diff --git a/docs/api.yaml b/docs/api.yaml
index d1544c3..29287a5 100644
--- a/docs/api.yaml
+++ b/docs/api.yaml
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ components:
           description: Sender overlay IP address
           type: string
           format: ipv6
-          example: 34f:b680:ba6e:7ced:355f:346f:d97b:eecb
+          example: 249:abcd:0123:defa::1
         src_pk:
           description: Sender public key, hex encoded
           type: string
@@ -147,16 +147,32 @@ components:
       type: object
       properties:
         dst:
-          description: An IP in the subnet of the receiver node
-          type: string
-          format: ipv6
-          example: 249:abcd:0123:defa::1
+          $ref: '#/components/schemas/MessageDestination'
         payload:
           description: The message to send, base64 encoded
           type: string
           format: byte
           example: xuV+
 
+    MessageDestination:
+      oneOf:
+        - description: An IP in the subnet of the receiver node
+          type: object 
+          properties:
+            ip:
+              description: The target IP of the message
+              format: ipv6
+              example: 249:abcd:0123:defa::1
+        - description: The hex encoded public key of the receiver node
+          type: object
+          properties:
+            pk:
+              description: The hex encoded public key of the target node
+              type: string
+              minLength: 64
+              maxLength: 64
+              example: bb39b4a3a4efd70f3e05e37887677e02efbda14681d0acd3882bc0f754792c32
+
     PushMessageResponse:
       description: The ID generated for a message after pushing it to the system
       type: object
diff --git a/src/api.rs b/src/api.rs
index 1e8b48a..6ba4f2b 100644
--- a/src/api.rs
+++ b/src/api.rs
@@ -36,11 +36,18 @@ struct HttpServerState {
 
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
 struct MessageSendInfo {
-    dst: IpAddr,
+    dst: MessageDestination,
     #[serde(with = "base64")]
     payload: Vec<u8>,
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "lowercase")]
+enum MessageDestination {
+    Ip(IpAddr),
+    Pk(PublicKey),
+}
+
 #[derive(Serialize)]
 struct MessageReceiveInfo {
     id: MessageId,
@@ -52,6 +59,16 @@ struct MessageReceiveInfo {
     payload: Vec<u8>,
 }
 
+impl MessageDestination {
+    /// Get the IP address of the destination.
+    fn ip(self) -> IpAddr {
+        match self {
+            MessageDestination::Ip(ip) => ip,
+            MessageDestination::Pk(pk) => IpAddr::V6(pk.address()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl Http {
     /// Spawns a new HTTP API server on the provided listening address.
     pub fn spawn(message_stack: MessageStack, listen_addr: &SocketAddr) -> Self {
@@ -126,17 +143,16 @@ async fn push_message(
     State(state): State<HttpServerState>,
     Json(message_info): Json<MessageSendInfo>,
 ) -> Result<Json<PushMessageResponse>, StatusCode> {
+    let dst = message_info.dst.ip();
     debug!(
-        "Pushing new message of {} bytes to message stack for target {}",
+        "Pushing new message of {} bytes to message stack for target {dst}",
         message_info.payload.len(),
-        message_info.dst
     );
 
-    let id = state.message_stack.push_message(
-        message_info.dst,
-        message_info.payload,
-        DEFAULT_MESSAGE_TRY_DURATION,
-    );
+    let id =
+        state
+            .message_stack
+            .push_message(dst, message_info.payload, DEFAULT_MESSAGE_TRY_DURATION);
 
     Ok(Json(PushMessageResponse { id }))
 }
diff --git a/src/crypto.rs b/src/crypto.rs
index 334257e..2b6c404 100644
--- a/src/crypto.rs
+++ b/src/crypto.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use std::{
 use aes_gcm::{aead::OsRng, AeadCore, AeadInPlace, Aes256Gcm, Key, KeyInit};
 use blake2::{Blake2b, Digest};
 use digest::consts::U16;
-use serde::Serialize;
+use serde::{de::Visitor, Deserialize, Serialize};
 use tokio::{
     fs::File,
     io::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt},
@@ -279,6 +279,38 @@ impl Serialize for PublicKey {
     }
 }
 
+struct PublicKeyVisitor;
+impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for PublicKeyVisitor {
+    type Value = PublicKey;
+
+    fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        formatter.write_str("A hex encoded public key (64 characters)")
+    }
+
+    fn visit_str<E>(self, v: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
+    where
+        E: serde::de::Error,
+    {
+        if v.len() != 64 {
+            Err(E::custom("Public key is 64 characters long"))
+        } else {
+            let mut backing = [0; 32];
+            faster_hex::hex_decode(v.as_bytes(), &mut backing)
+                .map_err(|_| E::custom("PublicKey is not valid hex"))?;
+            Ok(PublicKey(backing.into()))
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for PublicKey {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        deserializer.deserialize_str(PublicKeyVisitor)
+    }
+}
+
 impl From<[u8; 32]> for PublicKey {
     /// Given a byte array, construct a `PublicKey`.
     fn from(bytes: [u8; 32]) -> PublicKey {