diff --git a/lib/tasks/api.rake b/lib/tasks/api.rake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d3279a8a509
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tasks/api.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+desc "generate api key if missing, return existing if already there"
+task "api_key:get" => :environment do
+    if SiteSetting.api_key.blank?
+      SiteSetting.generate_api_key!
+    end
+
+    puts SiteSetting.api_key
+end