diff --git a/src/Controller/KiCADAPIController.php b/src/Controller/KiCADAPIController.php
index 46d05c47..2c67af5d 100644
--- a/src/Controller/KiCADAPIController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/KiCADAPIController.php
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ namespace App\Controller;
 
 use App\Entity\Parts\Category;
 use App\Entity\Parts\Part;
+use App\Services\EDAIntegration\KiCADHelper;
 use App\Services\Trees\NodesListBuilder;
 use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManagerInterface;
 use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController;
@@ -34,7 +35,11 @@ use Symfony\Component\Routing\Annotation\Route;
 #[Route('/kicad-api/v1')]
 class KiCADAPIController extends AbstractController
 {
-    public function __construct(private readonly EntityManagerInterface $em)
+    public function __construct(
+        private readonly EntityManagerInterface $em,
+        private readonly KiCADHelper $kiCADHelper,
+
+    )
     {
 
     }
@@ -52,34 +57,18 @@ class KiCADAPIController extends AbstractController
     #[Route('/categories.json', name: 'kicad_api_categories')]
     public function categories(NodesListBuilder $nodesListBuilder): Response
     {
-        $categories = $nodesListBuilder->typeToNodesList(Category::class);
-        $result = [];
-        foreach ($categories as $category) {
-            $result[] = [
-                'id' => (string) $category->getId(),
-                'name' => $category->getFullPath('/'),
-            ];
-        }
+        $this->denyAccessUnlessGranted('@categories.read');
 
-        return $this->json($result);
+        return $this->json($this->kiCADHelper->getCategories());
     }
 
     #[Route('/parts/category/{category}.json', name: 'kicad_api_category')]
     public function categoryParts(Category $category): Response
     {
-        $category_repo = $this->em->getRepository(Category::class);
-        $parts = $category_repo->getParts($category);
+        $this->denyAccessUnlessGranted('read', $category);
+        $this->denyAccessUnlessGranted('@parts.read');
 
-        $result = [];
-        foreach ($parts as $part) {
-            $result[] = [
-                'id' => (string) $part->getId(),
-                'name' => $part->getName(),
-                'description' => $part->getDescription(),
-            ];
-        }
-
-        return $this->json($result);
+        return $this->json($this->kiCADHelper->getCategoryParts($category));
     }
 
     #[Route('/parts/{part}.json', name: 'kicad_api_part')]
diff --git a/src/Services/EDAIntegration/KiCADHelper.php b/src/Services/EDAIntegration/KiCADHelper.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..59cbc07c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Services/EDAIntegration/KiCADHelper.php
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+<?php
+/*
+ * This file is part of Part-DB (https://github.com/Part-DB/Part-DB-symfony).
+ *
+ *  Copyright (C) 2019 - 2023 Jan Böhmer (https://github.com/jbtronics)
+ *
+ *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published
+ *  by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ *  along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+
+namespace App\Services\EDAIntegration;
+
+use App\Entity\Parts\Category;
+use App\Services\Trees\NodesListBuilder;
+use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManagerInterface;
+use Symfony\Contracts\Cache\ItemInterface;
+use Symfony\Contracts\Cache\TagAwareCacheInterface;
+
+class KiCADHelper
+{
+
+    public function __construct(
+        private readonly NodesListBuilder $nodesListBuilder,
+        private readonly TagAwareCacheInterface $kicadCache,
+        private readonly EntityManagerInterface $em,
+    )
+    {
+
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns an array of objects containing all categories in the database in the format required by KiCAD.
+     * The categories are flattened and sorted by their full path.
+     * Categories, which contain no parts, are filtered out.
+     * The result is cached for performance and invalidated on category changes.
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function getCategories(): array
+    {
+        return $this->kicadCache->get('kicad_categories', function (ItemInterface $item) {
+            //Invalidate the cache on category changes
+            $secure_class_name = str_replace('\\', '_', Category::class);
+            $item->tag($secure_class_name);
+
+            $categories = $this->nodesListBuilder->typeToNodesList(Category::class);
+            $repo = $this->em->getRepository(Category::class);
+            $result = [];
+            foreach ($categories as $category) {
+                /** @var $category Category */
+                //Ensure that the category contains parts
+                if ($repo->getPartsCount($category) < 1) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                //Format the category for KiCAD
+                $result[] = [
+                    'id' => (string) $category->getId(),
+                    'name' => $category->getFullPath('/'),
+                ];
+            }
+
+            return $result;
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns an array of objects containing all parts for the given category in the format required by KiCAD.
+     * The result is cached for performance and invalidated on category or part changes.
+     * @param  Category  $category
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function getCategoryParts(Category $category): array
+    {
+        $category_repo = $this->em->getRepository(Category::class);
+        $parts = $category_repo->getParts($category);
+
+        $result = [];
+        foreach ($parts as $part) {
+            $result[] = [
+                'id' => (string) $part->getId(),
+                'name' => $part->getName(),
+                'description' => $part->getDescription(),
+            ];
+        }
+
+        return $result;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file