diff --git a/.rubocop.yml b/.rubocop.yml
index 7a2a9333..22202618 100644
--- a/.rubocop.yml
+++ b/.rubocop.yml
@@ -48,3 +48,5 @@ Style/AccessorGrouping:
   EnforcedStyle: separated
 Style/NegatedIfElseCondition:
   Enabled: false
+Style/Semicolon:
+  Exclude: ["test/**/*.rb"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4be477ad..aa9d6831 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -812,6 +812,20 @@ to be substituted. Note that for a required parameter that does not provide a ge
 client.process_template template
 ```
 
+### Informer
+
+A list that is always updated because it is it kept in sync by a watch in the background.
+Can also share a list+watch with multiple threads.
+
+```ruby
+client = Kubeclient::Client.new('http://localhost:8080/api/', 'v1')
+informer = Kubeclient::Informer.new(client, "pods", reconcile_timeout: 15 * 60, logger: Logger.new(STDOUT))
+informer.start_worker
+
+informer.list # all current pods
+informer.watch { |notice|  } # watch for changes (hides restarts and errors)
+```
+
 ## Contributing
 
 1. Fork it ( https://github.com/[my-github-username]/kubeclient/fork )
diff --git a/lib/kubeclient.rb b/lib/kubeclient.rb
index 15f3db19..a2c92f40 100644
--- a/lib/kubeclient.rb
+++ b/lib/kubeclient.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 require_relative 'kubeclient/exec_credentials'
 require_relative 'kubeclient/gcp_auth_provider'
 require_relative 'kubeclient/http_error'
+require_relative 'kubeclient/informer'
 require_relative 'kubeclient/missing_kind_compatibility'
 require_relative 'kubeclient/oidc_auth_provider'
 require_relative 'kubeclient/resource'
diff --git a/lib/kubeclient/informer.rb b/lib/kubeclient/informer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b94c0b9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/kubeclient/informer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+module Kubeclient
+  # caches results for multiple consumers to share and keeps them updated with a watch
+  class Informer
+    def initialize(client, resource_name, reconcile_timeout: 15 * 60, logger: nil)
+      @client = client
+      @resource_name = resource_name
+      @reconcile_timeout = reconcile_timeout
+      @logger = logger
+      @cache = nil
+      @started = nil
+      @watching = []
+    end
+
+    def list
+      @cache.values
+    end
+
+    def watch(&block)
+      with_watching(&block)
+    end
+
+    # not implicit so users know they have to `stop`
+    def start_worker
+      @worker = Thread.new do
+        loop do
+          fill_cache
+          watch_to_update_cache
+        rescue StandardError => e
+          # need to keep retrying since we work in the background
+          @logger&.error("ignoring error during background work #{e}")
+        ensure
+          sleep(1) # do not overwhelm the api-server if we are somehow broken
+        end
+      end
+      sleep(0.01) until @cache
+    end
+
+    def stop_worker
+      @worker&.kill # TODO: be nicer ?
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    def with_watching
+      queue = Queue.new
+      @watching << queue
+      loop do
+        x = queue.pop
+        yield(x)
+      end
+    ensure
+      @watching.delete(queue)
+    end
+
+    def cache_key(resource)
+      resource.dig(:metadata, :uid)
+    end
+
+    def fill_cache
+      reply = @client.get_entities(nil, @resource_name, raw: true, resource_version: '0')
+      @cache = reply[:items].each_with_object({}) do |item, h|
+        h[cache_key(item)] = item
+      end
+      @started = reply.dig(:metadata, :resourceVersion)
+    end
+
+    def watch_to_update_cache
+      watcher = @client.watch_entities(@resource_name, watch: true, resource_version: @started)
+      stop_reason = 'disconnect'
+
+      # stop watcher without using timeout
+      Thread.new do
+        sleep(@reconcile_timeout)
+        stop_reason = 'reconcile'
+        watcher.finish
+      end
+
+      watcher.each do |notice|
+        case notice[:type]
+        when 'ADDED', 'MODIFIED' then @cache[cache_key(notice[:object])] = notice[:object]
+        when 'DELETED' then @cache.delete(cache_key(notice[:object]))
+        when 'ERROR'
+          stop_reason = 'error'
+          break
+        else
+          @logger&.error("Unsupported event type #{notice[:type]}")
+        end
+        @watching.each { |q| q << notice }
+      end
+      @logger&.info("watch restarted: #{stop_reason}")
