diff --git a/cmd/go-away/main.go b/cmd/go-away/main.go
index 0ad3716..4bcc6d3 100644
--- a/cmd/go-away/main.go
+++ b/cmd/go-away/main.go
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ func (v *MultiVar) Set(value string) error {
 func newServer(handler http.Handler) *http.Server {
 	h2s := &http2.Server{}
 
+	// TODO: use Go 1.24 Server.Protocols to add H2C
+	// https://pkg.go.dev/net/http#Server.Protocols
 	h1s := &http.Server{
 		Handler: h2c.NewHandler(handler, h2s),
 	}
diff --git a/examples/forgejo.yml b/examples/forgejo.yml
index d6ebb79..975e290 100644
--- a/examples/forgejo.yml
+++ b/examples/forgejo.yml
@@ -112,7 +112,17 @@ challenges:
   self-cookie:
     mode: "cookie"
 
-  # Challenges with a redirect via header (non-JS, requires HTTP parsing and logic)
+
+  # Challenges with a redirect via Link header with rel=preload and early hints (non-JS, requires HTTP parsing, fetching and logic)
+  # Works on HTTP/2 and above!
+  self-preload-link:
+    mode: "preload-link"
+    runtime:
+      # verifies that result = key
+      mode: "key"
+      probability: 0.1
+
+  # Challenges with a redirect via Refresh header (non-JS, requires HTTP parsing and logic)
   self-header-refresh:
     mode: "header-refresh"
     runtime:
@@ -120,7 +130,7 @@ challenges:
       mode: "key"
       probability: 0.1
 
-  # Challenges with a redirect via meta (non-JS, requires HTML parsing and logic)
+  # Challenges with a redirect via Refresh meta (non-JS, requires HTML parsing and logic)
   self-meta-refresh:
     mode: "meta-refresh"
     runtime:
@@ -186,6 +196,7 @@ conditions:
     # Golang proxy and initial fetch
     - 'userAgent.startsWith("GoModuleMirror/")'
     - 'userAgent.startsWith("Go-http-client/") && "go-get" in query && query["go-get"] == "1"'
+    - '"Git-Protocol" in headers && headers["Git-Protocol"] == "version=2"'
   is-git-path:
     - 'path.matches("^/[^/]+/[^/]+/(git-upload-pack|git-receive-pack|HEAD|info/refs|info/lfs|objects)")'
 
@@ -299,8 +310,12 @@ rules:
   - name: suspicious-crawlers/1
     conditions: ['($is-suspicious-crawler)']
     action: check
-    challenges: [self-header-refresh]
+    challenges: [self-preload-link]
   - name: suspicious-crawlers/2
+    conditions: ['($is-suspicious-crawler)']
+    action: check
+    challenges: [self-header-refresh]
+  - name: suspicious-crawlers/3
     conditions: ['($is-suspicious-crawler)']
     action: check
     challenges: [self-resource-load]
@@ -396,7 +411,7 @@ rules:
   # check a sequence of challenges
   - name: heavy-operations/0
     action: check
-    challenges: [self-header-refresh, js-pow-sha256, http-cookie-check]
+    challenges: [self-preload-link, self-header-refresh, js-pow-sha256, http-cookie-check]
     conditions: ['($is-heavy-resource)']
   - name: heavy-operations/1
     action: check
@@ -430,6 +445,6 @@ rules:
 
   - name: standard-browser
     action: challenge
-    challenges: [http-cookie-check, self-meta-refresh, self-resource-load, js-pow-sha256]
+    challenges: [http-cookie-check, self-preload-link, self-meta-refresh, self-resource-load, js-pow-sha256]
     conditions:
       - '($is-generic-browser)'
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index cd6d389..3efe2df 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.0
 	github.com/tetratelabs/wazero v1.9.0
 	github.com/yl2chen/cidranger v1.0.2
+	golang.org/x/net v0.26.0
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 )
 
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/stoewer/go-strcase v1.3.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.33.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250210185358-939b2ce775ac // indirect
+	golang.org/x/text v0.22.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api v0.0.0-20240826202546-f6391c0de4c7 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20240826202546-f6391c0de4c7 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.6 // indirect
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ replace golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0 => ./utils/exp
 // Pin latest versions to support Go 1.22 to prevent a package update from changing them
 // TODO: remove this when Go 1.22+ is supported by other higher users
 replace (
+	golang.org/x/crypto => golang.org/x/crypto v0.33.0
 	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api => google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api v0.0.0-20240826202546-f6391c0de4c7
 	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc => google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20240826202546-f6391c0de4c7
-	golang.org/x/crypto => golang.org/x/crypto v0.33.0
-)
\ No newline at end of file
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 0abd322..a90747b 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ golang.org/x/crypto v0.33.0 h1:IOBPskki6Lysi0lo9qQvbxiQ+FvsCC/YWOecCHAixus=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.33.0/go.mod h1:bVdXmD7IV/4GdElGPozy6U7lWdRXA4qyRVGJV57uQ5M=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250210185358-939b2ce775ac h1:l5+whBCLH3iH2ZNHYLbAe58bo7yrN4mVcnkHDYz5vvs=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250210185358-939b2ce775ac/go.mod h1:hH+7mtFmImwwcMvScyxUhjuVHR3HGaDPMn9rMSUUbxo=
+golang.org/x/net v0.26.0 h1:soB7SVo0PWrY4vPW/+ay0jKDNScG2X9wFeYlXIvJsOQ=
+golang.org/x/net v0.26.0/go.mod h1:5YKkiSynbBIh3p6iOc/vibscux0x38BZDkn8sCUPxHE=
 golang.org/x/text v0.22.0 h1:bofq7m3/HAFvbF51jz3Q9wLg3jkvSPuiZu/pD1XwgtM=
 golang.org/x/text v0.22.0/go.mod h1:YRoo4H8PVmsu+E3Ou7cqLVH8oXWIHVoX0jqUWALQhfY=
 google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api v0.0.0-20240826202546-f6391c0de4c7 h1:YcyjlL1PRr2Q17/I0dPk2JmYS5CDXfcdb2Z3YRioEbw=
diff --git a/lib/state.go b/lib/state.go
index d712981..385c55d 100644
--- a/lib/state.go
+++ b/lib/state.go
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 )
 
