diff --git a/resolve.go b/resolve.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..663338a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resolve.go
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+/*
+   Copyright The containerd Authors.
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package errdefs
+
+import "context"
+
+// Resolve returns the first error found in the error chain which matches an
+// error defined in this package or context error. A raw, unwrapped error is
+// returned or ErrUnknown if no matching error is found.
+//
+// This is useful for determining a response code based on the outermost wrapped
+// error rather than the original cause. For example, a not found error deep
+// in the code may be wrapped as an invalid argument. When determining status
+// code from Is* functions, the depth or ordering of the error is not
+// considered.
+//
+// The search order is depth first, a wrapped error returned from any part of
+// the chain from `Unwrap() error` will be returned before any joined errors
+// as returned by `Unwrap() []error`.
+func Resolve(err error) error {
+	if err == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	err = firstError(err)
+	if err == nil {
+		err = ErrUnknown
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func firstError(err error) error {
+	for {
+		switch err {
+		case ErrUnknown,
+			ErrInvalidArgument,
+			ErrNotFound,
+			ErrAlreadyExists,
+			ErrPermissionDenied,
+			ErrResourceExhausted,
+			ErrFailedPrecondition,
+			ErrConflict,
+			ErrNotModified,
+			ErrAborted,
+			ErrOutOfRange,
+			ErrNotImplemented,
+			ErrInternal,
+			ErrUnavailable,
+			ErrDataLoss,
+			ErrUnauthenticated,
+			context.DeadlineExceeded,
+			context.Canceled:
+			return err
+		}
+		switch e := err.(type) {
+		case unknown:
+			return ErrUnknown
+		case invalidParameter:
+			return ErrInvalidArgument
+		case notFound:
+			return ErrNotFound
+		// Skip ErrAlreadyExists, no interface defined
+		case forbidden:
+			return ErrPermissionDenied
+		// Skip ErrResourceExhasuted, no interface defined
+		// Skip ErrFailedPrecondition, no interface defined
+		case conflict:
+			return ErrConflict
+		case notModified:
+			return ErrNotModified
+		// Skip ErrAborted, no interface defined
+		// Skip ErrOutOfRange, no interface defined
+		case notImplemented:
+			return ErrNotImplemented
+		case system:
+			return ErrInternal
+		case unavailable:
+			return ErrUnavailable
+		case dataLoss:
+			return ErrDataLoss
+		case unauthorized:
+			return ErrUnauthenticated
+		case deadlineExceeded:
+			return context.DeadlineExceeded
+		case cancelled:
+			return context.Canceled
+		case interface{ Unwrap() error }:
+			err = e.Unwrap()
+			if err == nil {
+				return nil
+			}
+		case interface{ Unwrap() []error }:
+			for _, ue := range e.Unwrap() {
+				if fe := firstError(ue); fe != nil {
+					return fe
+				}
+			}
+			return nil
+		default:
+			return nil
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/resolve_test.go b/resolve_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c05cae1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resolve_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+/*
+   Copyright The containerd Authors.
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package errdefs
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestResolve(t *testing.T) {
+	for i, tc := range []struct {
+		err      error
+		resolved error
+	}{
+		{nil, nil},
+		{wrap(ErrUnknown), ErrUnknown},
+		{wrap(ErrNotFound), ErrNotFound},
+		{wrap(ErrInvalidArgument), ErrInvalidArgument},
+		{wrap(ErrNotFound), ErrNotFound},
+		{wrap(ErrAlreadyExists), ErrAlreadyExists},
+		{wrap(ErrPermissionDenied), ErrPermissionDenied},
+		{wrap(ErrResourceExhausted), ErrResourceExhausted},
+		{wrap(ErrFailedPrecondition), ErrFailedPrecondition},
+		{wrap(ErrConflict), ErrConflict},
+		{wrap(ErrNotModified), ErrNotModified},
+		{wrap(ErrAborted), ErrAborted},
+		{wrap(ErrOutOfRange), ErrOutOfRange},
+		{wrap(ErrNotImplemented), ErrNotImplemented},
+		{wrap(ErrInternal), ErrInternal},
+		{wrap(ErrUnavailable), ErrUnavailable},
+		{wrap(ErrDataLoss), ErrDataLoss},
+		{wrap(ErrUnauthenticated), ErrUnauthenticated},
+		{wrap(context.DeadlineExceeded), context.DeadlineExceeded},
+		{wrap(context.Canceled), context.Canceled},
+		{errors.Join(errors.New("untyped"), wrap(ErrInvalidArgument)), ErrInvalidArgument},
+		{errors.Join(ErrConflict, ErrNotFound), ErrConflict},
+		{errors.New("untyped"), ErrUnknown},
+		{errors.Join(wrap(ErrUnauthenticated), ErrNotModified), ErrUnauthenticated},
+		{ErrDataLoss, ErrDataLoss},
+		{errors.Join(ErrOutOfRange), ErrOutOfRange},
+		{errors.Join(ErrNotImplemented, ErrInternal), ErrNotImplemented},
+		{context.Canceled, context.Canceled},
+		{testUnavailable{}, ErrUnavailable},
+		{wrap(testUnavailable{}), ErrUnavailable},
+		{errors.Join(testUnavailable{}, ErrPermissionDenied), ErrUnavailable},
+		{errors.Join(errors.New("untyped join")), ErrUnknown},
+		{errors.Join(errors.New("untyped1"), errors.New("untyped2")), ErrUnknown},
+	} {
+		name := fmt.Sprintf("%d-%s", i, errorString(tc.resolved))
+		tc := tc
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			resolved := Resolve(tc.err)
+			if resolved != tc.resolved {
+				t.Errorf("Expected %s, got %s", tc.resolved, resolved)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func wrap(err error) error {
+	err = fmt.Errorf("wrapped error: %w", err)
+	return fmt.Errorf("%w and also %w", err, ErrUnknown)
+}
+
+func errorString(err error) string {
+	if err == nil {
+		return "nil"
+	}
+	return err.Error()
+}
+
+type testUnavailable struct{}
+
+func (testUnavailable) Error() string { return "" }
+func (testUnavailable) Unavailable()  {}