diff --git a/httpcl/doc.go b/httpcl/doc.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5c75511977ceedc67a24a8e7965f48542e69409d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/httpcl/doc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+// Package httpcl provides a drop-in replacement for the standard library's net/http
+// package.
+//
+// The intention fo this package is that we'll be able to enrich the standard
+// client experience with a host of GitLab-specific standards that developers
+// will benefit from without necessarily having to think about these things
+// themselves.
+
+package httpcl
diff --git a/httpcl/http.go b/httpcl/http.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..203aa769d82d875c7d86225ce192d25cd512cd31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/httpcl/http.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+package httpcl
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
+
+	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/labkit/correlation"
+	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/labkit/tracing"
+)
+
+const (
+	RequestID     = "X-Request-Id"
+	CorrelationID = "correlation_id"
+)
+
+type Client struct {
+	HttpClient *http.Client
+}
+
+type Option func(c *Client)
+
+// NewClient - a simple constructor that takes in
+// optional functions that allow you to override
+// various aspects of the client.
+func NewClient(opts ...Option) *Client {
+	client := &Client{
+		&http.Client{
+			Transport: http.DefaultTransport,
+		},
+	}
+
+	// Once we've instantiated the client, we then
+	// loop through the variadic opts argument and
+	// ensure we're applying them.
+	for _, o := range opts {
+		o(client)
+	}
+
+	// We need to ensure that the instrumented RoundTripper is always
+	// applied so that the use of a custom WithTransport setup will not
+	// break our expectations.
+	client.HttpClient.Transport = correlation.NewInstrumentedRoundTripper(
+		tracing.NewRoundTripper(client.HttpClient.Transport),
+	)
+
+	return client
+}
+
+// WithTransport - an optional function that allows you
+// to override the default http.Transport used within the
+// client.
+func WithTransport(t *http.Transport) Option {
+	return func(c *Client) {
+		c.HttpClient.Transport = t
+	}
+}
+
+// WithTimeout - an optional function that allows you to
+// override the default timeout used within the client.
+func WithTimeout(timeout time.Duration) Option {
+	return func(c *Client) {
+		c.HttpClient.Timeout = timeout
+	}
+}
diff --git a/httpcl/http_test.go b/httpcl/http_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..58778b24b0bf8a4179e77b4a161a15ee9e4346ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/httpcl/http_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package httpcl_test
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"net/url"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/labkit/httpcl"
+)
+
+func TestCorrelationIDPropagationViaRoundTripper(t *testing.T) {
+	client := httpcl.NewClient()
+	tests := []struct {
+		name          string
+		correlationID string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:          "the correlation_id is successfully retrieved from ctx and appended to outbound request",
+			correlationID: "some-correlation-id",
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "in situations where the correlation_id is empty, the client still operates",
+			correlationID: "",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+				require.Equal(t, tt.correlationID, r.Header.Get("correlation_id"))
+			}))
+
+			req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, server.URL+"/", nil)
+			require.Nil(t, err)
+			req.Header.Set("correlation_id", tt.correlationID)
+
+			_, err = client.HttpClient.Do(req)
+			require.Nil(t, err)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWithTransport(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("ensure that instrumented round tripper is always applied with a custom http.Transport",
+		func(t *testing.T) {
+			client := httpcl.NewClient(httpcl.WithTransport(&http.Transport{}))
+
+			server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+				require.Equal(t, "some-correlation-id", r.Header.Get("correlation_id"))
+			}))
+
+			req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, server.URL+"/", nil)
+			require.Nil(t, err)
+			req.Header.Set("correlation_id", "some-correlation-id")
+
+			_, err = client.HttpClient.Do(req)
+			require.Nil(t, err)
+		})
+}
+
+func TestTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	client := httpcl.NewClient(httpcl.WithTimeout(20 * time.Millisecond))
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		time.Sleep(500 * time.Millisecond)
+	}))
+
+	req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, server.URL, nil)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	_, err = client.HttpClient.Do(req)
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.IsType(t, &url.Error{}, err)
+}