'))
         handlers.extend(load_handlers('services.nbconvert.handlers'))
+        handlers.extend(load_handlers('services.kernelspecs.handlers'))
         # FIXME: /files/ should be handled by the Contents service when it exists
         nbm = settings['notebook_manager']
         if hasattr(nbm, 'notebook_dir'):
@@ -510,6 +516,11 @@ class NotebookApp(BaseIPythonApplication):
         help='The cluster manager class to use.'
     )
 
+    kernel_spec_manager = Instance(KernelSpecManager)
+
+    def _kernel_spec_manager_default(self):
+        return KernelSpecManager(ipython_dir=self.ipython_dir)
+
     trust_xheaders = Bool(False, config=True,
         help=("Whether to trust or not X-Scheme/X-Forwarded-Proto and X-Real-Ip/X-Forwarded-For headers"
               "sent by the upstream reverse proxy. Necessary if the proxy handles SSL")
@@ -616,7 +627,7 @@ class NotebookApp(BaseIPythonApplication):
         """initialize tornado webapp and httpserver"""
         self.web_app = NotebookWebApplication(
             self, self.kernel_manager, self.notebook_manager, 
-            self.cluster_manager, self.session_manager,
+            self.cluster_manager, self.session_manager, self.kernel_spec_manager,
             self.log, self.base_url, self.webapp_settings,
             self.jinja_environment_options
         )
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/__init__.py b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/__init__.py
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/handlers.py b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/handlers.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbe8382
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/handlers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+"""Tornado handlers for kernel specifications."""
+
+# Copyright (c) IPython Development Team.
+# Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
+import json
+from tornado import web
+
+from ...base.handlers import IPythonHandler, json_errors
+
+
+class MainKernelSpecHandler(IPythonHandler):
+    SUPPORTED_METHODS = ('GET',)
+
+    @web.authenticated
+    @json_errors
+    def get(self):
+        ksm = self.kernel_spec_manager
+        results = []
+        for kernel_name in ksm.find_kernel_specs():
+            d = ksm.get_kernel_spec(kernel_name).to_dict()
+            d['name'] = kernel_name
+            results.append(d)
+
+        self.set_header("Content-Type", 'application/json')
+        self.finish(json.dumps(results))
+
+
+class KernelSpecHandler(IPythonHandler):
+    SUPPORTED_METHODS = ('GET',)
+
+    @web.authenticated
+    @json_errors
+    def get(self, kernel_name):
+        ksm = self.kernel_spec_manager
+        try:
+            kernelspec = ksm.get_kernel_spec(kernel_name)
+        except KeyError:
+            raise web.HTTPError(404, u'Kernel spec %s not found' % kernel_name)
+        self.set_header("Content-Type", 'application/json')
+        self.finish(kernelspec.to_json())
+
+
+# URL to handler mappings
+
+kernel_name_regex = r"(?P<kernel_name>\w+)"
+
+default_handlers = [
+    (r"/api/kernelspecs", MainKernelSpecHandler),
+    (r"/api/kernelspecs/%s" % kernel_name_regex, KernelSpecHandler),
+]
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/tests/test_kernelspecs_api.py b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/tests/test_kernelspecs_api.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad2a5fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/tests/test_kernelspecs_api.py
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+# coding: utf-8
+"""Test the kernel specs webservice API."""
+
+import errno
+import io
+import json
+import os
+
+pjoin = os.path.join
+
+import requests
+
+from IPython.html.utils import url_path_join
+from IPython.html.tests.launchnotebook import NotebookTestBase, assert_http_error
+
+# Copied from IPython.kernel.tests.test_kernelspec so updating that doesn't
+# break these tests
+sample_kernel_json = {'argv':['cat', '{connection_file}'],
+                      'display_name':'Test kernel',
+                      'language':'bash',
+                     }
+
+some_resource = u"The very model of a modern major general"
+
+
+class KernelSpecAPI(object):
+    """Wrapper for notebook API calls."""
+    def __init__(self, base_url):
+        self.base_url = base_url
+
+    def _req(self, verb, path, body=None):
+        response = requests.request(verb,
+                url_path_join(self.base_url, path),
+                data=body,
+        )
+        response.raise_for_status()
+        return response
+
+    def list(self):
+        return self._req('GET', 'api/kernelspecs')
+
+    def kernel_spec_info(self, name):
+        return self._req('GET', url_path_join('api/kernelspecs', name))
+    
+    def kernel_resource(self, name, path):
+        return self._req('GET', url_path_join('kernelspecs', name, path))
+
+class APITest(NotebookTestBase):
+    """Test the kernelspec web service API"""
+    def setUp(self):
+        ipydir = self.ipython_dir.name
+        sample_kernel_dir = pjoin(ipydir, 'kernels', 'sample')
+        try:
+            os.makedirs(sample_kernel_dir)
+        except OSError as e:
+            if e.errno != errno.EEXIST:
+                raise
+        
+        with open(pjoin(sample_kernel_dir, 'kernel.json'), 'w') as f:
+            json.dump(sample_kernel_json, f)
+        
+        with io.open(pjoin(sample_kernel_dir, 'resource.txt'), 'w',
+                     encoding='utf-8') as f:
+            f.write(some_resource)
+
+        self.ks_api = KernelSpecAPI(self.base_url())
+
+    def test_list_kernelspecs(self):
+        specs = self.ks_api.list().json()
+        assert isinstance(specs, list)
+
+        # 2: the sample kernelspec created in setUp, and the native Python kernel
+        self.assertEqual(len(specs), 2)
+
+        def is_sample_kernelspec(s):
+            return s['name'] == 'sample' and s['display_name'] == 'Test kernel'
+
+        assert any(is_sample_kernelspec(s) for s in specs), specs
+
+    def test_get_kernelspec(self):
+        spec = self.ks_api.kernel_spec_info('Sample').json()  # Case insensitive
+        self.assertEqual(spec['language'], 'bash')
+
+    def test_get_nonexistant_kernelspec(self):
+        with assert_http_error(404):
+            self.ks_api.kernel_spec_info('nonexistant')
+    
+    def test_get_kernel_resource_file(self):
+        res = self.ks_api.kernel_resource('sAmple', 'resource.txt')
+        self.assertEqual(res.text, some_resource)
+    
+    def test_get_nonexistant_resource(self):
+        with assert_http_error(404):
+            self.ks_api.kernel_resource('nonexistant', 'resource.txt')
+        
+        with assert_http_error(404):
+            self.ks_api.kernel_resource('sample', 'nonexistant.txt')
diff --git a/IPython/kernel/kernelspec.py b/IPython/kernel/kernelspec.py
index a8931e0..34e536f 100644
--- a/IPython/kernel/kernelspec.py
+++ b/IPython/kernel/kernelspec.py
@@ -50,6 +50,17 @@ class KernelSpec(HasTraits):
         with io.open(kernel_file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
             kernel_dict = json.load(f)
         return cls(resource_dir=resource_dir, **kernel_dict)
+    
+    def to_dict(self):
+        return dict(argv=self.argv,
+                    env=self.env,
+                    display_name=self.display_name,
+                    language=self.language,
+                    codemirror_mode=self.codemirror_mode,
+                   )
+
+    def to_json(self):
+        return json.dumps(self.to_dict())
 
 def _is_kernel_dir(path):
     """Is ``path`` a kernel directory?"""