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/test_informer.rb b/test/test_informer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e03f32e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_informer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require_relative 'test_helper'
+
+# tests with_retries in common.rb
+class RetryTest < MiniTest::Test
+  def setup
+    super
+    @slept = []
+    stub_core_api_list
+  end
+
+  # prevent leftover threads from causing trouble
+  def teardown
+    (Thread.list - [Thread.current]).each(&:kill)
+    super
+  end
+
+  def test_lists_at_start
+    list = stub_list
+    watch = stub_request(:get, %r{/v1/watch/pods}).to_return(body: '', status: 200)
+    with_worker do
+      assert_equal(['a'], informer.list.map { |p| p.metadata.name })
+    end
+    assert_requested(list, times: 1)
+    assert_requested(watch, times: 1)
+  end
+
+  def test_watches_for_updates
+    lock = Mutex.new
+    lock.lock
+    list = stub_list
+    watch = stub_request(:get, %r{/v1/watch/pods}).with { lock.lock }.to_return(
+      body: {
+        type: 'MODIFIED', object: { metadata: { name: 'b', uid: 'id1' } }
+      }.to_json << "\n",
+      status: 200
+    )
+
+    with_worker do
+      assert_equal(['a'], informer.list.map { |p| p.metadata.name })
+      lock.unlock # trigger watch
+      sleep(0.02) # wait for watch to finish
+      assert_equal(['b'], informer.list.map { |p| p.metadata.name })
+    end
+
+    assert_requested(list, times: 1)
+    assert_requested(watch, times: 1)
+  end
+
+  def test_watches_for_add
+    stub_list
+    stub_request(:get, %r{/v1/watch/pods}).to_return(
+      body: {
+        type: 'ADDED', object: { metadata: { name: 'b', uid: 'id2' } }
+      }.to_json << "\n",
+      status: 200
+    )
+
+    with_worker do
+      assert_equal(['a', 'b'], informer.list.map { |p| p.metadata.name })
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_watches_for_delete
+    stub_list
+    stub_request(:get, %r{/v1/watch/pods}).to_return(
+      body: {
+        type: 'DELETED', object: { metadata: { name: 'b', uid: 'id1' } }
+      }.to_json << "\n",
+      status: 200
+    )
+
+    with_worker do
+      assert_equal([], informer.list.map { |p| p.metadata.name })
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_restarts_on_error
+    list = stub_list
+    watch = stub_request(:get, %r{/v1/watch/pods}).to_return(
+      body: { type: 'ERROR' }.to_json << "\n",
+      status: 200
+    )
+    slept = []
+    informer.stubs(:sleep).with { |x| slept << x; sleep(0.01) }
+
+    with_worker do
+      assert_equal(['a'], informer.list.map { |p| p.metadata.name })
+      sleep(0.05)
+    end
+
+    assert slept.size >= 2, slept
+    assert_requested(list, at_least_times: 2)
+    assert_requested(watch, at_least_times: 2)
+  end
+
+  def test_can_watch_watches
+    skip if RUBY_ENGINE == 'truffleruby' # TODO: some race condition in truffle-ruby
+
+    list = stub_list
+    watch = stub_request(:get, %r{/v1/watch/pods}).to_return(
+      body: {
+        type: 'ADDED', object: { metadata: { name: 'b', uid: 'id2' } }
+      }.to_json << "\n",
+      status: 200
+    )
+
+    seen1 = []
+    seen2 = []
+    seeer1 = Thread.new { informer.watch { |n| seen1 << n; break } }
+    seeer2 = Thread.new { informer.watch { |n| seen2 << n; break } }
+    sleep(0.01) until informer.instance_variable_get(:@watching).size == 2
+
+    with_worker do
+      assert_equal([['ADDED'], ['ADDED']], [seen1.map(&:type), seen2.map(&:type)])
+    end
+
+    assert_requested(list, times: 1)
+    assert_requested(watch, times: 1)
+  ensure
+    seeer1&.kill
+    seeer2&.kill
+  end
+
+  def test_timeout
+    timeout = 0.1
+    informer.instance_variable_set(:@reconcile_timeout, timeout)
+    stub_list
+    Kubeclient::Common::WatchStream.any_instance.expects(:finish)
+    stub_request(:get, %r{/v1/watch/pods})
+    with_worker { sleep(timeout * 1.9) }
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  def with_worker
+    informer.start_worker
+    sleep(0.03) # wait for worker to watch
+    yield
+  ensure
+    informer.stop_worker
+  end
+
+  def stub_list
+    stub_request(:get, %r{/v1/pods}).to_return(body: pods_reply.to_json, status: 200)
+  end
+
+  def client
+    @client ||= Kubeclient::Client.new('http://localhost:8080/api/', 'v1')
+  end
+
+  def informer
+    @informer ||= Kubeclient::Informer.new(client, 'pods')
+  end
+
+  def pods_reply
+    @pods_reply ||= {
+      metadata: { resourceVersion: 1 },
+      items: [{ metadata: { name: 'a', uid: 'id1' } }]
+    }
+  end
+end