diff --git a/packages/frontend/src/hooks/useWebSocket.ts b/packages/frontend/src/hooks/useWebSocket.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e4c0d16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/frontend/src/hooks/useWebSocket.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import { useEffect, useRef, useCallback, useState } from "react";
+
+interface ForgeEvent {
+  type: string;
+  action: string;
+  data: unknown;
+  timestamp: number;
+}
+
+type EventHandler = (event: ForgeEvent) => void;
+
+export function useWebSocket() {
+  const wsRef = useRef<WebSocket | null>(null);
+  const handlersRef = useRef<Map<string, Set<EventHandler>>>(new Map());
+  const [connected, setConnected] = useState(false);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const protocol = window.location.protocol === "https:" ? "wss:" : "ws:";
+    const url = `${protocol}//${window.location.host}/ws`;
+
+    function connect() {
+      const ws = new WebSocket(url);
+      wsRef.current = ws;
+
+      ws.onopen = () => setConnected(true);
+      ws.onclose = () => {
+        setConnected(false);
+        setTimeout(connect, 2000);
+      };
+      ws.onerror = () => ws.close();
+
+      ws.onmessage = (msg) => {
+        try {
+          const event: ForgeEvent = JSON.parse(msg.data);
+          const key = `${event.type}:${event.action}`;
+          const wildcard = `${event.type}:*`;
+
+          for (const k of [key, wildcard]) {
+            const handlers = handlersRef.current.get(k);
+            if (handlers) {
+              for (const handler of handlers) handler(event);
+            }
+          }
+        } catch {
+          // ignore malformed messages
+        }
+      };
+    }
+
+    connect();
+    return () => wsRef.current?.close();
+  }, []);
+
+  const subscribe = useCallback((typeAction: string, handler: EventHandler) => {
+    if (!handlersRef.current.has(typeAction)) {
+      handlersRef.current.set(typeAction, new Set());
+    }
+    handlersRef.current.get(typeAction)!.add(handler);
+    return () => {
+      handlersRef.current.get(typeAction)?.delete(handler);
+    };
+  }, []);
+
+  return { connected, subscribe };
+}
diff --git a/packages/frontend/src/services/api.ts b/packages/frontend/src/services/api.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a37263
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/frontend/src/services/api.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+const BASE = "/api";
+
+async function request<T>(path: string, options?: RequestInit): Promise<T> {
+  const res = await fetch(`${BASE}${path}`, {
+    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+    ...options,
+  });
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    const body = await res.json().catch(() => ({ error: res.statusText }));
+    throw new Error(body.error || res.statusText);
+  }
+  return res.json();
+}
+
+export const api = {
+  health: () => request<{ status: string; wsClients: number }>("/health"),
+
+  workspace: {
+    getConfig: () => request<Record<string, unknown>>("/workspace/config"),
+    updateConfig: (data: Record<string, unknown>) =>
+      request("/workspace/config", { method: "PUT", body: JSON.stringify(data) }),
+    init: () => request("/workspace/init", { method: "POST" }),
+  },
+
+  docker: {
+    containers: () => request<Array<Record<string, string>>>("/docker/containers"),
+    pull: (image: string) =>
+      request("/docker/pull", { method: "POST", body: JSON.stringify({ image }) }),
+    start: (name: string) =>
+      request(`/docker/containers/${name}/start`, { method: "POST" }),
+    stop: (name: string) =>
+      request(`/docker/containers/${name}/stop`, { method: "POST" }),
+    restart: (name: string) =>
+      request(`/docker/containers/${name}/restart`, { method: "POST" }),
+    logs: (name: string, tail = 100) =>
+      request<{ logs: string }>(`/docker/containers/${name}/logs?tail=${tail}`),
+  },
+};