diff --git a/packages/api-client/package.json b/packages/api-client/package.json
index 676d22bb..2de234a3 100644
--- a/packages/api-client/package.json
+++ b/packages/api-client/package.json
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     "devDependencies": {
         "prettier": "3.3.3",
         "tsup": "^8.2.4",
-        "typescript": "^5.4.5"
+        "typescript": "^5.4.5",
+        "zod": "^3.23.8"
     }
 }
diff --git a/packages/api-client/src/types/request.ts b/packages/api-client/src/types/request.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..350b97ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/api-client/src/types/request.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { z } from "zod";
+
+// FIXME: this is duplicated from api/src/processing/schema.js
+//        (minus defaults) until the api is converted to TS
+const apiSchema = z.object({
+    url: z.string()
+          .min(1),
+
+    audioBitrate: z.enum(
+        ["320", "256", "128", "96", "64", "8"]
+    ).optional(),
+
+    audioFormat: z.enum(
+        ["best", "mp3", "ogg", "wav", "opus"]
+    ).optional(),
+
+    downloadMode: z.enum(
+        ["auto", "audio", "mute"]
+    ).optional(),
+
+    filenameStyle: z.enum(
+        ["classic", "pretty", "basic", "nerdy"]
+    ).optional(),
+
+    youtubeVideoCodec: z.enum(
+        ["h264", "av1", "vp9"]
+    ).optional(),
+
+    videoQuality: z.enum(
+        ["max", "4320", "2160", "1440", "1080", "720", "480", "360", "240", "144"]
+    ).optional(),
+
+    youtubeDubLang: z.string()
+                     .length(2)
+                     .optional(),
+
+    alwaysProxy: z.boolean().optional(),
+    disableMetadata: z.boolean().optional(),
+    tiktokFullAudio: z.boolean().optional(),
+    tiktokH265: z.boolean().optional(),
+    twitterGif: z.boolean().optional(),
+    youtubeDubBrowserLang: z.boolean().optional()
+})
+.strict();
+
+export type CobaltRequest = z.infer<typeof apiSchema>;
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 9d316277..0759e255 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ importers:
       typescript:
         specifier: ^5.4.5
         version: 5.5.4
+      zod:
+        specifier: ^3.23.8
+        version: 3.23.8
 
   packages/version-info: {}