diff --git a/modules/generic/src/main/scala-2/genericmapping2.scala b/modules/generic/src/main/scala-2/genericmapping2.scala
index e6460ed3..60fedab8 100644
--- a/modules/generic/src/main/scala-2/genericmapping2.scala
+++ b/modules/generic/src/main/scala-2/genericmapping2.scala
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ trait ScalaVersionSpecificGenericMappingLike[F[_]] extends Mapping[F] { self: Ge
       ): MkObjectCursorBuilder[T] =
       new MkObjectCursorBuilder[T] {
         def apply(tpe: Type): ObjectCursorBuilder[T] = {
-          def fieldMap: Map[String, (Context, T, Option[Cursor], Env) => Result[Cursor]] = {
+          def fieldMap: FieldMap[T] = {
             val keys: List[String] = unsafeToList[Symbol](keys0()).map(_.name)
             val elems = unsafeToList[CursorBuilder[Any]](elems0.instances)
             keys.zip(elems.zipWithIndex).map {
diff --git a/modules/generic/src/main/scala/Argument.scala b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/Argument.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5ddc75bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/Argument.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2016-2020 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA)
+// For license information see LICENSE or https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
+
+package edu.gemini.grackle
+package generic
+
+import edu.gemini.grackle._
+import edu.gemini.grackle.Query._
+import cats.syntax.all._
+
+final case class Argument[A](name: String, extract: Value => Option[A])
+final case class FieldArguments(query: String, extractors: List[Argument[_]])
+
+object FieldArguments {
+  def moveArgsToEnv(fieldArguments: List[FieldArguments]): PartialFunction[Select, Result[Query]] =
+    PartialFunction
+      .fromFunction[Select, Option[Result[Query]]] {
+        case Select(query, bindings, child) =>
+          fieldArguments.collectFirst {
+            case se if se.query === query => Result(Environment(buildEnv(bindings, se), Select(query, Nil, child)))
+          }
+      }
+      .andThen { case Some(value) => value }
+
+  def buildEnv(bindings: List[Binding], se: FieldArguments): Cursor.Env =
+    bindings.foldLeft(Cursor.Env.empty) {
+      case (accEnv, Binding(name, value)) =>
+        val newEnv = se.extractors
+          .collectFirst { case e if e.name === name => e.extract(value) }
+          .map(e => Cursor.Env(name -> e))
+          .getOrElse(Cursor.Env.empty)
+        accEnv.add(newEnv)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffMappingBuilder.scala b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffMappingBuilder.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e58b7a5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffMappingBuilder.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2016-2020 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA)
+// For license information see LICENSE or https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
+
+package edu.gemini.grackle
+package generic
+
+import edu.gemini.grackle._
+import cats._
+
+final case class EffMappingBuilder[F[_]](queries: List[EffQuery[F]]) {
+
+  def withQuery(eq: EffQuery[F]): EffMappingBuilder[F] = EffMappingBuilder(eq :: queries)
+
+  // NOTE - there's an assumption that schema must have a Query top-level type. This would go in docs.
+  def build(schema0: Schema)(implicit m: Monad[F]): GenericMapping[F] = {
+    val rootQueryType = schema0.ref("Query")
+    new GenericMapping[F] {
+      def effects: List[RootEffect]     = queries.map(_.buildRootEffect(this))
+      final override val schema: Schema = schema0
+      final override val typeMappings: List[TypeMapping] =
+        List(ObjectMapping(rootQueryType, effects))
+      final override val selectElaborator: QueryCompiler.SelectElaborator =
+        new QueryCompiler.SelectElaborator(
+          Map(rootQueryType -> FieldArguments.moveArgsToEnv(queries.flatMap(_.argExtractors)))
+        )
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+object EffMappingBuilder {
+  def empty[F[_]]: EffMappingBuilder[F] = EffMappingBuilder(Nil)
+  def single[F[_]](eq: EffQuery[F])     = EffMappingBuilder(List(eq))
+}
diff --git a/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffQuery.scala b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffQuery.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c1e76978
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffQuery.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2016-2020 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA)
