diff --git a/exerr/exerr.go b/exerr/exerr.go
index 02887c5..01855d2 100644
--- a/exerr/exerr.go
+++ b/exerr/exerr.go
@@ -258,6 +258,18 @@ func (ee *ExErr) Depth() int {
 	}
 }
 
+// GetMeta returns the meta value with the specified key
+// this method recurses through all wrapped errors and returns the first matching meta value
+func (ee *ExErr) GetMeta(key string) (any, bool) {
+	for curr := ee; curr != nil; curr = curr.OriginalError {
+		if v, ok := curr.Meta[key]; ok {
+			return v.Value, true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil, false
+}
+
 // contains test if the supplied error is contained in this error (anywhere in the chain)
 func (ee *ExErr) contains(original *ExErr) (*ExErr, bool) {
 	if original == nil {
diff --git a/goextVersion.go b/goextVersion.go
index 2d1eaec..c0a20c4 100644
--- a/goextVersion.go
+++ b/goextVersion.go
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 package goext
 
-const GoextVersion = "0.0.355"
+const GoextVersion = "0.0.356"
 
-const GoextVersionTimestamp = "2024-01-05T10:25:05+0100"
+const GoextVersionTimestamp = "2024-01-05T10:43:39+0100"