diff --git a/src/util/http.rs b/src/util/http.rs
index 0ce46af..f13f031 100644
--- a/src/util/http.rs
+++ b/src/util/http.rs
@@ -1,18 +1,30 @@
-use reqwest::header::{HeaderName, HeaderValue, AUTHORIZATION, USER_AGENT};
-use reqwest::{header::HeaderMap, RequestBuilder, Response};
-use std::collections::HashMap;
+use reqwest::header::{HeaderName, AUTHORIZATION, USER_AGENT};
+use reqwest::{RequestBuilder, Response};
 
 use crate::core::*;
-use crate::middle::AuthData;
 use crate::state::AppState;
 use crate::util::bear::Bearcap;
 
 /// Perform an HTTP GET request to the specified URL (supports bearcaps).
-/// Use the [`headers!`] macro for the `headers` parameter.
+/// Use the [`crate::headers`] macro for the `headers` parameter.
+///
+/// If `url` starts with `"bear:"`, it will be parsed as a bearcap URI
+/// and automatically append an `Authorization` header to the request,
+/// overwriting an authorization header that was passed explicitly as an
+/// argument.  The request will fail if parsing the bearcap failed.
+///
+/// ## Default Headers
+///
+/// By default, the API injects the following headers:
+///
+/// - `User-Agent`
+/// - `Authorization` (only when passing a bearcap URI)
 ///
 /// ## Example
 ///
 /// ```
+/// use reqwest::header::ACCEPT;
+///
 /// let response = get(
 ///     &state,
 ///     "https://www.example.com",
@@ -24,12 +36,12 @@ use crate::util::bear::Bearcap;
 /// .await?;
 ///
 /// // automatically injects an "Authorization: Bearer b4dc0ffee" header
-/// let response = get(&state, "bear:?t=b4dc0ffee&u=https://www.example.com", headers! {}).await?;
+/// let response = get(&state, "bear:?t=b4dc0ffee&u=https://www.example.com", None).await?;
 /// ```
 pub async fn get(
     state: &AppState,
     url: &str,
-    headers: &[(GenericHeaderName, String)],
+    headers: Option<&[(GenericHeaderName<'_>, String)]>,
 ) -> Result<Response> {
     let client = reqwest::Client::new();
     let builder = if url.starts_with("bear:") {
@@ -40,49 +52,57 @@ pub async fn get(
     } else {
         client.get(url)
     };
-    perform_request(state, builder, headers).await
+    perform_request(state, builder, headers.unwrap_or(&[])).await
 }
 
 // the state reference will be used for caching
 async fn perform_request(
     _state: &AppState,
     mut builder: RequestBuilder,
-    headers: &[(GenericHeaderName, String)],
+    headers: &[(GenericHeaderName<'_>, String)],
 ) -> Result<Response> {
-    builder = headers.into_iter().fold(builder, |b, (k, v)| match k {
+    builder = headers.iter().fold(builder, |b, (k, v)| match k {
         GenericHeaderName::Standard(hdr) => b.header(hdr, v),
-        GenericHeaderName::Custom(hdr) => b.header(hdr, v),
+        GenericHeaderName::CustomOwned(hdr) => b.header(hdr, v),
+        GenericHeaderName::CustomBorrow(hdr) => b.header(*hdr, v),
     });
     builder = builder.header(USER_AGENT, "nyano");
     Ok(builder.send().await?)
 }
 
+/// Generate a list of HTTP request headers for passing to [`get`].
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! headers {
     ($($k:expr => $v:expr),* $(,)?) => {{
-        &[$((crate::util::http::GenericHeaderName::from($k), ::std::string::String::from($v)),)*]
+        // The [..] is required because of a bug in the IntelliJ Rust plugin:
+        // https://github.com/intellij-rust/intellij-rust/issues/10005
+        ::core::option::Option::Some(&[
+            $(($crate::util::http::GenericHeaderName::from($k), ::std::string::String::from($v)),)*
+        ][..])
     }}
 }
 
-pub enum GenericHeaderName {
-    Custom(String),
+/// Only used within this module, use [`crate::headers`] to generate headers.
+pub enum GenericHeaderName<'a> {
+    CustomOwned(String),
+    CustomBorrow(&'a str),
     Standard(HeaderName),
 }
 
-impl From<String> for GenericHeaderName {
-    fn from(val: String) -> GenericHeaderName {
-        GenericHeaderName::Custom(val)
+impl<'a> From<String> for GenericHeaderName<'a> {
+    fn from(val: String) -> GenericHeaderName<'a> {
+        GenericHeaderName::CustomOwned(val)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<&str> for GenericHeaderName {
-    fn from(val: &str) -> GenericHeaderName {
-        GenericHeaderName::Custom(String::from(val))
+impl<'a> From<&'a str> for GenericHeaderName<'a> {
+    fn from(val: &'a str) -> GenericHeaderName<'a> {
+        GenericHeaderName::CustomBorrow(val)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<HeaderName> for GenericHeaderName {
-    fn from(val: HeaderName) -> GenericHeaderName {
+impl<'a> From<HeaderName> for GenericHeaderName<'a> {
+    fn from(val: HeaderName) -> GenericHeaderName<'a> {
         GenericHeaderName::Standard(val)
     }
 }