diff --git a/docs/reference/matrix-glib/matrix-glib-sections.txt b/docs/reference/matrix-glib/matrix-glib-sections.txt
index 243b1dc..4e611ce 100644
--- a/docs/reference/matrix-glib/matrix-glib-sections.txt
+++ b/docs/reference/matrix-glib/matrix-glib-sections.txt
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ matrix_api_get_type
 
 <SECTION>
 <FILE>matrix-http-api</FILE>
+matrix_http_api_new
 matrix_http_api_get_validate_certificate
 matrix_http_api_set_validate_certificate
 <SUBSECTION Standard>
diff --git a/src/matrix-http-api.c b/src/matrix-http-api.c
index e2b90e3..09de4a9 100644
--- a/src/matrix-http-api.c
+++ b/src/matrix-http-api.c
@@ -255,6 +255,15 @@ matrix_http_api_init(MatrixHTTPAPI *api)
             NULL);
 }
 
+/**
+ * matrix_http_api_new:
+ * @base_url: the URL to use as the API endpoint
+ * @token: (allow-none): an authorization token to use. If %NULL,
+ *         requests that need authentication will fail
+ *
+ * Create a new #MatrixHTTPAPI object with the specified base URL, and
+ * an optional authorization token
+ */
 MatrixHTTPAPI *
 matrix_http_api_new(const gchar *base_url, const gchar *token)
 {
diff --git a/src/matrix-http-api.h b/src/matrix-http-api.h
index 3b45672..4024cf1 100644
--- a/src/matrix-http-api.h
+++ b/src/matrix-http-api.h
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ void matrix_http_api_set_validate_certificate(MatrixHTTPAPI *api,
                                               gboolean validate_certificate);
 gboolean matrix_http_api_get_validate_certificate(MatrixHTTPAPI *api);
 
+MatrixHTTPAPI *matrix_http_api_new(const gchar *base_url, const gchar *token);
 G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /* __MATRIX_HTTP_API_H__ */