diff --git a/app/models/api_key_scope.rb b/app/models/api_key_scope.rb
index eeb7934f12a..9d26803ec40 100644
--- a/app/models/api_key_scope.rb
+++ b/app/models/api_key_scope.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ class ApiKeyScope < ActiveRecord::Base
         posts: {
           edit: { actions: %w[posts#update], params: %i[id] }
         },
+        categories: {
+          list: { actions: %w[categories#index] },
+          show: { actions: %w[categories#show], params: %i[id] }
+        },
         uploads: {
           create: {
             actions: %w[
diff --git a/config/locales/client.en.yml b/config/locales/client.en.yml
index d45d731e3a2..20934c5e47c 100644
--- a/config/locales/client.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/client.en.yml
@@ -4219,6 +4219,9 @@ en:
               wordpress: Necessary for the WordPress wp-discourse plugin to work.
             posts:
               edit: Edit any post or a specific one.
+            categories:
+              list: Get a list of categories.
+              show: Get a single category by id.
             uploads:
               create: Upload a new file or initiate single or multipart direct uploads to external storage.
             users:
diff --git a/spec/requests/admin/api_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/admin/api_controller_spec.rb
index 27f458daaf9..a8b863ceff5 100644
--- a/spec/requests/admin/api_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/admin/api_controller_spec.rb
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ describe Admin::ApiController do
 
         scopes = response.parsed_body['scopes']
 
-        expect(scopes.keys).to contain_exactly('topics', 'users', 'email', 'posts', 'uploads', 'global', 'badges')
+        expect(scopes.keys).to contain_exactly('topics', 'users', 'email', 'posts', 'uploads', 'global', 'badges', 'categories')
       end
     end
   end