diff --git a/tonic/src/transport/channel/endpoint.rs b/tonic/src/transport/channel/endpoint.rs
index 4a63746ce..09a550819 100644
--- a/tonic/src/transport/channel/endpoint.rs
+++ b/tonic/src/transport/channel/endpoint.rs
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ impl Endpoint {
                 ),
                 ..self
             }),
-            EndpointType::Uds(_) => Err(Error::new(error::Kind::InvalidTlsConfigForUds)),
+            EndpointType::Uds(_) => Err(Error::new(error::ErrorKind::InvalidTlsConfigForUds)),
         }
     }
 
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ impl Endpoint {
                 ),
                 ..self
             }),
-            EndpointType::Uds(_) => Err(Error::new(error::Kind::InvalidTlsConfigForUds)),
+            EndpointType::Uds(_) => Err(Error::new(error::ErrorKind::InvalidTlsConfigForUds)),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tonic/src/transport/error.rs b/tonic/src/transport/error.rs
index 31b317521..d113e7317 100644
--- a/tonic/src/transport/error.rs
+++ b/tonic/src/transport/error.rs
@@ -8,23 +8,40 @@ pub struct Error {
 }
 
 struct ErrorImpl {
-    kind: Kind,
+    kind: ErrorKind,
     source: Option<Source>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug)]
-pub(crate) enum Kind {
+/// A categorical description of a [`transport::Error`](Error).
+///
+/// Returned by [`Error::kind`], this enum lets callers programmatically
+/// distinguish between the different failure modes of the transport layer
+/// without inspecting the error's `Display` output or downcasting its
+/// [`source`](std::error::Error::source).
+///
+/// This enum is marked `#[non_exhaustive]`: new variants may be added in
+/// the future without a major version bump, so always include a `_ =>`
+/// arm when matching on it.
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
+#[non_exhaustive]
+pub enum ErrorKind {
+    /// A generic transport-level failure (I/O, protocol, TLS handshake, etc.).
+    /// The underlying cause is available via [`std::error::Error::source`].
     Transport,
+    /// The provided value could not be parsed as a valid URI.
     #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
     InvalidUri,
+    /// The configured user-agent string is not a valid HTTP header value.
     #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
     InvalidUserAgent,
+    /// TLS configuration was applied to an endpoint that uses a Unix domain
+    /// socket, which is not supported.
     #[cfg(all(feature = "_tls-any", feature = "channel"))]
     InvalidTlsConfigForUds,
 }
 
 impl Error {
-    pub(crate) fn new(kind: Kind) -> Self {
+    pub(crate) fn new(kind: ErrorKind) -> Self {
         Self {
             inner: ErrorImpl { kind, source: None },
         }
@@ -36,28 +53,47 @@ impl Error {
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn from_source(source: impl Into<crate::BoxError>) -> Self {
-        Error::new(Kind::Transport).with(source)
+        Error::new(ErrorKind::Transport).with(source)
     }
 
     #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
     pub(crate) fn new_invalid_uri() -> Self {
-        Error::new(Kind::InvalidUri)
+        Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidUri)
     }
 
     #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
     pub(crate) fn new_invalid_user_agent() -> Self {
-        Error::new(Kind::InvalidUserAgent)
+        Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidUserAgent)
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the [`ErrorKind`] categorizing this error.
+    ///
+    /// Use this to branch on the failure mode without parsing `Display`
+    /// output. Always include a `_` arm — [`ErrorKind`] is `#[non_exhaustive]`.
+    ///
+    /// ```ignore
+    /// use tonic::transport::{Error, ErrorKind};
+    ///
+    /// fn classify(err: &Error) {
+    ///     match err.kind() {
+    ///         ErrorKind::Transport => { /* network-level failure */ }
+    ///         _ => { /* configuration or other error */ }
+    ///     }
+    /// }
+    /// ```
+    pub fn kind(&self) -> ErrorKind {
+        self.inner.kind
     }
 
     fn description(&self) -> &str {
         match &self.inner.kind {
-            Kind::Transport => "transport error",
+            ErrorKind::Transport => "transport error",
             #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
-            Kind::InvalidUri => "invalid URI",
+            ErrorKind::InvalidUri => "invalid URI",
             #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
-            Kind::InvalidUserAgent => "user agent is not a valid header value",
+            ErrorKind::InvalidUserAgent => "user agent is not a valid header value",
             #[cfg(all(feature = "_tls-any", feature = "channel"))]
-            Kind::InvalidTlsConfigForUds => "cannot apply TLS config for unix domain socket",
+            ErrorKind::InvalidTlsConfigForUds => "cannot apply TLS config for unix domain socket",
         }
     }
 }
@@ -90,3 +126,36 @@ impl StdError for Error {
             .map(|source| &**source as &(dyn StdError + 'static))
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn from_source_has_transport_kind() {
+        let inner = std::io::Error::other("boom");
+        let err = Error::from_source(inner);
+        assert_eq!(err.kind(), ErrorKind::Transport);
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
+    #[test]
+    fn invalid_uri_kind() {
+        assert_eq!(Error::new_invalid_uri().kind(), ErrorKind::InvalidUri);
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
+    #[test]
+    fn invalid_user_agent_kind() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            Error::new_invalid_user_agent().kind(),
+            ErrorKind::InvalidUserAgent,
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn error_kind_is_copy() {
+        fn assert_copy<T: Copy>() {}
+        assert_copy::<ErrorKind>();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tonic/src/transport/mod.rs b/tonic/src/transport/mod.rs
index 4c1f68d26..44a065ba1 100644
--- a/tonic/src/transport/mod.rs
+++ b/tonic/src/transport/mod.rs
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ mod tls;
 #[doc(inline)]
 #[cfg(feature = "channel")]
 pub use self::channel::{Channel, Endpoint};
-pub use self::error::Error;
+pub use self::error::{Error, ErrorKind};
 #[doc(inline)]
 #[cfg(feature = "server")]
 pub use self::server::Server;