diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 8681457..7966bd6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2424,6 +2424,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "reqorb"
+version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-trait",
+ "qorb",
+ "reqwest",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "reqwest"
 version = "0.12.14"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5730d0a..f39a507 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 [workspace]
-members = [".", "qtop"]
+members = [".", "qtop", "reqorb"]
+default-members = [".", "qtop", "reqorb"]
 
 [workspace.dependencies]
 anyhow = "1.0"
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ progenitor = "0.9"
 ratatui = "0.29.0"
 reqwest = { version = "0.12", features = ["json", "stream"] }
 tracing-subscriber = "0.3"
+qorb = { version = "0.3.1", path = "." }
 
 [package]
 name = "qorb"
diff --git a/reqorb/Cargo.toml b/reqorb/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..921b4cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reqorb/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[package]
+name = "reqorb"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2024"
+description = "glues reqwest onto qorb (somewhat unpleasantly)"
+license = "MPL-2.0"
+
+[dependencies]
+async-trait = { workspace = true }
+qorb = { workspace = true }
+reqwest = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/reqorb/src/lib.rs b/reqorb/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..829ee80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reqorb/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+// This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+// License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+// file, You can obtain one at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+
+//! `reqorb` glues [`reqwest`] onto [`qorb`], in a somewhat unpleasant manner.
+
+use core::marker::PhantomData;
+
+use async_trait::async_trait;
+use qorb::backend::{self, Backend};
+use std::net::SocketAddr;
+use std::ops::Deref;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+/// Unfortunate but reasonable.
+#[must_use]
+pub struct ReqorbConnector<C = reqwest::Client> {
+    _client: PhantomData<C>,
+    builder_fn: Option<Arc<dyn Fn(&Backend) -> reqwest::ClientBuilder + Send + Sync + 'static>>,
+    known_domain: Option<Arc<str>>,
+}
+
+impl Default for ReqorbConnector {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self::new()
+    }
+}
+
+impl<C> ReqorbConnector<C> {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            _client: PhantomData,
+            builder_fn: None,
+            known_domain: None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Indicates that a single DNS domain is known for all backends that will
+    /// be resolved by the `qorb` pool.
+    ///
+    /// Setting this reduces overhead from no-op DNS lookups.
+    pub fn known_domain(self, domain: impl Into<Arc<str>>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            known_domain: Some(domain.into()),
+            ..self
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Sets a function that will be used to create a `reqwest::ClientBuilder`
+    /// for each backend.
+    ///
+    /// This method can be used to customize the client's behavior, such as
+    /// setting custom headers or timeouts.
+    ///
+    /// Note that the following builder settings will be overridden by the
+    /// `ReqorbConnector`, and therefore should not be set by the provided
+    /// builder function:
+    ///
+    /// - [`reqwest::ClientBuilder::pool_max_idle_per_host`]
+    /// - [`reqwest::ClientBuilder::pool_idle_timeout`]
+    /// - [`reqwest::ClientBuilder::dns_resolver`]
+    pub fn client_builder_fn(
+        self,
+        mk_builder: impl Fn(&Backend) -> reqwest::ClientBuilder + Send + Sync + 'static,
+    ) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            builder_fn: Some(Arc::new(mk_builder)),
+            ..self
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn reqwest_builder(&self, backend: &Backend) -> reqwest::ClientBuilder {
+        struct FixedResolver(SocketAddr);
+        impl reqwest::dns::Resolve for FixedResolver {
+            fn resolve(&self, _: reqwest::dns::Name) -> reqwest::dns::Resolving {
+                // ha ha ha this is terrible
+                Box::pin(std::future::ready(Ok(
+                    Box::new(std::iter::once(self.0)) as reqwest::dns::Addrs
+                )))
+            }
+        }
+
+        // If we were configured with other `reqwest` builder settings, use those.
+        let mut builder = self
+            .builder_fn
+            .as_ref()
+            .map(|f| f(backend))
+            .unwrap_or_else(reqwest::ClientBuilder::new);
+
+        if let Some(ref domain) = self.known_domain {
+            // if we know the domain that this client will be used for, override
+            // DNS resolution for that domain to the backend's address. this
+            // lets us bypass the overhead of the `FixedResolver` nonsense
+            // around boxing the future and address iterator.
+            builder = builder.resolve_to_addrs(&*domain, &[backend.address])
+        }
+
+        builder
+            // allow the reqwest client to pool *precisely one connection* per host,
+            // forcing it to act as a persistent connection.
+            .pool_max_idle_per_host(1)
+            // never time out idle connections
+            .pool_idle_timeout(None)
+            .dns_resolver(Arc::new(FixedResolver(backend.address)))
+    }
+}
+
+impl<C> Clone for ReqorbConnector<C> {
+    fn clone(&self) -> Self {
+        ReqorbConnector {
+            _client: PhantomData,
+            known_domain: self.known_domain.clone(),
+            builder_fn: self.builder_fn.clone(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<C> std::fmt::Debug for ReqorbConnector<C> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        let Self {
+            _client,
+            known_domain,
+            builder_fn,
+        } = self;
+        f.debug_struct("ReqorbConnector")
+            .field("known_domain", &known_domain)
+            .field(
+                "builder_fn",
+                &format_args!(
+                    "{}",
+                    if builder_fn.is_some() {
+                        "Some(...)"
+                    } else {
+                        "None"
+                    }
+                ),
+            )
+            .finish()
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct ReqorbClient<C = reqwest::Client>
+where
+    C: backend::Connection,
+{
+    client: C,
+    /// An error recorded whilst the client was in use. Unfortunately, our only
+    /// way to easily communicate errors back to `qorb` is to make the caller
+    /// explicitly tell us that the client is error-y.
+    error: Option<backend::Error>,
+}
+
+impl<C> Deref for ReqorbClient<C>
+where
+    C: backend::Connection,
+{
+    type Target = C;
+
+    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
+        &self.client
+    }
+}
+
+impl<C> ReqorbClient<C>
+where
+    C: backend::Connection,
+{
+    /// Indicate that an error was observed whilst this client was in use, and
+    /// should be reported to the `qorb` pool from which this client was
+    /// acquired.
+    ///
+    /// Code using a `ReqorbClient` MUST call this method if it wishes to inform
+    /// the `qorb` pool of errors that occur when using the client.
+    pub fn record_error(&mut self, error: impl Into<backend::Error>) {
+        self.error = Some(error.into());
+    }
+}
+
+#[async_trait]
+impl<C> backend::Connector for ReqorbConnector<C>
+where
+    // The connection type is "something that can be constructed from a
+    // reqwest::Client". This way, we can construct pools of e.g.
+    // `progenitor`-generated clients of various types.
+    C: From<reqwest::Client> + backend::Connection + Sync,
+{
+    type Connection = ReqorbClient<C>;
+
+    async fn connect(&self, backend: &Backend) -> Result<Self::Connection, backend::Error> {
+        let client = self
+            .reqwest_builder(backend)
+            .build()
+            .map_err(|e| backend::Error::Other(e.into()))?
+            .into();
+        Ok(ReqorbClient {
+            client,
+            error: None,
+        })
+    }
+
+    async fn is_valid(&self, client: &mut Self::Connection) -> Result<(), backend::Error> {
+        match client.error.take() {
+            Some(err) => Err(err),
+            None => Ok(()),
+        }
+    }
+}