diff --git a/authentik.go b/authentik.go
index c78b146..c81ff97 100644
--- a/authentik.go
+++ b/authentik.go
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 
 package api
 
+import (
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+)
+
 // AuthentikConfig holds settings for the Authentik forward-auth integration.
 type AuthentikConfig struct {
 	// Issuer is the OIDC issuer URL (e.g. https://auth.example.com/application/o/my-app/).
@@ -40,3 +46,75 @@ func (u *AuthentikUser) HasGroup(group string) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+// authentikUserKey is the Gin context key used to store the authenticated user.
+const authentikUserKey = "authentik_user"
+
+// GetUser retrieves the AuthentikUser from the Gin context.
+// Returns nil when no user has been set (unauthenticated request or
+// middleware not active).
+func GetUser(c *gin.Context) *AuthentikUser {
+	val, exists := c.Get(authentikUserKey)
+	if !exists {
+		return nil
+	}
+	user, ok := val.(*AuthentikUser)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return user
+}
+
+// authentikMiddleware returns Gin middleware that extracts user identity from
+// X-authentik-* headers set by a trusted reverse proxy (e.g. Traefik with
+// Authentik forward-auth).
+//
+// The middleware is PERMISSIVE: it populates the context when headers are
+// present but never rejects unauthenticated requests. Downstream handlers
+// use GetUser to check authentication.
+func authentikMiddleware(cfg AuthentikConfig) gin.HandlerFunc {
+	// Build the set of public paths that skip header extraction entirely.
+	public := map[string]bool{
+		"/health":  true,
+		"/swagger": true,
+	}
+	for _, p := range cfg.PublicPaths {
+		public[p] = true
+	}
+
+	return func(c *gin.Context) {
+		// Skip public paths.
+		path := c.Request.URL.Path
+		for p := range public {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(path, p) {
+				c.Next()
+				return
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Only read headers when the proxy is trusted.
+		if cfg.TrustedProxy {
+			username := c.GetHeader("X-authentik-username")
+			if username != "" {
+				user := &AuthentikUser{
+					Username: username,
+					Email:    c.GetHeader("X-authentik-email"),
+					Name:     c.GetHeader("X-authentik-name"),
+					UID:      c.GetHeader("X-authentik-uid"),
+					JWT:      c.GetHeader("X-authentik-jwt"),
+				}
+
+				if groups := c.GetHeader("X-authentik-groups"); groups != "" {
+					user.Groups = strings.Split(groups, "|")
+				}
+				if ent := c.GetHeader("X-authentik-entitlements"); ent != "" {
+					user.Entitlements = strings.Split(ent, "|")
+				}
+
+				c.Set(authentikUserKey, user)
+			}
+		}
+
+		c.Next()
+	}
+}
diff --git a/authentik_test.go b/authentik_test.go
index e2b99c7..dba810d 100644
--- a/authentik_test.go
+++ b/authentik_test.go
@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@
 package api_test
 
 import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+
 	api "forge.lthn.ai/core/go-api"
 )
 
