diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index ccdac9fb..05c5feac 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ skipsdist = true
 changedir = tests
 
 commands =
-    pylint {toxinidir}/tuf
+    pylint {toxinidir}/tuf --ignore={toxinidir}/tuf/api
+    pylint {toxinidir}/tuf/api --rcfile={toxinidir}/tuf/api/pylintrc
     bandit -r {toxinidir}/tuf
     coverage run aggregate_tests.py
     coverage report -m --fail-under 97
diff --git a/tuf/api/pylintrc b/tuf/api/pylintrc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a75347f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tuf/api/pylintrc
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[MESSAGE_CONTROL]
+disable=fixme
+
+[FORMAT]
+indent-string="    "
+max-line-length=79