diff --git a/src/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip.Contracts/AbCipEquipmentTagParser.cs b/src/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip.Contracts/AbCipEquipmentTagParser.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..de2bef82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip.Contracts/AbCipEquipmentTagParser.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+using System.Text.Json;
+
+namespace ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip;
+
+/// <summary>Parses an equipment tag's <c>TagConfig</c> JSON (the shape authored by the AdminUI
+/// <c>AbCipTagConfigModel</c>) into a transient <see cref="AbCipTagDefinition"/> whose
+/// <see cref="AbCipTagDefinition.Name"/> equals the reference string itself, so a value the
+/// driver publishes back keys the runtime's forward router correctly.</summary>
+public static class AbCipEquipmentTagParser
+{
+    /// <summary>Attempts to parse an equipment-tag reference into a transient definition.</summary>
+    /// <param name="reference">The equipment tag's TagConfig JSON (also used as the def identity).</param>
+    /// <param name="def">The transient definition when parsing succeeds.</param>
+    /// <returns><see langword="true"/> when <paramref name="reference"/> is an AbCip TagConfig object.</returns>
+    public static bool TryParse(string reference, out AbCipTagDefinition def)
+    {
+        def = null!;
+        // Authored tag names never start with '{' (AdminUI name validation), so a leading brace marks an equipment-tag TagConfig blob.
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(reference) || reference[0] != '{') return false;
+        try
+        {
+            using var doc = JsonDocument.Parse(reference);
+            var root = doc.RootElement;
+            // AbCip is a symbolic driver: the mandatory addressing field is the Logix tag path.
+            if (root.ValueKind != JsonValueKind.Object
+                || !root.TryGetProperty("tagPath", out var tagPathEl)
+                || tagPathEl.ValueKind != JsonValueKind.String)
+                return false;
+            var tagPath = tagPathEl.GetString();
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(tagPath)) return false;
+
+            var deviceHostAddress = ReadString(root, "deviceHostAddress");
+            var dataType = ReadEnum(root, "dataType", AbCipDataType.DInt);
+            def = new AbCipTagDefinition(
+                Name: reference, DeviceHostAddress: deviceHostAddress, TagPath: tagPath,
+                DataType: dataType, Writable: true);
+            return true;
+        }
+        catch (JsonException) { return false; }
+        catch (FormatException) { return false; }
+        catch (InvalidOperationException) { return false; }
+    }
+
+    private static TEnum ReadEnum<TEnum>(JsonElement o, string name, TEnum fallback) where TEnum : struct, Enum
+        => o.TryGetProperty(name, out var e) && e.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.String
+           && Enum.TryParse<TEnum>(e.GetString(), ignoreCase: true, out var v) ? v : fallback;
+
+    private static string ReadString(JsonElement o, string name)
+        => o.TryGetProperty(name, out var e) && e.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.String
+           ? e.GetString() ?? "" : "";
+}
diff --git a/src/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip/AbCipDriver.cs b/src/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip/AbCipDriver.cs
index bb53fc21..ff04db65 100644
--- a/src/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip/AbCipDriver.cs
+++ b/src/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip/AbCipDriver.cs
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ public sealed class AbCipDriver : IDriver, IReadable, IWritable, ITagDiscovery,
     private readonly PollGroupEngine _poll;
     private readonly Dictionary<string, DeviceState> _devices = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
     private readonly Dictionary<string, AbCipTagDefinition> _tagsByName = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+
+    // Resolves a read/write/subscribe fullReference to a tag definition, bridging the two
+    // authoring models: an authored tag-table entry (by name) OR an equipment tag whose
+    // reference is its raw TagConfig JSON (parsed once via AbCipEquipmentTagParser, cached).
