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+# Headers & trailers
+
+To integrate with other systems, you may need to read or write custom HTTP headers with your RPCs.
+For example, distributed tracing, authentication, authorization, and rate limiting often require
+working with headers. Connect also supports trailers, which serve a similar purpose but can be written
+after the response body. This document outlines how to work with headers and trailers.
+
+## Headers
+
+Connect headers are just HTTP headers - because Python's standard library does not provide a
+corresponding type, we provide `request.Headers`. For most use cases, it is equivalent to a
+dictionary while also providing additional methods to access multiple values for the same header
+key when needed. Clients always accept a normal dictionary as well when accepting headers.
+
+In services, headers are available on the `RequestContext`:
+
+=== "ASGI"
+
+    ```python
+    class GreetService:
+        async def greet(self, request, ctx):
+            print(ctx.request_headers().get("acme-tenant-id"))
+            ctx.response_headers()["greet-version"] = "v1"
+            return GreetResponse()
+    ```
+
+=== "WSGI"
+
+    ```python
+    class GreetService:
+        def greet(self, request, ctx):
+            print(ctx.request_headers().get("acme-tenant-id"))
+            ctx.response_headers()["greet-version"] = "v1"
+            return GreetResponse()
+    ```
+
+For clients, we find that it is not common to read headers, but is fully supported.
+To preserve client methods having simple signatures accepting and providing RPC
+messages, headers are accessible through a separate context manager, `client.ResponseMetadata`.
+
+=== "Async"
+
+    ```python
+    from connectrpc.client import ResponseMetadata
+
+    client = GreetServiceClient("https://api.acme.com")
+    with ResponseMetadata() as meta:
+        res = await client.greet(GreetRequest(), headers={"acme-tenant-id": "1234"})
+    print(meta.headers().get("greet-version"))
+    ```
+
+=== "Sync"
+
+    ```python
+    from connectrpc.client import ResponseMetadata
+
+    client = GreetServiceClientSync("https://api.acme.com")
+    with ResponseMetadata() as meta:
+        res = client.greet(GreetRequest(), headers={"acme-tenant-id": "1234"})
+    print(meta.headers().get("greet-version"))
+    ```
+
+Supported protocols require that header keys contain only ASCII letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, and
+periods, and the protocols reserve all keys beginning with "Connect-" or "Grpc-". Similarly, header values may
+contain only printable ASCII and spaces. In our experience, application code writing reserved or non-ASCII headers
+is unusual; rather than wrapping `request.Headers` in a fat validation layer, we rely on your good judgment.
+
+## Trailers
+
+Connect's APIs for manipulating response trailers work identically to headers. Trailers are most useful in
+streaming handlers, which may need to send some metadata to the client after sending a few messages.
+Unary handlers should nearly always use headers instead.
+
+If you find yourself needing trailers, handlers and clients can access them much like headers:
+
+=== "Async"
+
+    ```python
+    class GreetService:
+        async def greet(self, request, ctx):
+            ctx.response_trailers()["greet-version"] = "v1"
+            return GreetResponse()
+
+    client = GreetServiceClient("https://api.acme.com")
+    with ResponseMetadata() as meta:
+        res = await client.greet(GreetRequest(), headers={"acme-tenant-id": "1234"})
+    print(meta.trailers().get("greet-version"))
+    ```
+
+=== "Sync"
+
+    ```python
+    class GreetService:
+        def greet(self, request, ctx):
+            ctx.response_trailers()["greet-version"] = "v1"
+            return GreetResponse()
+
+    client = GreetServiceClientSync("https://api.acme.com")
+    with ResponseMetadata() as meta:
+        res = client.greet(GreetRequest(), headers={"acme-tenant-id": "1234"})
+    print(meta.trailers().get("greet-version"))
+    ```