diff --git a/@types/automerge/index.d.ts b/@types/automerge/index.d.ts
index 614ea53dd..33bce63f9 100644
--- a/@types/automerge/index.d.ts
+++ b/@types/automerge/index.d.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ declare module 'automerge' {
   function getAllChanges<T>(doc: Doc<T>): Change[]
   function getChanges<T>(olddoc: Doc<T>, newdoc: Doc<T>): Change[]
   function getConflicts<T>(doc: Doc<T>, key: keyof T): any
+  function getCursorIndex<T>(doc: Doc<T>, cursor: Cursor, findClosest?: boolean): number
   function getHistory<D, T = Proxy<D>>(doc: Doc<T>): State<T>[]
   function getMissingDeps<T>(doc: Doc<T>): Clock
   function getObjectById<T>(doc: Doc<T>, objectId: UUID): any
@@ -77,6 +78,7 @@ declare module 'automerge' {
   class Text extends List<string> {
     constructor(objectId?: UUID, elems?: string[], maxElem?: number)
     get(index: number): string
+    getCursorAt(index: number): Cursor
     getElemId(index: number): string
     toSpans<T>(): (string | T)[]
   }
@@ -96,6 +98,11 @@ declare module 'automerge' {
     value: number
   }
 
+  interface Cursor {
+    objectId: string
+    elemId: string
+  }
+
   // Readonly variants
 
   type ReadonlyTable<T> = ReadonlyArray<T> & Table<T>
diff --git a/backend/index.js b/backend/index.js
index 2633a99bb..d822e9377 100644
--- a/backend/index.js
+++ b/backend/index.js
@@ -248,6 +248,14 @@ function merge(local, remote) {
   return applyChanges(local, changes)
 }
 
+function getListIndex(state, objectId, elemId) {
+  return OpSet.getListIndex(state.get('opSet'), objectId, elemId)
+}
+
+function getPrecedingListIndex(state, objectId, elemId) {
+  return OpSet.getPrecedingListIndex(state.get('opSet'), objectId, elemId)
+}
+
 /**
  * Undoes the last change by the local user in the node state `state`. The
  * `request` object contains all parts of the change except the operations;
@@ -317,5 +325,6 @@ function redo(state, request) {
 
 module.exports = {
   init, applyChanges, applyLocalChange, getPatch,
-  getChanges, getChangesForActor, getMissingChanges, getMissingDeps, merge
+  getChanges, getChangesForActor, getMissingChanges, getMissingDeps, merge,
+  getListIndex, getPrecedingListIndex
 }
diff --git a/backend/op_set.js b/backend/op_set.js
index 552b142c7..e6df2b2f3 100644
--- a/backend/op_set.js
+++ b/backend/op_set.js
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ function getPath(opSet, objectId) {
     const objType = opSet.getIn(['byObject', objectId, '_init', 'action'])
 
     if (objType === 'makeList' || objType === 'makeText') {
-      const index = opSet.getIn(['byObject', objectId, '_elemIds']).indexOf(ref.get('key'))
+      const index = getListIndex(opSet, objectId, ref.get('key'))
       if (index < 0) return null
       path.unshift(index)
     } else {
@@ -141,10 +141,32 @@ function patchList(opSet, objectId, index, elemId, action, ops) {
   return [opSet, [edit]]
 }
 
+// Finds the index of the list element with a given ID.
+// Returns -1 if the element does not exist or has been deleted.
+function getListIndex(opSet, objectId, elemId) {
+  return opSet.getIn(['byObject', objectId, '_elemIds']).indexOf(elemId)
+}
+
+// Find the index of the closest visible list element that precedes the given element ID.
+// Returns -1 if there is no such element.
+function getPrecedingListIndex(opSet, objectId, elemId) {
+  const elemIds = opSet.getIn(['byObject', objectId, '_elemIds'])
+
+  let prevId = elemId, index
+  while (true) {
+    index = -1
+    prevId = getPrevious(opSet, objectId, prevId)
+    if (!prevId) break
+    index = elemIds.indexOf(prevId)
+    if (index >= 0) break
+  }
+
+  return index
+}
+
 function updateListElement(opSet, objectId, elemId) {
   const ops = getFieldOps(opSet, objectId, elemId)
-  const elemIds = opSet.getIn(['byObject', objectId, '_elemIds'])
-  let index = elemIds.indexOf(elemId)
+  let index = getListIndex(opSet, objectId, elemId)
 
