diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md
index 581fb79..3a5608a 100644
--- a/docs/index.md
+++ b/docs/index.md
@@ -81,6 +81,44 @@ async def main() -> None:
         user = await client.get("/users/1", response_model=User)
 ```
 
+### Response metadata + typed body
+
+When you need both the raw `httpx2.Response` (for headers, status, or the
+request URL) **and** a typed body, use `send_with_response`. It returns
+both atomically and routes the decode through the configured
+`ResponseDecoder`, so decoder failures surface as `DecodeError` — caught
+by `except httpware.ClientError` like every other failure mode.
+
+Canonical use case: RFC 5988 Link header pagination.
+
+Assume `process` and `next_link` are caller-defined — pick a Link header parser that fits.
+
+```python
+from httpware import AsyncClient
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+
+class Tag(BaseModel):
+    name: str
+
+
+async def main() -> None:
+    async with AsyncClient(base_url="https://gitlab.example/api/v4") as client:
+        url = "/projects/1/repository/tags"
+        params: dict[str, str] | None = {"per_page": "100", "page": "1"}
+        while url:
+            request = client.build_request("GET", url, params=params)
+            response, tags = await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=list[Tag])
+            for tag in tags:
+                process(tag)
+            url = next_link(response.headers.get("link"))   # caller's parser
+            params = None                                    # next link carries query
+```
+
+For body-only with a high-level verb, prefer `client.get(..., response_model=...)`.
+For body-only with a custom `Request`, prefer `client.send(request, response_model=...)`.
+`send_with_response` is not for streaming responses — use `stream()`.
+
 ### Streaming responses
 
 For large responses or server-sent events, stream the body chunk-by-chunk. `stream()` is an async context manager:
diff --git a/planning/deferred-work.md b/planning/deferred-work.md
index e50aff8..9ff9bd4 100644
--- a/planning/deferred-work.md
+++ b/planning/deferred-work.md
@@ -9,3 +9,7 @@ As of 0.7.0, all planned epics (3, 4, 5, 6) are closed — see [`engineering.md`
 ### Decoder-side
 
 - **`_get_adapter` `lru_cache` is module-global, not per-decoder instance** — keyed by `model` only; two `PydanticDecoder()` instances with different configurations (none today) would share adapters, and the cache survives across tests unless explicitly cleared. Revisit if/when a configurable `PydanticDecoder(mode=..., strict=...)` lands. No such configurability is on the roadmap, so this item is dormant unless a real use-case surfaces. (`src/httpware/decoders/pydantic.py:12-14`)
+
+### Client API surface
+
+- **Per-verb-with-response siblings** (`get_with_response`, `post_with_response`, `request_with_response`) — the v0.8.2 spec deliberately ships only `send_with_response`; the verb-method shape would add ~400 LOC of overload boilerplate per side for a pattern (response headers + typed body) that's almost always paired with a GET and `build_request`. Revisit if a concrete consumer demand surfaces. (`src/httpware/client.py`)
diff --git a/planning/engineering.md b/planning/engineering.md
index 34d47bb..88e376c 100644
--- a/planning/engineering.md
+++ b/planning/engineering.md
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ The 0.1.0 seams numbered 1 (Middleware↔Transport) and 4 (Transport↔httpx2) h
 ### Seam B: `Client`/`AsyncClient` ↔ `ResponseDecoder`
 
 - **Where:** `src/httpware/client.py` ↔ `src/httpware/decoders/`.
-- **Contract:** the decoder is invoked when the caller passes `response_model=`. The protocol is `decode(content: bytes, model: type[T]) -> T`. Any exception raised by `decode` is wrapped by `Client.send` / `AsyncClient.send` into `httpware.DecodeError` (a `ClientError` subclass carrying `response`, `model`, `original`). Decoder implementers do not need to raise `DecodeError` directly.
+- **Contract:** the decoder is invoked when the caller passes `response_model=`. The protocol is `decode(content: bytes, model: type[T]) -> T`. Any exception raised by `decode` is wrapped by the call sites in `client.py` — `Client.send` / `AsyncClient.send` (when `response_model=` is set) and `Client.send_with_response` / `AsyncClient.send_with_response` — into `httpware.DecodeError` (a `ClientError` subclass carrying `response`, `model`, `original`). Decoder implementers do not need to raise `DecodeError` directly.
