diff --git a/api/rest.go b/api/rest.go
index ad4f2ee..a871b5b 100644
--- a/api/rest.go
+++ b/api/rest.go
@@ -153,15 +153,8 @@ func (api *RestApi) tagJob(rw http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 
 	for _, tag := range req {
-		var tagId int64
-		exists := false
-
-		if exists, tagId = api.JobRepository.TagExists(tag.Type, tag.Name); exists {
-			http.Error(rw, fmt.Sprintf("the tag '%s:%s' does not exist", tag.Type, tag.Name), http.StatusNotFound)
-			return
-		}
-
-		if err := api.JobRepository.AddTag(job.JobID, tagId); err != nil {
+		tagId, err := api.JobRepository.AddTagOrCreate(job.ID, tag.Type, tag.Name)
+		if err != nil {
 			http.Error(rw, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
 			return
 		}
@@ -226,17 +219,18 @@ func (api *RestApi) startJob(rw http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	res, err := api.JobRepository.Start(req)
+	id, err := api.JobRepository.Start(&req)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("insert into job table failed: %s", err.Error())
 		http.Error(rw, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
 		return
 	}
 
-	id, err := res.LastInsertId()
-	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(rw, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		return
+	for _, tag := range req.Tags {
+		if _, err := api.JobRepository.AddTagOrCreate(id, tag.Type, tag.Name); err != nil {
+			http.Error(rw, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
+			return
+		}
 	}
 
 	log.Printf("new job (id: %d): cluster=%s, jobId=%d, user=%s, startTime=%d", id, req.Cluster, req.JobID, req.User, req.StartTime)
diff --git a/api_test.go b/api_test.go
index 537aa43..e80cd21 100644
--- a/api_test.go
+++ b/api_test.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"log"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
@@ -29,14 +28,6 @@ func setup(t *testing.T) *api.RestApi {
 		panic("prefer using sub-tests (`t.Run`) or implement `cleanup` before calling setup twice.")
 	}
 
-	devNull, err := os.Open(os.DevNull)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// Makes output cleaner
-	log.SetOutput(devNull)
-
 	const testclusterJson = `{
 		"name": "testcluster",
 		"partitions": [
@@ -129,7 +120,6 @@ func setup(t *testing.T) *api.RestApi {
 }
 
 func cleanup() {
-	log.SetOutput(os.Stderr)
 	// TODO: Clear all caches, reset all modules, etc...
 }
 
@@ -179,7 +169,7 @@ func TestRestApi(t *testing.T) {
     	"exclusive":        1,
     	"monitoringStatus": 1,
     	"smt":              1,
-    	"tags":             [],
+    	"tags":             [{ "type": "testTagType", "name": "testTagName" }],
     	"resources": [
         	{
             	"hostname": "testhost",
@@ -211,6 +201,11 @@ func TestRestApi(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
+		job.Tags, err = restapi.Resolver.Job().Tags(context.Background(), job)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
 		if job.JobID != 123 ||
 			job.User != "testuser" ||
 			job.Project != "testproj" ||
@@ -223,12 +218,15 @@ func TestRestApi(t *testing.T) {
 			job.Exclusive != 1 ||
 			job.MonitoringStatus != 1 ||
 			job.SMT != 1 ||
-			len(job.Tags) != 0 ||
 			!reflect.DeepEqual(job.Resources, []*schema.Resource{{Hostname: "testhost", HWThreads: []int{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}}}) ||
 			job.StartTime.Unix() != 123456789 {
 			t.Fatalf("unexpected job properties: %#v", job)
 		}
 
+		if len(job.Tags) != 1 || job.Tags[0].Type != "testTagType" || job.Tags[0].Name != "testTagName" {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected tags: %#v", job.Tags)
+		}
+
 		dbid = res.DBID
 	}); !ok {
 		return
diff --git a/init-db.go b/init-db.go
index 6bafbf2..9ce3dfb 100644
--- a/init-db.go
+++ b/init-db.go
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ const JOBS_DB_SCHEMA string = `
 	CREATE TABLE tag (
 		id       INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
 		tag_type VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
-		tag_name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL);
+		tag_name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
+		CONSTRAINT be_unique UNIQUE (tag_type, tag_name));
 
