diff --git a/nomos-http-api/Cargo.toml b/nomos-http-api/Cargo.toml
index 7106f1cb..88ef6ab7 100644
--- a/nomos-http-api/Cargo.toml
+++ b/nomos-http-api/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,20 +3,25 @@ name = "nomos-http-api"
 version = "0.1.0"
 edition = "2021"
 
-# See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html
+[features]
+axum = ["dep:axum", "dep:hyper", "utoipa-swagger-ui/axum"]
 
 [dependencies]
 async-trait = "0.1"
 overwatch-rs = { git = "https://github.com/logos-co/Overwatch", rev = "6e6678b" }
 overwatch-derive = { git = "https://github.com/logos-co/Overwatch", rev = "6e6678b" }
 tracing = "0.1"
+utoipa = "4.0"
+utoipa-swagger-ui = { version = "4.0" }
+
+# axum related dependencies
+axum = { version = "0.6", optional = true }
+hyper = { version = "0.14", features = ["full"], optional = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
-axum = "0.6.20"
-tokio = { version = "1.32", features = ["full"] }
-hyper = { version = "*", features = ["full"] }
-utoipa = "3.5"
+axum = "0.6"
+hyper = { version = "0.14", features = ["full"] }
+utoipa-swagger-ui = { version = "4.0", features = ["axum"] }
 reqwest = { version = "0.11", features = ["blocking", "json"] }
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1"
-utoipa-swagger-ui = { version = "3.1", features = ["axum"] }
diff --git a/nomos-http-api/src/http/backend/axum.rs b/nomos-http-api/src/http/backend/axum.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..efdd26e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nomos-http-api/src/http/backend/axum.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+use std::{net::SocketAddr, sync::Arc};
+
+use axum::{Router, Server};
+use utoipa::OpenApi;
+use utoipa_swagger_ui::SwaggerUi;
+
+use crate::Backend;
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct AxumBackendSettings {
+    pub addr: SocketAddr,
+}
+
+pub struct AxumBackend {
+    settings: Arc<AxumBackendSettings>,
+}
+
+#[derive(OpenApi)]
+#[openapi(paths(), components(), tags())]
+struct ApiDoc;
+
+#[async_trait::async_trait]
+impl Backend for AxumBackend {
+    type Error = hyper::Error;
+    type Settings = AxumBackendSettings;
+
+    async fn new(settings: Self::Settings) -> Result<Self, Self::Error>
+    where
+        Self: Sized,
+    {
+        Ok(Self {
+            settings: Arc::new(settings),
+        })
+    }
+
+    async fn serve(self) -> Result<(), Self::Error> {
+        let store = self.settings.clone();
+        let app = Router::new()
+            .merge(SwaggerUi::new("/swagger-ui").url("/api-docs/openapi.json", ApiDoc::openapi()))
+            .with_state(store);
+
+        Server::bind(&self.settings.addr)
+            .serve(app.into_make_service())
+            .await
+    }
+}
diff --git a/nomos-http-api/src/http/backend/mod.rs b/nomos-http-api/src/http/backend/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8545ecd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nomos-http-api/src/http/backend/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#[cfg(feature = "axum")]
+pub mod axum;
diff --git a/nomos-http-api/src/http/mod.rs b/nomos-http-api/src/http/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fceb1419
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nomos-http-api/src/http/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+pub mod backend;
diff --git a/nomos-http-api/src/lib.rs b/nomos-http-api/src/lib.rs
index 5aa6a8c3..7f78baad 100644
--- a/nomos-http-api/src/lib.rs
+++ b/nomos-http-api/src/lib.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ use overwatch_rs::{
     DynError,
 };
 
+pub mod http;
+
 /// A simple abstraction so that we can easily
 /// change the underlying http server
 #[async_trait::async_trait]
diff --git a/nomos-http-api/tests/todo.rs b/nomos-http-api/tests/todo.rs
index aae85c24..73b95026 100644
--- a/nomos-http-api/tests/todo.rs
+++ b/nomos-http-api/tests/todo.rs
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ mod todo {
     };
     use hyper::{HeaderMap, StatusCode};
     use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-    use tokio::sync::Mutex;
+    use std::sync::Mutex;
     use utoipa::{IntoParams, ToSchema};
 
     /// In-memory todo store
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ mod todo {
       )
   )]
     pub(super) async fn list_todos(State(store): State<Arc<Store>>) -> Json<Vec<Todo>> {
-        let todos = store.lock().await.clone();
+        let todos = store.lock().unwrap().clone();
 
         Json(todos)
     }
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ mod todo {
         Json(
             store
                 .lock()
-                .await
+                .unwrap()
                 .iter()
                 .filter(|todo| {
                     todo.value.to_lowercase() == query.value.to_lowercase()
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ mod todo {
         State(store): State<Arc<Store>>,
         Json(todo): Json<Todo>,
     ) -> impl IntoResponse {
-        let mut todos = store.lock().await;
+        let mut todos = store.lock().unwrap();
 
         todos
             .iter_mut()
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ mod todo {
             Err(_) => return StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED,
         }
 
-        let mut todos = store.lock().await;
+        let mut todos = store.lock().unwrap();
 
         todos
             .iter_mut()
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ mod todo {
             Err(error) => return error.into_response(),
         }
 
-        let mut todos = store.lock().await;
+        let mut todos = store.lock().unwrap();
 
         let len = todos.len();