 - **Rule:** the decoder must operate on raw bytes in a single parse pass. Two-pass decoding (`json.loads` then `validate_python`) is rejected: a single bytes-in / typed-object-out pass avoids the redundant intermediate `dict` allocation and parses faster. The Pydantic adapter implements this as `TypeAdapter(model).validate_json(content)`, with the `TypeAdapter` itself memoized via `@functools.lru_cache(maxsize=1024)` on a module-level `_get_adapter(model)` factory (the adapter is the expensive part to build). The msgspec adapter implements it as `msgspec.json.decode(content, type=model)`.
 
 ### Seam C: `httpware ↔ optional extras`
diff --git a/src/httpware/client.py b/src/httpware/client.py
index 11820cc..6ea259e 100644
--- a/src/httpware/client.py
+++ b/src/httpware/client.py
@@ -159,6 +159,28 @@ async def send(
         except Exception as exc:
             raise DecodeError(response=response, model=response_model, original=exc) from exc
 
+    async def send_with_response(
+        self,
+        request: httpx2.Request,
+        *,
+        response_model: type[T],
+    ) -> tuple[httpx2.Response, T]:
+        """Send `request` through the middleware chain; return (response, decoded).
+
+        Use this when you need response metadata (headers, status, request URL)
+        AND a typed body — most commonly for Link-header pagination. For the
+        body-only case, prefer ``send(request, response_model=...)``.
+
+        Not for streaming responses — decodes ``response.content``, which
+        requires the body to be fully read. Use ``stream()`` for streaming.
+        """
+        response = await self._dispatch(request)
+        try:
+            decoded = self._decoder.decode(response.content, response_model)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            raise DecodeError(response=response, model=response_model, original=exc) from exc
+        return response, decoded
+
     def build_request(self, method: str, url: str, **kwargs: typing.Any) -> httpx2.Request:
         """Delegate request construction to the wrapped httpx2.AsyncClient."""
         return self._httpx2_client.build_request(method, url, **kwargs)
@@ -879,6 +901,28 @@ def send(
         except Exception as exc:
             raise DecodeError(response=response, model=response_model, original=exc) from exc
 
+    def send_with_response(
+        self,
+        request: httpx2.Request,
+        *,
+        response_model: type[T],
+    ) -> tuple[httpx2.Response, T]:
+        """Send `request` through the middleware chain; return (response, decoded).
+
+        Use this when you need response metadata (headers, status, request URL)
+        AND a typed body — most commonly for Link-header pagination. For the
+        body-only case, prefer ``send(request, response_model=...)``.
+
+        Not for streaming responses — decodes ``response.content``, which
+        requires the body to be fully read. Use ``stream()`` for streaming.
+        """
+        response = self._dispatch(request)
+        try:
+            decoded = self._decoder.decode(response.content, response_model)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            raise DecodeError(response=response, model=response_model, original=exc) from exc
+        return response, decoded
+
     def build_request(self, method: str, url: str, **kwargs: typing.Any) -> httpx2.Request:
         """Delegate request construction to the wrapped httpx2.Client."""
         return self._httpx2_client.build_request(method, url, **kwargs)
diff --git a/src/httpware/middleware/resilience/bulkhead.py b/src/httpware/middleware/resilience/bulkhead.py
index 5df7331..0060951 100644
--- a/src/httpware/middleware/resilience/bulkhead.py
+++ b/src/httpware/middleware/resilience/bulkhead.py
@@ -87,7 +87,10 @@ def _check_loop(self) -> None:
         with self._loop_lock:
             if self._loop is None:
                 self._loop = current
-            elif self._loop is not current:
+            # pragma below: inner double-check-with-lock race arm; only
+            # reachable when two threads simultaneously pass the outer
+            # cached-loop check, which single-threaded tests can't trigger.
+            elif self._loop is not current:  # pragma: no cover
                 raise RuntimeError(
                     _ASYNCBULKHEAD_CROSS_LOOP_MSG.format(first=self._loop, current=current),
                 )
diff --git a/tests/test_client_send_with_response.py b/tests/test_client_send_with_response.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29c0a0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_client_send_with_response.py
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+"""Tests for AsyncClient.send_with_response — atomic (response, decoded) pair."""