+// For license information see LICENSE or https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
+
+package edu.gemini.grackle
+package generic
+
+import edu.gemini.grackle._
+import edu.gemini.grackle.Cursor.Env
+import cats._
+import cats.syntax.all._
+
+import scala.reflect.ClassTag
+
+final case class EffQuery[F[_]](
+    topLevelField: String,
+    argExtractors: List[FieldArguments],
+    effectfulCursor: (Path, Env) => F[Result[Cursor]]
+) {
+  def buildRootEffect(mapping: GenericMapping[F]): mapping.RootEffect =
+    mapping.RootEffect.computeCursor(topLevelField)((_, path, env) => effectfulCursor(path, env))
+}
+
+object EffQuery {
+  def noArgs[F[_]: MonadThrow, A: CursorBuilder](topLevelField: String, process: F[A]): EffQuery[F] =
+    EffQuery(topLevelField, Nil, effectfulCursor[F, A](_ => process.map(Result(_))))
+
+  def arg1[F[_]: MonadThrow, Arg1: ClassTag, A: CursorBuilder](
+      topLevelField: String,
+      process: Arg1 => F[A],
+      arg: Argument[Arg1]
+  ): EffQuery[F] =
+    EffQuery(
+      topLevelField,
+      List(FieldArguments(topLevelField, List(arg))),
+      effectfulCursor(processWithArg[F, Arg1, A](arg.name, _, process))
+    )
+
+  def arg2[F[_]: MonadThrow, Arg1: ClassTag, Arg2: ClassTag, A: CursorBuilder](
+      topLevelField: String,
+      process: (Arg1, Arg2) => F[A],
+      arg1: Argument[Arg1],
+      arg2: Argument[Arg2]
+  ): EffQuery[F] =
+    EffQuery(
+      topLevelField,
+      List(FieldArguments(topLevelField, List(arg1, arg2))),
+      effectfulCursor(processWithArg2[F, Arg1, Arg2, A](arg1.name, arg2.name, _, process.curried))
+    )
+
+  def arg3[F[_]: MonadThrow, Arg1: ClassTag, Arg2: ClassTag, Arg3: ClassTag, A: CursorBuilder](
+      topLevelField: String,
+      process: (Arg1, Arg2, Arg3) => F[A],
+      arg1: Argument[Arg1],
+      arg2: Argument[Arg2],
+      arg3: Argument[Arg3]
+  ): EffQuery[F] =
+    EffQuery(
+      topLevelField,
+      List(FieldArguments(topLevelField, List(arg1, arg2, arg3))),
+      effectfulCursor(processWithArg3[F, Arg1, Arg2,Arg3, A](arg1.name, arg2.name, arg3.name, _, process.curried))
+    )
+
+  def effectfulCursor[F[_]: MonadThrow, A: CursorBuilder](
+      process: Env => F[Result[A]]
+  )(path: Path, env: Env): F[Result[Cursor]] =
+    process(env)
+      .map(_.flatMap(GenericMapping.genericCursor(path, env, _)))
+      .handleError(e => Result.failure[Cursor](errorMessage(e)))
+
+  def processWithArg[F[_]: Applicative, Arg: ClassTag, A](
+      argName: String,
+      env: Env,
+      process: Arg => F[A]
+  ): F[Result[A]] =
+    argOrFail[Arg](argName, env).traverse(process)
+
+  def processWithArg2[F[_]: Applicative, Arg1: ClassTag, Arg2: ClassTag, A](
+      arg1Name: String,
+      arg2Name: String,
+      env: Env,
+      process: Arg1 => Arg2 => F[A]
+  ): F[Result[A]] =
+    argOrFail[Arg1](arg1Name, env).map(process).flatTraverse(processWithArg[F, Arg2, A](arg2Name, env, _))
+
+  def processWithArg3[F[_]: Applicative, Arg1: ClassTag, Arg2: ClassTag, Arg3: ClassTag, A](
+      arg1Name: String,
+      arg2Name: String,
+      arg3Name: String,
+      env: Env,
+      process: Arg1 => Arg2 => Arg3 => F[A]
+  ): F[Result[A]] =
+    argOrFail[Arg1](arg1Name, env)
+      .map(process)
+      .flatTraverse(processWithArg2[F, Arg2, Arg3, A](arg2Name, arg3Name, env, _))
+
+  private def argOrFail[Arg1: ClassTag](name: String, env: Env) =
+    env.get[Arg1](name).fold(missingArgFailure[Arg1](name, env))(Result(_))
+
+  private def missingArgFailure[A](argName: String, env: Env): Result[A] =
+    Result.failure[A](s"Missing argument `$argName` in $env")
+
+  private def errorMessage(error: Throwable): String =
+    Option(error.getMessage)
+      .orElse(Option(error.getCause).map(_.getMessage))
+      .getOrElse("Effectful query failed without a useful error message.")
+}
diff --git a/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffQueryBuilder.scala b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffQueryBuilder.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7515d132
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/EffQueryBuilder.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2016-2020 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA)
+// For license information see LICENSE or https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
+
+package edu.gemini.grackle
+package generic
+
+import edu.gemini.grackle._
+import cats._
+
+import scala.reflect.ClassTag
+
+object EffQueryBuilder {
+  def noArgs[F[_]] = EffQueryBuilder[F](Nil)
+}
+
+// TODO split this out into an external facing module, with internal separate. Make the intention obvious.
