diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/routes/catalog.js b/dashcaddy-api/routes/catalog.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1488ea1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/routes/catalog.js
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+/**
+ * DC-104: App Catalog API — curated templates with categories and search
+ *
+ * Exposes the existing app-templates.js as a browsable catalog.
+ * GET /api/v1/catalog          — list all apps (with optional category filter)
+ * GET /api/v1/catalog/:appId   — get details for a specific app
+ * GET /api/v1/catalog/search   — search apps by name/category/keyword
+ */
+const express = require('express');
+const { ok, errorResponse } = require('../src/utils/responses');
+
+// Category mapping for common apps
+const CATEGORY_MAP = {
+  plex: 'media', jellyfin: 'media', emby: 'media',
+  sonarr: 'media', radarr: 'media', prowlarr: 'media', lidarr: 'media',
+  readarr: 'media', qbittorrent: 'media', transmission: 'media',
+  sabnzbd: 'media', nzbget: 'media',
+  nextcloud: 'productivity', vaultwarden: 'productivity',
+  gitea: 'development', portainer: 'development', code: 'development',
+  node: 'development',
+  redis: 'database', postgres: 'database', mariadb: 'database', mongo: 'database',
+  mysql: 'database',
+  nginx: 'network', caddy: 'network', adguard: 'network', pihole: 'network',
+  technitium: 'network', wireguard: 'network',
+  homeassistant: 'smart-home', mosquitto: 'smart-home',
+  grafana: 'monitoring', prometheus: 'monitoring', uptimekuma: 'monitoring',
+};
+
+function getTemplateCategory(template) {
+  const id = (template.id || template.name || '').toLowerCase();
+  for (const [key, cat] of Object.entries(CATEGORY_MAP)) {
+    if (id.includes(key)) return cat;
+  }
+  return 'other';
+}
+
+module.exports = function({ APP_TEMPLATES, asyncHandler } = {}) {
+  const wrap = asyncHandler || ((fn) => (req, res, next) => Promise.resolve(fn(req, res, next)).catch(next));
+  const router = express.Router();
+
+  // GET /api/v1/catalog — list all apps
+  router.get('/catalog', wrap(async (req, res) => {
+    const { category, sort } = req.query;
+    let apps = APP_TEMPLATES || [];
+
+    // Build catalog entries
+    let entries = apps.map(t => ({
+      id: t.id || t.name?.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-'),
+      name: t.name,
+      description: t.description || '',
+      category: getTemplateCategory(t),
+      logo: t.logo || null,
+      popular: ['plex', 'jellyfin', 'sonarr', 'radarr', 'nextcloud', 'gitea', 'qbittorrent']
+        .includes((t.id || t.name || '').toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-')),
+    }));
+
+    // Filter by category
+    if (category && category !== 'all') {
+      entries = entries.filter(e => e.category === category);
+    }
+
+    // Sort
+    if (sort === 'name') {
+      entries.sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name));
+    } else {
+      // Default: popular first, then alphabetical
+      entries.sort((a, b) => {
+        if (a.popular !== b.popular) return a.popular ? -1 : 1;
+        return a.name.localeCompare(b.name);
+      });
+    }
+
+    // Get categories
+    const categories = [...new Set(entries.map(e => e.category))].sort();
+
+    ok(res, {
+      total: entries.length,
+      categories,
+      apps: entries,
+    });
+  }));
+
+  // GET /api/v1/catalog/search?q=plex
+  router.get('/catalog/search', wrap(async (req, res) => {
+    const q = (req.query.q || '').toLowerCase().trim();
+    if (!q) {
+      return errorResponse(res, 400, 'Search query (q) is required');
+    }
+
+    const apps = (APP_TEMPLATES || []).filter(t => {
+      const name = (t.name || '').toLowerCase();
+      const desc = (t.description || '').toLowerCase();
+      const cat = getTemplateCategory(t).toLowerCase();
+      return name.includes(q) || desc.includes(q) || cat.includes(q);
+    }).map(t => ({
+      id: t.id || t.name?.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-'),
+      name: t.name,
+      description: t.description || '',
+      category: getTemplateCategory(t),
+    }));
+
+    ok(res, { query: q, results: apps.length, apps });
+  }));
+
+  // GET /api/v1/catalog/:appId — get specific app details
+  router.get('/catalog/:appId', wrap(async (req, res) => {
+    const appId = req.params.appId;
+    const app = (APP_TEMPLATES || []).find(t => {
+      const tid = (t.id || t.name?.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-'));
+      return tid === appId;
+    });
+
+    if (!app) {
+      return errorResponse(res, 404, `App '${appId}' not found in catalog`);
+    }
+
+    ok(res, {
+      id: app.id || appId,
+      name: app.name,
+      description: app.description || '',
+      category: getTemplateCategory(app),
+      image: app.image || '',
+      ports: app.ports || [],
+      env: app.env || {},
+      volumes: app.volumes || [],
+      network: app.network || 'bridge',
+      restart: app.restart || 'unless-stopped',
+    });
+  }));
+
+  return router;
+};
diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/src/app.js b/dashcaddy-api/src/app.js
index a0ea76c..46af92f 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/src/app.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/src/app.js
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ const shareRoutes = require('../routes/share');
 const i18nRoutes = require('../routes/i18n');
 const discoverRoutes = require('../routes/discover');
 const discoverAdoptRoutes = require('../routes/discover-adopt');
+const catalogRoutes = require('../routes/catalog');
 const configRoutes = require('../routes/config');
 const dnsRoutes = require('../routes/dns');
 const notificationRoutes = require('../routes/notifications');
@@ -618,6 +619,12 @@ async function createApp() {
     siteConfig: ctx.config,
     asyncHandler: ctx.asyncHandler,
   }));
+
+  // DC-104: App catalog — browse curated templates
+  apiRouter.use(catalogRoutes({
+    APP_TEMPLATES: require('./docker/app-templates'),
+    asyncHandler: ctx.asyncHandler,
+  }));
   apiRouter.use(updatesRoutes({
     updateManager: ctx.updateManager,
     selfUpdater: ctx.selfUpdater,