diff --git a/toREST/include/torrents.hpp b/toREST/include/torrents.hpp
index 011e6cd..396f64b 100644
--- a/toREST/include/torrents.hpp
+++ b/toREST/include/torrents.hpp
@@ -84,6 +84,21 @@ void post(settings opts, torrent_session &session, response resp, request req) {
   } else
     params.save_path = boost::filesystem::path(opts.root_dir / opts.default_download_dir).string();
 
+  params.flags = params.flags & ~libtorrent::add_torrent_params::flag_paused;
+
+  if (request_object.find("paused") != request_object.end()) {
+    bool paused = false;
+    auto obj = request_object.at("paused");
+    if (obj.is_boolean())
+      paused = request_object.at("paused");
+    else if (obj.is_string()) {
+      std::string p = obj;
+      paused = p == "true";
+    }
+    if (paused)
+      params.flags |= libtorrent::add_torrent_params::flag_paused;
+  }
+
   session.async_add_torrent(params);
 
   std::stringstream ss;
diff --git a/toREST/tests/include/TorrentContext.hpp b/toREST/tests/include/TorrentContext.hpp
index 6ae0902..3fe53bc 100644
--- a/toREST/tests/include/TorrentContext.hpp
+++ b/toREST/tests/include/TorrentContext.hpp
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ public:
 class TestTorrent {
 public:
   TestTorrent(const libtorrent::add_torrent_params &params) : hash(params.info_hash.to_string()) {
+    auto paused = (params.flags & libtorrent::add_torrent_params::flag_paused) == libtorrent::add_torrent_params::flag_paused;
+    status_.paused = paused;
     status_.save_path = params.save_path;
   }
   TestTorrent() : hash("12a") {}
diff --git a/toREST/tests/torrents_test.cpp b/toREST/tests/torrents_test.cpp
index 1508730..0f2b8d6 100644
--- a/toREST/tests/torrents_test.cpp
+++ b/toREST/tests/torrents_test.cpp
@@ -89,9 +89,23 @@ SCENARIO("We are running a POST /session/torrents resource") {
             {{"magnet_uri", magnet_uri},
              {"save_path", "music"}});
         tr::session::torrents::post(settings, torrent_session, response, request);
+        THEN("the server should reply created") {
+          CommonResponse::created(response, request, "/session/torrents/" + magnet_hash);
+          REQUIRE(torrent_session.get_torrents().size() == 1);
+          REQUIRE_FALSE(torrent_session.get_torrents()[0].status().paused);
+          REQUIRE((torrent_session.get_torrents()[0]).status().save_path == "/music");
+        }
+      }
+      GIVEN("we specify the torrent field to be paused") {
+        request->content << nlohmann::json::object(
+            {{"magnet_uri", magnet_uri},
+             {"save_path", "music"},
+             {"paused", "true"}});
         THEN("the server should reply with bad request") {
+          tr::session::torrents::post(settings, torrent_session, response, request);
           CommonResponse::created(response, request, "/session/torrents/" + magnet_hash);
           REQUIRE(torrent_session.get_torrents().size() == 1);
+          REQUIRE(torrent_session.get_torrents()[0].status().paused);
           REQUIRE((torrent_session.get_torrents()[0]).status().save_path == "/music");
         }
       }