diff --git a/middleware.go b/middleware.go
index 55fe8ae..df5307d 100644
--- a/middleware.go
+++ b/middleware.go
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
 )
 
+// requestIDContextKey is the Gin context key used by requestIDMiddleware.
+const requestIDContextKey = "request_id"
+
 // bearerAuthMiddleware validates the Authorization: Bearer <token> header.
 // Requests to paths in the skip list are allowed through without authentication.
 // Returns 401 with Fail("unauthorised", ...) on missing or invalid tokens.
@@ -52,8 +55,19 @@ func requestIDMiddleware() gin.HandlerFunc {
 			id = hex.EncodeToString(b)
 		}
 
-		c.Set("request_id", id)
+		c.Set(requestIDContextKey, id)
 		c.Header("X-Request-ID", id)
 		c.Next()
 	}
 }
+
+// GetRequestID returns the request ID assigned by requestIDMiddleware.
+// Returns an empty string when the middleware was not applied.
+func GetRequestID(c *gin.Context) string {
+	if v, ok := c.Get(requestIDContextKey); ok {
+		if s, ok := v.(string); ok {
+			return s
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
diff --git a/middleware_test.go b/middleware_test.go
index a44da53..19ed777 100644
--- a/middleware_test.go
+++ b/middleware_test.go
@@ -26,6 +26,19 @@ func (m *mwTestGroup) RegisterRoutes(rg *gin.RouterGroup) {
 	})
 }
 
+type requestIDTestGroup struct {
+	gotID *string
+}
+
+func (g requestIDTestGroup) Name() string     { return "request-id" }
+func (g requestIDTestGroup) BasePath() string { return "/v1" }
+func (g requestIDTestGroup) RegisterRoutes(rg *gin.RouterGroup) {
+	rg.GET("/secret", func(c *gin.Context) {
+		*g.gotID = api.GetRequestID(c)
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, api.OK("classified"))
+	})
+}
+
 // ── Bearer auth ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 func TestBearerAuth_Bad_MissingToken(t *testing.T) {
@@ -151,6 +164,31 @@ func TestRequestID_Good_PreservesClientID(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestRequestID_Good_ContextAccessor(t *testing.T) {
+	gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
+	e, _ := api.New(api.WithRequestID())
+
+	var gotID string
+	e.Register(requestIDTestGroup{gotID: &gotID})
+
+	h := e.Handler()
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/v1/secret", nil)
+	req.Header.Set("X-Request-ID", "client-id-xyz")
+	h.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 200, got %d", w.Code)
+	}
+
+	if gotID == "" {
+		t.Fatal("expected GetRequestID to return the request ID inside the handler")
+	}
+	if gotID != "client-id-xyz" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected GetRequestID=%q, got %q", "client-id-xyz", gotID)
+	}
+}
+
 // ── CORS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 func TestCORS_Good_PreflightAllOrigins(t *testing.T) {