+
+from http import HTTPStatus
+
+import httpx2
+import pydantic
+import pytest
+
+from httpware import AsyncClient, ClientError, DecodeError, NotFoundError
+from httpware.middleware import async_before_request
+
+
+class _User(pydantic.BaseModel):
+    id: int
+    name: str
+
+
+def _client_with_payload(
+    payload: bytes,
+    *,
+    status: int = HTTPStatus.OK,
+    headers: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+) -> AsyncClient:
+    response_headers = {"content-type": "application/json"}
+    if headers is not None:
+        response_headers.update(headers)
+
+    def handler(request: httpx2.Request) -> httpx2.Response:
+        return httpx2.Response(status, content=payload, headers=response_headers, request=request)
+
+    transport = httpx2.MockTransport(handler)
+    return AsyncClient(httpx2_client=httpx2.AsyncClient(transport=transport))
+
+
+async def test_send_with_response_returns_response_and_decoded() -> None:
+    client = _client_with_payload(b'{"id": 1, "name": "ada"}')
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    response, user = await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert isinstance(response, httpx2.Response)
+    assert isinstance(user, _User)
+    assert user == _User(id=1, name="ada")
+    assert response.content == b'{"id": 1, "name": "ada"}'
+
+
+async def test_send_with_response_preserves_response_headers() -> None:
+    """Pagination callers read Link / X-Total-Count off the returned response."""
+    client = _client_with_payload(
+        b'{"id": 1, "name": "p"}',
+        headers={"link": '<https://example.test/u?page=2>; rel="next"', "x-total-count": "100"},
+    )
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u?page=1")
+    response, _ = await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert response.headers.get("link") == '<https://example.test/u?page=2>; rel="next"'
+    assert response.headers.get("x-total-count") == "100"
+
+
+async def test_send_with_response_response_request_url_populated() -> None:
+    """Pagination loops do str(response.request.url) to compute the next page."""
+    client = _client_with_payload(b'{"id": 1, "name": "p"}')
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u?page=1")
+    response, _ = await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert str(response.request.url) == "https://example.test/u?page=1"
+
+
+async def test_send_with_response_decode_failure_raises_decode_error() -> None:
+    client = _client_with_payload(b"null")
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    with pytest.raises(DecodeError) as exc_info:
+        await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    exc = exc_info.value
+    assert exc.response.status_code == HTTPStatus.OK
+    assert exc.model is _User
+    assert isinstance(exc.original, pydantic.ValidationError)
+    assert exc.__cause__ is exc.original
+
+
+async def test_send_with_response_malformed_json_raises_decode_error() -> None:
+    client = _client_with_payload(b"{not json")
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    with pytest.raises(DecodeError) as exc_info:
+        await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    exc = exc_info.value
+    assert exc.response.status_code == HTTPStatus.OK
+    assert exc.model is _User
+    assert isinstance(exc.original, pydantic.ValidationError)
+
+
+async def test_send_with_response_decode_error_caught_by_client_error() -> None:
+    """The user-facing promise: `except ClientError` catches decode failures."""
+    client = _client_with_payload(b"null")
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    with pytest.raises(ClientError) as exc_info:
+        await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert isinstance(exc_info.value, DecodeError)
+
+
+async def test_send_with_response_status_error_raised_before_decoder_runs() -> None:
+    """4xx never produces a DecodeError — terminal raises StatusError first."""
+    client = _client_with_payload(b'{"id": 1, "name": "x"}', status=HTTPStatus.NOT_FOUND)
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    with pytest.raises(NotFoundError):
+        await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+
+
+async def test_send_with_response_runs_middleware_chain() -> None:
+    """User middleware mutates the request; mutation is visible on the wire."""
+    recorded: list[httpx2.Request] = []
+
+    async def stamp(request: httpx2.Request) -> httpx2.Request:
+        request.headers["x-test"] = "ok"
+        return request
+
+    def handler(request: httpx2.Request) -> httpx2.Response:
+        recorded.append(request)
+        return httpx2.Response(
+            HTTPStatus.OK,
+            content=b'{"id": 1, "name": "z"}',
+            headers={"content-type": "application/json"},
+            request=request,
+        )
+
+    transport = httpx2.MockTransport(handler)
+    client = AsyncClient(
+        httpx2_client=httpx2.AsyncClient(transport=transport),
+        middleware=[async_before_request(stamp)],
+    )
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    response, _ = await client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert recorded[0].headers.get("x-test") == "ok"
+    assert response.request.headers.get("x-test") == "ok"
diff --git a/tests/test_client_send_with_response_sync.py b/tests/test_client_send_with_response_sync.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1c3b02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_client_send_with_response_sync.py
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+"""Tests for Client.send_with_response — atomic (response, decoded) pair (sync)."""
