diff --git a/chat/services/turn_parse.py b/chat/services/turn_parse.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df721dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chat/services/turn_parse.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+"""Turn input parser.
+
+Service-layer function that splits a user's authored turn into typed
+segments — ``dialogue``, ``action``, or ``ooc`` (out-of-character).
+
+Per Requirements §6.1 a turn is mixed prose with three conventions:
+
+- ``*action*`` (single asterisks around prose) → action segment.
+- Quoted text, or bare prose between the conventions → dialogue.
+- ``((double parens))`` → OOC, the author talking to the system rather
+  than the bot. Downstream (T19) strips OOC from the prompt sent to the
+  bot but keeps it in the transcript display.
+
+A regex-based splitter would brittle on edge cases (unclosed asterisks,
+nested quotes, mixed punctuation), so v1 delegates the segmentation to
+the classifier. The configurable ``Settings.ooc_marker`` is *not* read
+here: the classifier figures OOC out from ``((`` ``))`` regardless of
+config-time choice; marker-based stripping is a downstream concern.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+from chat.llm.classify import classify
+from chat.llm.client import LLMClient
+
+
+class TurnSegment(BaseModel):
+    """One classified piece of a turn.
+
+    ``kind`` is kept as a plain ``str`` (not a ``Literal``) so an
+    unexpected classifier output doesn't crash parsing — callers that
+    care about specific values can check defensively.
+    """
+
+    kind: str  # "dialogue" | "action" | "ooc"
+    text: str
+
+
+class ParsedTurn(BaseModel):
+    """A turn split into ordered, typed segments."""
+
+    segments: list[TurnSegment]
+
+
+_SYSTEM_PROMPT = (
+    "You are splitting a roleplay turn into typed segments. The input "
+    "is mixed prose with three conventions:\n"
+    "- *text in single asterisks* is an ACTION segment.\n"
+    "- \"quoted text\" or bare prose between conventions is a DIALOGUE segment.\n"
+    "- ((text in double parens)) is an OOC (out-of-character) segment — "
+    "the author talking to the system, not the in-fiction bot.\n\n"
+    "Output a JSON object with shape "
+    '{"segments": [{"kind": "...", "text": "..."}, ...]} '
+    "where each ``kind`` is exactly one of: dialogue, action, ooc. "
+    "Preserve the original substring text as ``text``: do not rewrite, "
+    "translate, or normalize punctuation — strip only the marker "
+    "characters (asterisks, surrounding quotes, double parens) so "
+    "``text`` is the inner content. Emit segments in the order they "
+    "appear in the input."
+)
+
+
+async def parse_turn(
+    client: LLMClient,
+    *,
+    model: str,
+    prose: str,
+    timeout_s: float = 10.0,
+) -> ParsedTurn:
+    """Parse a user turn into typed segments.
+
+    Calls :func:`chat.llm.classify.classify` under the hood. Empty or
+    whitespace-only prose short-circuits to an empty ``ParsedTurn``
+    without an LLM call (the classifier would error on empty input
+    anyway, and the result is unambiguous).
+
+    Raises ``RuntimeError`` if the classifier fails twice — no default
+    is supplied, since the caller (T19's turn flow) is responsible for
+    surfacing the error to the user.
+    """
+    if not prose.strip():
+        return ParsedTurn(segments=[])
+
+    user_prompt = f"INPUT:\n{prose}"
+    return await classify(
+        client,
+        model=model,
+        system=_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
+        user=user_prompt,
+        schema=ParsedTurn,
+        timeout_s=timeout_s,
+    )
diff --git a/tests/test_turn_parse.py b/tests/test_turn_parse.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3246bd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_turn_parse.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import json
+
+import pytest
+
+from chat.llm.mock import MockLLMClient
+from chat.services.turn_parse import (
+    ParsedTurn,
+    TurnSegment,
+    parse_turn,
+)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_parse_turn_three_segment_happy_path():
+    canned = json.dumps(
+        {
+            "segments": [
+                {"kind": "action", "text": "walks over"},
+                {"kind": "dialogue", "text": "Hey."},
+                {"kind": "ooc", "text": "player note"},
+            ]
+        }
+    )
+    mock = MockLLMClient(canned=[canned])
+    result = await parse_turn(
+        mock,
+        model="m",
+        prose='*walks over* "Hey." ((player note))',
+    )
+    assert isinstance(result, ParsedTurn)
+    assert len(result.segments) == 3
+    kinds = [s.kind for s in result.segments]
+    assert kinds == ["action", "dialogue", "ooc"]
+    texts = [s.text for s in result.segments]
+    assert texts == ["walks over", "Hey.", "player note"]
+    assert all(isinstance(s, TurnSegment) for s in result.segments)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_parse_turn_pure_dialogue_single_segment():
+    canned = json.dumps(
+        {
+            "segments": [
+                {"kind": "dialogue", "text": "Hello there"},
+            ]
+        }
+    )
+    mock = MockLLMClient(canned=[canned])
+    result = await parse_turn(
+        mock,
+        model="m",
+        prose='"Hello there"',
+    )
+    assert isinstance(result, ParsedTurn)
+    assert len(result.segments) == 1
+    assert result.segments[0].kind == "dialogue"
+    assert result.segments[0].text == "Hello there"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_parse_turn_empty_prose_short_circuits_without_classifier_call():
+    # No canned responses provided — if classify() is invoked it will raise
+    # IndexError on the empty list. The short-circuit must prevent that.
+    mock = MockLLMClient(canned=[])
+    result = await parse_turn(mock, model="m", prose="")
+    assert isinstance(result, ParsedTurn)
+    assert result.segments == []
+
+    # Whitespace-only prose must also short-circuit.
+    result_ws = await parse_turn(mock, model="m", prose="   \n\t  ")
+    assert isinstance(result_ws, ParsedTurn)
+    assert result_ws.segments == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_parse_turn_raises_when_classifier_fails_twice():
+    mock = MockLLMClient(canned=["nope", "still nope"])
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):
+        await parse_turn(
+            mock,
+            model="m",
+            prose='*shrugs* "whatever"',
+        )