   if (index >= 0) {
     if (ops.isEmpty()) {
@@ -152,20 +174,9 @@ function updateListElement(opSet, objectId, elemId) {
     } else {
       return patchList(opSet, objectId, index, elemId, 'set', ops)
     }
-
   } else {
     if (ops.isEmpty()) return [opSet, []] // deleting a non-existent element = no-op
-
-    // find the index of the closest preceding list element
-    let prevId = elemId
-    while (true) {
-      index = -1
-      prevId = getPrevious(opSet, objectId, prevId)
-      if (!prevId) break
-      index = elemIds.indexOf(prevId)
-      if (index >= 0) break
-    }
-
+    index = getPrecedingListIndex(opSet, objectId, elemId)
     return patchList(opSet, objectId, index + 1, elemId, 'insert', ops)
   }
 }
@@ -569,5 +580,5 @@ function listIterator(opSet, listId, context) {
 module.exports = {
   init, addChange, getMissingChanges, getChangesForActor, getMissingDeps,
   getObjectFields, getObjectField, getObjectConflicts, getFieldOps,
-  listElemByIndex, listLength, listIterator, ROOT_ID
+  listElemByIndex, listLength, listIterator, getListIndex, getPrecedingListIndex, ROOT_ID
 }
diff --git a/frontend/text.js b/frontend/text.js
index 6804d385c..1f377e75f 100644
--- a/frontend/text.js
+++ b/frontend/text.js
@@ -27,6 +27,18 @@ class Text {
     return this.elems[index].elemId
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns a cursor that points to a specific point in the text.
+   * For now, represented by a plain object.
+   */
+  getCursorAt (index) {
+    return {
+      // todo: are there any points in the lifecycle where the Text object doesn't have an ID?
+      objectId: this[OBJECT_ID],
+      elemId: this.getElemId(index)
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Iterates over the text elements character by character, including any
    * inline objects.
diff --git a/src/automerge.js b/src/automerge.js
index e9a3ec6d3..58e42d31f 100644
--- a/src/automerge.js
+++ b/src/automerge.js
@@ -133,10 +133,32 @@ function getHistory(doc) {
   }).toArray()
 }
 
+/**
+ * Returns the updated integer index of a cursor pointing into a text object.
+ *
+ * If the character has been deleted:
+ * - By default, returns -1
+ * - If findClosest parameter is true, returns closest preceding index.
+ */
+function getCursorIndex(doc, cursor, findClosest = false) {
+  if (cursor.objectId === undefined || cursor.elemId === undefined) {
+    throw new TypeError('Invalid cursor object')
+  }
+
+  const backend = Frontend.getBackendState(doc)
+  let index = Backend.getListIndex(backend, cursor.objectId, cursor.elemId)
+
+  if (index === -1 && findClosest) {
+    index = Backend.getPrecedingListIndex(backend, cursor.objectId, cursor.elemId)
+  }
+  return index
+}
+
+
 module.exports = {
   init, from, change, emptyChange, undo, redo,
   load, save, merge, diff, getChanges, getAllChanges, applyChanges, getMissingDeps,
-  equals, getHistory, uuid,
+  equals, getHistory, getCursorIndex, uuid,
   Frontend, Backend,
   DocSet: require('./doc_set'),
   WatchableDoc: require('./watchable_doc'),
diff --git a/test/text_test.js b/test/text_test.js
index dd04d0002..991efc103 100644
--- a/test/text_test.js
+++ b/test/text_test.js
@@ -365,6 +365,52 @@ describe('Automerge.Text', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  describe('cursors', () => {
+    let s1
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      s1 = Automerge.change(Automerge.init(), doc => {
+        doc.text = new Automerge.Text('hello world')
+        doc.cursor = doc.text.getCursorAt(2)
+      })
+    })
+
+    it('can retrieve the initial index on the cursor', () => {
+      assert.deepStrictEqual(Automerge.getCursorIndex(s1, s1.cursor), 2)
+    })
+
+    it('updates the cursor index when text is updated', () => {
+      s1 = Automerge.change(s1, doc => {
+        doc.text.insertAt(0, 'a', 'b', 'c')
+      })
+
+      assert.deepStrictEqual(Automerge.getCursorIndex(s1, s1.cursor), 5)
+    })
+
+    it('throws an error if a non-cursor is passed in', () => {
+      s1 = Automerge.change(s1, doc => {
+        doc.value = "random string"
+      })
+
+      assert.throws(() => Automerge.getCursorIndex(s1, s1.value), /Invalid cursor object/)
+    })
+
+    it('returns -1 by default if character was deleted', () => {
+      s1 = Automerge.change(s1, doc => {
+        doc.text.deleteAt(2)
+      })
+
+      assert.deepStrictEqual(Automerge.getCursorIndex(s1, s1.cursor), -1)
+    })
+
+    it('returns closest index if character was deleted and findClosest is set to true', () => {
+      s1 = Automerge.change(s1, doc => {
+        doc.text.deleteAt(2)
+      })
+
+      assert.deepStrictEqual(Automerge.getCursorIndex(s1, s1.cursor, true), 1)
+    })
+  })
+
   describe('non-textual control characters', () => {
     let s1
     beforeEach(() => {
diff --git a/test/typescript_test.ts b/test/typescript_test.ts
index 86e77c4cd..48e24d499 100644
--- a/test/typescript_test.ts
+++ b/test/typescript_test.ts
@@ -431,6 +431,19 @@ describe('TypeScript support', () => {
       it('supports `concat`', () => assert.strictEqual(doc.text.concat(['j']).length, 10))
       it('supports `includes`', () => assert.strictEqual(doc.text.includes('q'), false))
     })
+
+    describe('cursors API', () => {
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        doc = Automerge.change(doc, doc => doc.text.insertAt(0, 'a', 'b'))
+      })
+
+      it('should convert between cursor and index', () => {
+        const cursor = doc.text.getCursorAt(1)
+        assert.strictEqual(cursor.objectId, Automerge.getObjectId(doc.text))
+        assert.strictEqual(cursor.elemId, `${Automerge.getActorId(doc)}:2`)
+        assert.strictEqual(Automerge.getCursorIndex(doc, cursor), 1)
+      })
+    })
   })
 
   describe('Automerge.Table', () => {