diff --git a/src/app/api/projects/route.ts b/src/app/api/projects/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69d4023
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/api/projects/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from "next/server";
+import { prisma } from "@/core/storage/prisma";
+
+const NAMESPACE = "tags";
+
+// ─── Auth: same Bearer token as address-book ────────────────────────
+
+function checkBearerAuth(req: NextRequest): boolean {
+  const secret = process.env.ADDRESSBOOK_API_KEY;
+  if (!secret) return false;
+  const authHeader = req.headers.get("Authorization");
+  const token = authHeader?.replace("Bearer ", "");
+  return token === secret;
+}
+
+// ─── GET /api/projects ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Read-only. Returns all tags with category = "project".
+//
+// Query params:
+//   ?q=<search>          → search in label / projectCode
+//   ?company=<companyId> → filter by companyId (beletage, urban-switch, studii-de-teren)
+//   ?id=<uuid>           → single project by tag ID
+
+export async function GET(req: NextRequest) {
+  if (!checkBearerAuth(req)) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "Unauthorized" }, { status: 401 });
+  }
+
+  const params = req.nextUrl.searchParams;
+  const id = params.get("id");
+  const q = params.get("q")?.toLowerCase();
+  const company = params.get("company");
+
+  try {
+    // Single project by ID
+    if (id) {
+      const item = await prisma.keyValueStore.findUnique({
+        where: { namespace_key: { namespace: NAMESPACE, key: id } },
+      });
+      if (!item) {
+        return NextResponse.json({ error: "Project not found" }, { status: 404 });
+      }
+      const val = item.value as Record<string, unknown>;
+      if (val.category !== "project") {
+        return NextResponse.json({ error: "Not a project tag" }, { status: 404 });
+      }
+      return NextResponse.json({ project: val });
+    }
+
+    // All project tags
+    const items = await prisma.keyValueStore.findMany({
+      where: { namespace: NAMESPACE },
+      select: { key: true, value: true },
+    });
+
+    let projects: Record<string, unknown>[] = [];
+    for (const item of items) {
+      const val = item.value as Record<string, unknown>;
+      if (!val || val.category !== "project") continue;
+
+      // Company filter
+      if (company && val.companyId !== company) continue;
+
+      // Search filter
+      if (q) {
+        const label = String(val.label ?? "").toLowerCase();
+        const code = String(val.projectCode ?? "").toLowerCase();
+        if (!label.includes(q) && !code.includes(q)) continue;
+      }
+
+      projects.push(val);
+    }
+
+    // Sort by projectCode (B-001, B-002, US-001...) then label
+    projects.sort((a, b) => {
+      const aCode = String(a.projectCode ?? "");
+      const bCode = String(b.projectCode ?? "");
+      if (aCode && bCode) return aCode.localeCompare(bCode);
+      if (aCode) return -1;
+      if (bCode) return 1;
+      return String(a.label ?? "").localeCompare(String(b.label ?? ""), "ro");
+    });
+
+    return NextResponse.json({ projects, total: projects.length });
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error("Projects GET error:", error);
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "Internal server error" }, { status: 500 });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/middleware.ts b/src/middleware.ts
index 6d7ce1c..0157535 100644
--- a/src/middleware.ts
+++ b/src/middleware.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,6 @@ export const config = {
      * - /favicon.ico, /robots.txt, /sitemap.xml
      * - Files with extensions (images, fonts, etc.)
      */
-    "/((?!api/auth|api/notifications/digest|api/compress-pdf|api/address-book|auth/signin|_next|favicon\\.ico|robots\\.txt|sitemap\\.xml|.*\\..*).*)",
+    "/((?!api/auth|api/notifications/digest|api/compress-pdf|api/address-book|api/projects|auth/signin|_next|favicon\\.ico|robots\\.txt|sitemap\\.xml|.*\\..*).*)",
   ],
 };