@@ -86,3 +90,170 @@ func TestAuthentikConfig_Good(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected 2 public paths, got %d", len(cfg.PublicPaths))
 	}
 }
+
+// ── Forward auth middleware ────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+func TestForwardAuthHeaders_Good(t *testing.T) {
+	gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
+
+	cfg := api.AuthentikConfig{TrustedProxy: true}
+	e, _ := api.New(api.WithAuthentik(cfg))
+
+	var gotUser *api.AuthentikUser
+	e.Register(&authTestGroup{onRequest: func(c *gin.Context) {
+		gotUser = api.GetUser(c)
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, api.OK("ok"))
+	}})
+
+	h := e.Handler()
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/v1/check", nil)
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-username", "bob")
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-email", "bob@example.com")
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-name", "Bob Jones")
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-uid", "uid-456")
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-jwt", "jwt.tok.en")
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-groups", "staff|admins|ops")
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-entitlements", "read|write")
+	h.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 200, got %d", w.Code)
+	}
+	if gotUser == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected GetUser to return a user, got nil")
+	}
+	if gotUser.Username != "bob" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected Username=%q, got %q", "bob", gotUser.Username)
+	}
+	if gotUser.Email != "bob@example.com" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected Email=%q, got %q", "bob@example.com", gotUser.Email)
+	}
+	if gotUser.Name != "Bob Jones" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected Name=%q, got %q", "Bob Jones", gotUser.Name)
+	}
+	if gotUser.UID != "uid-456" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected UID=%q, got %q", "uid-456", gotUser.UID)
+	}
+	if gotUser.JWT != "jwt.tok.en" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected JWT=%q, got %q", "jwt.tok.en", gotUser.JWT)
+	}
+	if len(gotUser.Groups) != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 3 groups, got %d: %v", len(gotUser.Groups), gotUser.Groups)
+	}
+	if gotUser.Groups[0] != "staff" || gotUser.Groups[1] != "admins" || gotUser.Groups[2] != "ops" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected groups [staff admins ops], got %v", gotUser.Groups)
+	}
+	if len(gotUser.Entitlements) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 2 entitlements, got %d: %v", len(gotUser.Entitlements), gotUser.Entitlements)
+	}
+	if gotUser.Entitlements[0] != "read" || gotUser.Entitlements[1] != "write" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected entitlements [read write], got %v", gotUser.Entitlements)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestForwardAuthHeaders_Good_NoHeaders(t *testing.T) {
+	gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
+
+	cfg := api.AuthentikConfig{TrustedProxy: true}
+	e, _ := api.New(api.WithAuthentik(cfg))
+
+	var gotUser *api.AuthentikUser
+	e.Register(&authTestGroup{onRequest: func(c *gin.Context) {
+		gotUser = api.GetUser(c)
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, api.OK("ok"))
+	}})
+
+	h := e.Handler()
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/v1/check", nil)
+	h.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 200, got %d", w.Code)
+	}
+	if gotUser != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected GetUser to return nil without headers, got %+v", gotUser)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestForwardAuthHeaders_Bad_NotTrusted(t *testing.T) {
+	gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
+
+	cfg := api.AuthentikConfig{TrustedProxy: false}
+	e, _ := api.New(api.WithAuthentik(cfg))
+
+	var gotUser *api.AuthentikUser
+	e.Register(&authTestGroup{onRequest: func(c *gin.Context) {
+		gotUser = api.GetUser(c)
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, api.OK("ok"))
+	}})
+
+	h := e.Handler()
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/v1/check", nil)
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-username", "mallory")
+	req.Header.Set("X-authentik-email", "mallory@evil.com")
+	h.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 200, got %d", w.Code)
+	}
+	if gotUser != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected GetUser to return nil when TrustedProxy=false, got %+v", gotUser)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHealthBypassesAuthentik_Good(t *testing.T) {
+	gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
+
+	cfg := api.AuthentikConfig{TrustedProxy: true}
+	e, _ := api.New(api.WithAuthentik(cfg))
+
+	h := e.Handler()
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/health", nil)
+	h.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 200 for /health, got %d", w.Code)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGetUser_Good_NilContext(t *testing.T) {
+	gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
+
+	// Engine without WithAuthentik — GetUser should return nil.
+	e, _ := api.New()
+
+	var gotUser *api.AuthentikUser
+	e.Register(&authTestGroup{onRequest: func(c *gin.Context) {
+		gotUser = api.GetUser(c)
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, api.OK("ok"))
+	}})
+
+	h := e.Handler()
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/v1/check", nil)
+	h.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 200, got %d", w.Code)
+	}
+	if gotUser != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected GetUser to return nil without middleware, got %+v", gotUser)
+	}
+}
+
+// ── Test helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+// authTestGroup provides a /v1/check endpoint that calls a custom handler.
+type authTestGroup struct {
+	onRequest func(c *gin.Context)
+}
+
+func (a *authTestGroup) Name() string     { return "auth-test" }
+func (a *authTestGroup) BasePath() string { return "/v1" }
+func (a *authTestGroup) RegisterRoutes(rg *gin.RouterGroup) {
+	rg.GET("/check", a.onRequest)
+}
diff --git a/options.go b/options.go
index 05a08e6..c3111f6 100644
--- a/options.go
+++ b/options.go
@@ -78,6 +78,15 @@ func WithWSHandler(h http.Handler) Option {
 	}
 }
 
+// WithAuthentik adds Authentik forward-auth middleware that extracts user
+// identity from X-authentik-* headers set by a trusted reverse proxy.
+// The middleware is permissive: unauthenticated requests are allowed through.
+func WithAuthentik(cfg AuthentikConfig) Option {
+	return func(e *Engine) {
+		e.middlewares = append(e.middlewares, authentikMiddleware(cfg))
+	}
+}
+
 // WithSwagger enables the Swagger UI at /swagger/.
 // The title, description, and version populate the OpenAPI info block.
 func WithSwagger(title, description, version string) Option {