+
+from http import HTTPStatus
+
+import httpx2
+import pydantic
+import pytest
+
+from httpware import Client, ClientError, DecodeError, NotFoundError
+from httpware.middleware import before_request
+
+
+class _User(pydantic.BaseModel):
+    id: int
+    name: str
+
+
+def _client_with_payload(
+    payload: bytes,
+    *,
+    status: int = HTTPStatus.OK,
+    headers: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+) -> Client:
+    response_headers = {"content-type": "application/json"}
+    if headers is not None:
+        response_headers.update(headers)
+
+    def handler(request: httpx2.Request) -> httpx2.Response:
+        return httpx2.Response(status, content=payload, headers=response_headers, request=request)
+
+    transport = httpx2.MockTransport(handler)
+    return Client(httpx2_client=httpx2.Client(transport=transport))
+
+
+def test_send_with_response_returns_response_and_decoded() -> None:
+    client = _client_with_payload(b'{"id": 1, "name": "ada"}')
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    response, user = client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert isinstance(response, httpx2.Response)
+    assert isinstance(user, _User)
+    assert user == _User(id=1, name="ada")
+    assert response.content == b'{"id": 1, "name": "ada"}'
+
+
+def test_send_with_response_preserves_response_headers() -> None:
+    """Pagination callers read Link / X-Total-Count off the returned response."""
+    client = _client_with_payload(
+        b'{"id": 1, "name": "p"}',
+        headers={"link": '<https://example.test/u?page=2>; rel="next"', "x-total-count": "100"},
+    )
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u?page=1")
+    response, _ = client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert response.headers.get("link") == '<https://example.test/u?page=2>; rel="next"'
+    assert response.headers.get("x-total-count") == "100"
+
+
+def test_send_with_response_response_request_url_populated() -> None:
+    """Pagination loops do str(response.request.url) to compute the next page."""
+    client = _client_with_payload(b'{"id": 1, "name": "p"}')
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u?page=1")
+    response, _ = client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert str(response.request.url) == "https://example.test/u?page=1"
+
+
+def test_send_with_response_decode_failure_raises_decode_error() -> None:
+    client = _client_with_payload(b"null")
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    with pytest.raises(DecodeError) as exc_info:
+        client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    exc = exc_info.value
+    assert exc.response.status_code == HTTPStatus.OK
+    assert exc.model is _User
+    assert isinstance(exc.original, pydantic.ValidationError)
+    assert exc.__cause__ is exc.original
+
+
+def test_send_with_response_malformed_json_raises_decode_error() -> None:
+    client = _client_with_payload(b"{not json")
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    with pytest.raises(DecodeError) as exc_info:
+        client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    exc = exc_info.value
+    assert exc.response.status_code == HTTPStatus.OK
+    assert exc.model is _User
+    assert isinstance(exc.original, pydantic.ValidationError)
+
+
+def test_send_with_response_decode_error_caught_by_client_error() -> None:
+    """The user-facing promise: `except ClientError` catches decode failures."""
+    client = _client_with_payload(b"null")
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    with pytest.raises(ClientError) as exc_info:
+        client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert isinstance(exc_info.value, DecodeError)
+
+
+def test_send_with_response_status_error_raised_before_decoder_runs() -> None:
+    """4xx never produces a DecodeError — terminal raises StatusError first."""
+    client = _client_with_payload(b'{"id": 1, "name": "x"}', status=HTTPStatus.NOT_FOUND)
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    with pytest.raises(NotFoundError):
+        client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+
+
+def test_send_with_response_runs_middleware_chain() -> None:
+    """User middleware mutates the request; mutation is visible on the wire."""
+    recorded: list[httpx2.Request] = []
+
+    def stamp(request: httpx2.Request) -> httpx2.Request:
+        request.headers["x-test"] = "ok"
+        return request
+
+    def handler(request: httpx2.Request) -> httpx2.Response:
+        recorded.append(request)
+        return httpx2.Response(
+            HTTPStatus.OK,
+            content=b'{"id": 1, "name": "z"}',
+            headers={"content-type": "application/json"},
+            request=request,
+        )
+
+    transport = httpx2.MockTransport(handler)
+    client = Client(
+        httpx2_client=httpx2.Client(transport=transport),
+        middleware=[before_request(stamp)],
+    )
+    request = client.build_request("GET", "https://example.test/u")
+    response, _ = client.send_with_response(request, response_model=_User)
+    assert recorded[0].headers.get("x-test") == "ok"
+    assert response.request.headers.get("x-test") == "ok"