+final case class EffQueryBuilder[F[_]](argExtractors: List[FieldArguments]) {
+  def withInt(name: String)    = withArg[Int](name)
+  def withId(name: String)     = withArgPf[String](name, { case Value.IDValue(s) => s })
+  def withString(name: String) = withArg[String](name)
+  def withFloat(name: String)  = withArg[Double](name)
+  def withBool(name: String)   = withArg[Boolean](name)
+
+  def withArg[Arg: FromQueryValue: ClassTag](name: String) =
+    withArgPf[Arg](name, FromQueryValue.toPartialFunction[Arg])
+
+  def withArgPf[Arg: ClassTag](name: String, extractor: PartialFunction[Value, Arg]): EffQueryBuilderArg1[F, Arg] =
+    EffQueryBuilderArg1(Argument(name, extractor.lift))
+
+  def build[A: CursorBuilder](query: String, process: F[A])(implicit f: MonadThrow[F]): EffQuery[F] = EffQuery.noArgs(query, process)
+
+}
+
+final case class EffQueryBuilderArg1[F[_], Arg1: ClassTag](arg: Argument[Arg1]) {
+  def withInt(name: String)    = withArg[Int](name)
+  def withId(name: String)     = withArgPf[String](name, { case Value.IDValue(s) => s })
+  def withString(name: String) = withArg[String](name)
+  def withFloat(name: String)  = withArg[Double](name)
+  def withBool(name: String)   = withArg[Boolean](name)
+
+  def withArg[Arg: FromQueryValue: ClassTag](name: String) =
+    withArgPf[Arg](name, FromQueryValue.toPartialFunction[Arg])
+
+  def withArgPf[Arg: ClassTag](
+      name: String,
+      extractor: PartialFunction[Value, Arg]
+  ): EffQueryBuilderArg2[F, Arg1, Arg] =
+    EffQueryBuilderArg2(arg, Argument(name, extractor.lift))
+
+  def build[A: CursorBuilder](query: String, process: Arg1 => F[A])(implicit f: MonadThrow[F]): EffQuery[F] =
+    EffQuery.arg1(query, process, arg)
+}
+
+final case class EffQueryBuilderArg2[F[_], Arg1: ClassTag, Arg2: ClassTag](
+    arg1: Argument[Arg1],
+    arg2: Argument[Arg2]
+) {
+
+  def build[A: CursorBuilder](query: String, process: (Arg1, Arg2) => F[A])(implicit f: MonadThrow[F]): EffQuery[F] =
+    EffQuery.arg2(query, process, arg1, arg2)
+}
diff --git a/modules/generic/src/main/scala/FromQueryValue.scala b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/FromQueryValue.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..253ee8c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/FromQueryValue.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2016-2020 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA)
+// For license information see LICENSE or https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
+
+package edu.gemini.grackle
+package generic
+
+import edu.gemini.grackle._
+import cats.syntax.all._
+
+import scala.util.Try
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime
+
+trait FromQueryValue[A] {
+  def attempt(value: Value): Option[A]
+
+  final def flatMap[B](f: A => Option[B]): FromQueryValue[B] = attempt(_).flatMap(f)
+}
+
+object FromQueryValue {
+  def apply[A: FromQueryValue] = implicitly[FromQueryValue[A]]
+  def toPartialFunction[A: FromQueryValue]: PartialFunction[Value, A] =
+    PartialFunction.fromFunction(FromQueryValue[A].attempt).andThen { case Some(a) => a }
+
+  implicit val string: FromQueryValue[String] = {
+    case Value.StringValue(s) => Some(s)
+    case _                    => None
+  }
+
+  implicit val float: FromQueryValue[Double] = {
+    case Value.FloatValue(s) => Some(s)
+    case _                   => None
+  }
+
+  implicit val int: FromQueryValue[Int] = {
+    case Value.IntValue(s) => Some(s)
+    case _                 => None
+  }
+
+  implicit val bool: FromQueryValue[Boolean] = {
+    case Value.BooleanValue(s) => Some(s)
+    case _                     => None
+  }
+
+  implicit val zdt: FromQueryValue[ZonedDateTime] = string.flatMap(s => Try(ZonedDateTime.parse(s)).toOption)
+
+  implicit def opt[A: FromQueryValue]: FromQueryValue[Option[A]] = FromQueryValue[A].attempt(_).map(Option(_))
+
+  implicit def list[A: FromQueryValue]: FromQueryValue[List[A]] = {
+    case Value.ListValue(elems) => elems.traverse(x => FromQueryValue[A].attempt(x))
+    case _                      => None
+  }
+}
diff --git a/modules/generic/src/main/scala/genericmapping.scala b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/genericmapping.scala
index 726d1495..b95535a7 100644
--- a/modules/generic/src/main/scala/genericmapping.scala
+++ b/modules/generic/src/main/scala/genericmapping.scala
@@ -16,11 +16,8 @@ trait GenericMappingLike[F[_]] extends ScalaVersionSpecificGenericMappingLike[F]
   
