diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 98c2e22..026516b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,8 +7,17 @@ repository = "https://github.com/robertwayne/axum-htmx"
 categories = ["web-programming"]
 keywords = ["axum", "htmx", "header", "extractor"]
 readme = "README.md"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "0.2.0"
 edition = "2021"
 
+[features]
+default = []
+guards = ["tower", "futures-core", "pin-project-lite"]
+
 [dependencies]
 axum = { git = "https://github.com/tokio-rs/axum", branch = "main", default-features = false }
+
+# Optional dependencies
+tower = { version = "0.4", default-features = false, optional = true }
+futures-core = { version = "0.3", optional = true }
+pin-project-lite = { version = "0.2", optional = true }
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cfdecb5..b0a78ec 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -49,7 +49,16 @@ present, the extractor will return `None` or `false` in most cases.
 | `HX-Trigger-Name` | `HxTriggerName` | `Option<String>` |
 | `HX-Trigger` | `HxTrigger` | `Option<String>` |
 
-## Example Usage
+## Request Guards
+
+__Requires features `guards`.__
+
+In addition to the extractors, there is also a route-wide layer request guard
+for the `HX-Request` header. This will return a `403: Forbidden` response if the
+header is not present, which is useful if you want to make an entire router, say
+`/api`, only accessible via htmx requests.
+
+## Example: Extractors
 
 In this example, we'll look for the `HX-Boosted` header, which is set when
 applying the [hx-boost](https://htmx.org/attributes/hx-boost/) attribute to an
@@ -67,6 +76,9 @@ through a boosted anchor)_, so we look for the `HX-Boosted` header and extend
 from a `_partial.html` template instead.
 
 ```rs
+use axum::response::IntoResponse;
+use axum_htmx::HxBoosted;
+
 async fn get_index(HxBoosted(boosted): HxBoosted) -> impl IntoResponse {
     if boosted {
         // Send a template extending from _partial.html
@@ -76,13 +88,26 @@ async fn get_index(HxBoosted(boosted): HxBoosted) -> impl IntoResponse {
 }
 ```
 
-You can also take advantage of const header values:
+### Example: Router Guard
 
 ```rs
-let mut headers = HeaderMap::new();
-headers.insert(HX_REDIRECT, HeaderValue::from_static("/some/other/page"));
+use axum::Router;
+use axum_htmx::HxRequestGuardLayer;
+
+fn protected_router() -> Router {
+    Router::new()
+        .layer(HxRequestGuardLayer::new())
+}
 ```
 
+### Feature Flags
+
+<!-- markdownlint-disable -->
+| Flag | Default  | Description | Dependencies |
+|-|-|-|-|
+| `guards`| Disabled | Adds request guard layers. | `tower`, `futures-core`, `pin-project-lite` |
+<!-- markdownlint-enable -->
+
 ## License
 
 `axum-htmx` is dual-licensed under either
diff --git a/src/guard.rs b/src/guard.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e626025
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/guard.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+use std::{
+    fmt,
+    future::Future,
+    pin::Pin,
+    task::{Context, Poll},
+};
+
+use axum::{
+    http::{Request, StatusCode},
+    response::Response,
+};
+use futures_core::ready;
+use pin_project_lite::pin_project;
+use tower::{Layer, Service};
+
+use crate::HX_REQUEST;
+
+/// Checks if the request contains the `HX-Request` header, returning a `403:
+/// Forbidden` response if the header is not present.
+///
+/// This can be used to protect routes that should only be accessed via htmx
+/// requests.
+#[derive(Default, Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct HxRequestGuardLayer;
+
+impl HxRequestGuardLayer {
+    #[allow(clippy::default_constructed_unit_structs)]
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self::default()
+    }
+}
+
+impl<S> Layer<S> for HxRequestGuardLayer {
+    type Service = HxRequestGuard<S>;
+
+    fn layer(&self, inner: S) -> Self::Service {
+        HxRequestGuard {
+            inner,
+            hx_request: false,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct HxRequestGuard<S> {
+    inner: S,
+    hx_request: bool,
+}
+
+impl<S, T, U> Service<Request<T>> for HxRequestGuard<S>
+where
+    S: Service<Request<T>, Response = Response<U>>,
+    U: Default,
+{
+    type Response = S::Response;
+    type Error = S::Error;
+    type Future = ResponseFuture<S::Future>;
+
+    fn poll_ready(&mut self, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Result<(), Self::Error>> {
+        self.inner.poll_ready(cx)
+    }
+
+    fn call(&mut self, req: Request<T>) -> Self::Future {
+        // This will always contain a "true" value.
+        if req.headers().contains_key(HX_REQUEST) {
+            self.hx_request = true;
+        }
+
+        let response_future = self.inner.call(req);
+
+        ResponseFuture {
+            response_future,
+            hx_request: self.hx_request,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+pin_project! {
+    pub struct ResponseFuture<F> {
+        #[pin]
+        response_future: F,
+        hx_request: bool,
+    }
+}
+
+impl<F, B, E> Future for ResponseFuture<F>
+where
+    F: Future<Output = Result<Response<B>, E>>,
+    B: Default,
+{
+    type Output = Result<Response<B>, E>;
+
+    fn poll(self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
+        let this = self.project();
+        let response: Response<B> = ready!(this.response_future.poll(cx))?;
+
+        match *this.hx_request {
+            true => Poll::Ready(Ok(response)),
+            false => {
+                let mut res = Response::new(B::default());
+                *res.status_mut() = StatusCode::FORBIDDEN;
+
+                Poll::Ready(Ok(res))
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Default)]
+struct HxRequestGuardError;
+
+impl fmt::Display for HxRequestGuardError {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        f.write_str("HxRequestGuardError")
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::error::Error for HxRequestGuardError {}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 9ea0b88..9459590 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 #![doc = include_str!("../README.md")]
 #![forbid(unsafe_code)]
 pub mod extractors;
+#[cfg(feature = "guards")]
+pub mod guard;
 pub mod headers;
 
 pub use extractors::*;
+#[cfg(feature = "guards")]
+pub use guard::*;
 pub use headers::*;