@@ -59,8 +61,36 @@ type State struct {
 	privateKey ed25519.PrivateKey
 
 	Poison map[string][]byte
+
+	ChallengeSolve sync.Map
 }
 
+func (state *State) AwaitChallenge(key []byte, ctx context.Context) challenge.VerifyResult {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	var result atomic.Int64
+
+	state.ChallengeSolve.Store(string(key), ChallengeCallback(func(receivedResult challenge.VerifyResult) {
+		result.Store(int64(receivedResult))
+		cancel()
+	}))
+
+	<-ctx.Done()
+
+	return challenge.VerifyResult(result.Load())
+}
+
+func (state *State) SolveChallenge(key []byte, result challenge.VerifyResult) {
+	if f, ok := state.ChallengeSolve.LoadAndDelete(string(key)); ok && f != nil {
+		if cb, ok := f.(ChallengeCallback); ok {
+			cb(result)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+type ChallengeCallback func(result challenge.VerifyResult)
+
 type RuleState struct {
 	Name string
 	Hash string
@@ -273,6 +303,9 @@ func NewState(p policy.Policy, settings StateSettings) (state *State, err error)
 				if response.StatusCode != httpCode {
 					utils.ClearCookie(utils.CookiePrefix+c.Name, w)
 					// continue other challenges!
+
+					//TODO: negatively cache failure
+
 					return challenge.ResultContinue
 				} else {
 					// bind hash of cookie contents
@@ -282,7 +315,6 @@ func NewState(p policy.Policy, settings StateSettings) (state *State, err error)
 					sum.Write(key)
 					sum.Write([]byte{0})
 					sum.Write(state.publicKey)
-
 					token, err := c.IssueChallengeToken(state.privateKey, key, sum.Sum(nil), expiry)
 					if err != nil {
 						utils.ClearCookie(utils.CookiePrefix+c.Name, w)
@@ -350,6 +382,50 @@ func NewState(p policy.Policy, settings StateSettings) (state *State, err error)
 
 				return challenge.ResultStop
 			}
+		case "preload-link":
+			deadline := time.Second * 5
+
+			c.ServeChallenge = func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, key []byte, expiry time.Time) challenge.Result {
+				// this only works on HTTP/2 and HTTP/3
+
+				if r.ProtoMajor < 2 {
+					// this can happen if we are an upgraded request
+					if _, ok := w.(http.Pusher); !ok {
+						return challenge.ResultContinue
+					}
+				}
+
+				data := RequestDataFromContext(r.Context())
+				redirectUri := new(url.URL)
+				redirectUri.Path = c.Path + "/verify-challenge"
+
+				values := make(url.Values)
+				values.Set("result", hex.EncodeToString(key))
+				values.Set("redirect", r.URL.String())
+				values.Set("requestId", r.Header.Get("X-Away-Id"))
+
+				redirectUri.RawQuery = values.Encode()
+
+				w.Header().Set("Link", fmt.Sprintf("<%s>; rel=preload; as=fetch; crossorigin=1", redirectUri.String()))
+				defer func() {
+					// remove old header header!
+					w.Header().Del("Link")
+				}()
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusEarlyHints)
+
+				ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(r.Context(), deadline)
+				defer cancel()
+				if result := state.AwaitChallenge(key, ctx); result.Ok() {
+					data.Challenges[c.Id] = challenge.VerifyResultPASS
+
+					// this should serve!
+					return challenge.ResultPass
+				}
+
+				data.Challenges[c.Id] = challenge.VerifyResultFAIL
+				// we failed, continue
+				return challenge.ResultContinue
+			}
 		case "resource-load":
 			c.ServeChallenge = func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, key []byte, expiry time.Time) challenge.Result {
 				redirectUri := new(url.URL)
@@ -467,6 +543,9 @@ func NewState(p policy.Policy, settings StateSettings) (state *State, err error)
 					} else if !ok {
 						state.logger(r).Warn("challenge failed", "challenge", challengeName, "redirect", redirect)
 						utils.ClearCookie(utils.CookiePrefix+challengeName, w)
+
+						state.SolveChallenge(key, challenge.VerifyResultFAIL)
+
 						_ = state.errorPage(w, r.Header.Get("X-Away-Id"), http.StatusForbidden, fmt.Errorf("access denied: failed challenge %s", challengeName), redirect)
 						return nil
 					}
@@ -481,6 +560,8 @@ func NewState(p policy.Policy, settings StateSettings) (state *State, err error)
 					}
 					data.Challenges[c.Id] = challenge.VerifyResultPASS
 
+					state.SolveChallenge(key, challenge.VerifyResultPASS)
+
 					switch httpCode {
 					case http.StatusMovedPermanently, http.StatusFound, http.StatusSeeOther, http.StatusTemporaryRedirect, http.StatusPermanentRedirect:
 						http.Redirect(w, r, redirect, httpCode)