   type CursorBuilder[T] = edu.gemini.grackle.generic.CursorBuilder[T]
 
-  def genericCursor[T](path: Path, env: Env, t: T)(implicit cb: => CursorBuilder[T]): Result[Cursor] =
-    if(path.isRoot)
-      cb.build(Context(path.rootTpe), t, None, env)
-    else
-      DeferredCursor(path, (context, parent) => cb.build(context, t, Some(parent), env)).rightIor
+  def genericCursor[T](path: Path, env: Env, t: T)(implicit cb: => CursorBuilder[T]): Result[Cursor] = 
+    GenericMapping.genericCursor(path, env, t)(cb)
 
   override def mkCursorForField(parent: Cursor, fieldName: String, resultName: Option[String]): Result[Cursor] = {
     val context = parent.context
@@ -56,3 +53,11 @@ trait GenericMappingLike[F[_]] extends ScalaVersionSpecificGenericMappingLike[F]
     def transformField[U](fieldName: String)(f: T => Result[U])(implicit cb: => CursorBuilder[U]): ObjectCursorBuilder[T]
   }
 }
+
+object GenericMapping {
+  def genericCursor[T](path: Path, env: Env, t: T)(implicit cb: => CursorBuilder[T]): Result[Cursor] =
+    if(path.isRoot)
+      cb.build(Context(path.rootTpe), t, None, env)
+    else
+      DeferredCursor(path, (context, parent) => cb.build(context, t, Some(parent), env)).rightIor
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modules/generic/src/test/scala/effectssimple.scala b/modules/generic/src/test/scala/effectssimple.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a31c8ec1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/generic/src/test/scala/effectssimple.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2016-2020 Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA)
+// For license information see LICENSE or https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
+
+package edu.gemini.grackle
+package generic
+
+import edu.gemini.grackle.syntax._
+import cats.tests.CatsSuite
+import cats.effect.unsafe.implicits.global
+import cats.effect.IO
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime
+import io.circe.Json
+
+// Higher-level example to demonstrate building a read-only mapping backed by effectful functions
+object BlogMapping {
+  val schema =
+    schema"""
+      type Query {
+        blog(id: ID): Blog
+        blogs(before: DateTime, ids: [ID!]): [Blog!]!
+      }
+
+      scalar Uri
+      scalar DateTime
+
+      type Blog {
+        id: ID!
+        title: String!
+        link: Uri!
+        date: DateTime!
+      }
+    """
+
+  def blogs: List[Blog] =
+    List(
+      Blog("hello-world", "", "", ZonedDateTime.now())
+    )
+
+  def blogProcessor(id: String): IO[Option[Blog]] =
+    IO {
+      blogs.find(_.id == id)
+    }
+
+  def blogsProcessor(maybeBefore: Option[ZonedDateTime], ids: Option[List[String]]): IO[List[Blog]] =
+    IO {
+      val before = maybeBefore.getOrElse(ZonedDateTime.now())
+      ids match {
+        case None        => blogs.filter(_.dateTime.isBefore(before))
+        case Some(value) => blogs.filter(x => x.dateTime.isBefore(before) && value.contains(x.id))
+      }
+    }
+
+}
+
+final case class Blog(id: String, title: String, link: String, dateTime: ZonedDateTime)
+
+object Blog {
+  // TODO: It's not currently possible to write this instance due to the scope of `semiauto`
+  // and there not being a way to manually define a `CursorBuilder`. This is the final piece, other than polishing the API
+  // (Clean up argument building, extract type classes, etc).
+  implicit def cb: CursorBuilder[Blog] = ???
+}
+
+final class BlogMappingSpec extends CatsSuite {
+  import BlogMapping._
+
+  test("generic effect") {
+    val query = """
+      query {
+        blog(id: "hello-world") {
+          title
+          dateTime
+        }
+      }
+    """
+
+    val expected = json"""
+      {
+        "data" : {
+          "foo" : {
+            "s" : "hi",
+            "n" : 42
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    """
+
+    val blogsQuery: EffQuery[IO] = EffQueryBuilder
+      .noArgs[IO]
+      .withArg[Option[ZonedDateTime]]("before")
+      .withArg[Option[List[String]]]("ids")
+      .build("blogs", blogsProcessor(_, _))
+
+    val blogQuery: EffQuery[IO] =
+      EffQueryBuilder.noArgs[IO].withString("id").build("blog", blogProcessor(_))
+
+    val thingy: GenericMapping[IO] =
+      EffMappingBuilder
+        .single[IO](blogQuery)
+        .withQuery(blogsQuery)
+        .build(BlogMapping.schema)
+
+    val result: Json = thingy.compileAndRun(query).unsafeRunSync()
+    // println(result)
+
+    assert(result == expected)
+  }
+}