 	CREATE TABLE jobtag (
 		job_id INTEGER,
diff --git a/repository/job.go b/repository/job.go
index 44389be..ae42b5b 100644
--- a/repository/job.go
+++ b/repository/job.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package repository
 
 import (
-	"database/sql"
-
 	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/log"
 	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/schema"
 	sq "github.com/Masterminds/squirrel"
@@ -52,17 +50,24 @@ func (r *JobRepository) FindById(
 	return job, err
 }
 
-func (r *JobRepository) Start(job schema.JobMeta) (res sql.Result, err error) {
-	res, err = r.DB.NamedExec(`INSERT INTO job (
+// Start inserts a new job in the table, returning the unique job ID.
+// Statistics are not transfered!
+func (r *JobRepository) Start(job *schema.JobMeta) (id int64, err error) {
+	res, err := r.DB.NamedExec(`INSERT INTO job (
 		job_id, user, project, cluster, `+"`partition`"+`, array_job_id, num_nodes, num_hwthreads, num_acc,
 		exclusive, monitoring_status, smt, job_state, start_time, duration, resources, meta_data
 	) VALUES (
 		:job_id, :user, :project, :cluster, :partition, :array_job_id, :num_nodes, :num_hwthreads, :num_acc,
 		:exclusive, :monitoring_status, :smt, :job_state, :start_time, :duration, :resources, :meta_data
 	);`, job)
-	return
+	if err != nil {
+		return -1, err
+	}
+
+	return res.LastInsertId()
 }
 
+// Stop updates the job with the database id jobId using the provided arguments.
 func (r *JobRepository) Stop(
 	jobId int64,
 	duration int32,
@@ -91,30 +96,48 @@ func (r *JobRepository) Stop(
 		}
 	}
 
-	sql, args, err := stmt.ToSql()
-
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Errorf("archiving job (dbid: %d) failed: %s", jobId, err.Error())
-	}
-
-	if _, err := r.DB.Exec(sql, args...); err != nil {
+	if _, err := stmt.RunWith(r.DB).Exec(); err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("archiving job (dbid: %d) failed: %s", jobId, err.Error())
 	}
 }
 
+// Add the tag with id `tagId` to the job with the database id `jobId`.
 func (r *JobRepository) AddTag(jobId int64, tagId int64) error {
 	_, err := r.DB.Exec(`INSERT INTO jobtag (job_id, tag_id) VALUES (?, ?)`, jobId, tagId)
 	return err
 }
 
-func (r *JobRepository) TagExists(tagType string, tagName string) (exists bool, tagId int64) {
+// CreateTag creates a new tag with the specified type and name and returns its database id.
+func (r *JobRepository) CreateTag(tagType string, tagName string) (tagId int64, err error) {
+	res, err := r.DB.Exec("INSERT INTO tag (tag_type, tag_name) VALUES ($1, $2)", tagType, tagName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+
+	return res.LastInsertId()
+}
+
+// AddTagOrCreate adds the tag with the specified type and name to the job with the database id `jobId`.
+// If such a tag does not yet exist, it is created.
+func (r *JobRepository) AddTagOrCreate(jobId int64, tagType string, tagName string) (tagId int64, err error) {
+	tagId, exists := r.TagId(tagType, tagName)
+	if !exists {
+		tagId, err = r.CreateTag(tagType, tagName)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return tagId, r.AddTag(jobId, tagId)
+}
+
+// TagId returns the database id of the tag with the specified type and name.
+func (r *JobRepository) TagId(tagType string, tagName string) (tagId int64, exists bool) {
 	exists = true
 	if err := sq.Select("id").From("tag").
 		Where("tag.tag_type = ?", tagType).Where("tag.tag_name = ?", tagName).
 		RunWith(r.DB).QueryRow().Scan(&tagId); err != nil {
 		exists = false
-		return exists, tagId
-	} else {
-		return exists, tagId
 	}
+	return
 }