+    private readonly EquipmentTagRefResolver<AbCipTagDefinition> _resolver;
+
     private readonly ILogger<AbCipDriver> _logger;
     private AbCipAlarmProjection _alarmProjection;
     private DriverHealth _health = new(DriverState.Unknown, null, null);
@@ -73,6 +79,9 @@ public sealed class AbCipDriver : IDriver, IReadable, IWritable, ITagDiscovery,
         _enumeratorFactory = enumeratorFactory ?? new LibplctagTagEnumeratorFactory();
         _templateReaderFactory = templateReaderFactory ?? new LibplctagTemplateReaderFactory();
         _logger = logger ?? NullLogger<AbCipDriver>.Instance;
+        _resolver = new EquipmentTagRefResolver<AbCipTagDefinition>(
+            r => _tagsByName.TryGetValue(r, out var t) ? t : null,
+            r => AbCipEquipmentTagParser.TryParse(r, out var d) ? d : null);
         _poll = new PollGroupEngine(
             reader: ReadAsync,
             onChange: (handle, tagRef, snapshot) =>
@@ -300,6 +309,7 @@ public sealed class AbCipDriver : IDriver, IReadable, IWritable, ITagDiscovery,
         }
         _devices.Clear();
         _tagsByName.Clear();
+        _resolver.Clear(); // drop transient equipment-tag parses so a config change re-parses
         _health = new DriverHealth(DriverState.Unknown, _health.LastSuccessfulRead, null);
     }
 
@@ -497,7 +507,7 @@ public sealed class AbCipDriver : IDriver, IReadable, IWritable, ITagDiscovery,
     private async Task ReadSingleAsync(
         AbCipUdtReadFallback fb, string reference, DataValueSnapshot[] results, DateTime now, CancellationToken ct)
     {
-        if (!_tagsByName.TryGetValue(reference, out var def))
+        if (!_resolver.TryResolve(reference, out var def))
         {
             results[fb.OriginalIndex] = new DataValueSnapshot(null, AbCipStatusMapper.BadNodeIdUnknown, null, now);
             return;
@@ -653,7 +663,7 @@ public sealed class AbCipDriver : IDriver, IReadable, IWritable, ITagDiscovery,
         for (var i = 0; i < writes.Count; i++)
         {
             var w = writes[i];
-            if (!_tagsByName.TryGetValue(w.FullReference, out var def))
+            if (!_resolver.TryResolve(w.FullReference, out var def))
             {
                 results[i] = new WriteResult(AbCipStatusMapper.BadNodeIdUnknown);
                 continue;
diff --git a/tests/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip.Tests/AbCipEquipmentTagTests.cs b/tests/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip.Tests/AbCipEquipmentTagTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b1086ff3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Drivers/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip.Tests/AbCipEquipmentTagTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+using Shouldly;
+using Xunit;
+using ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip;
+
+namespace ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip.Tests;
+
+[Trait("Category", "Unit")]
+public class AbCipEquipmentTagTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public void Parses_equipment_tagconfig_into_a_transient_definition()
+    {
+        var json = """{"deviceHostAddress":"ab://10.0.0.5/1,0","tagPath":"Motor1.Speed","dataType":"Real"}""";
+        AbCipEquipmentTagParser.TryParse(json, out var def).ShouldBeTrue();
+        def!.Name.ShouldBe(json);
+        def.TagPath.ShouldBe("Motor1.Speed");
+        def.DeviceHostAddress.ShouldBe("ab://10.0.0.5/1,0");
+        def.DataType.ShouldBe(AbCipDataType.Real);
+        def.Writable.ShouldBeTrue();
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Defaults_optional_fields_when_only_the_mandatory_tagPath_is_present()
+    {
+        var json = """{"tagPath":"PT_101"}""";
+        AbCipEquipmentTagParser.TryParse(json, out var def).ShouldBeTrue();
+        def!.Name.ShouldBe(json);
+        def.TagPath.ShouldBe("PT_101");
+        def.DeviceHostAddress.ShouldBe(""); // absent → empty, matching AbCipTagConfigModel default
+        def.DataType.ShouldBe(AbCipDataType.DInt); // AbCipTagConfigModel's default atomic type
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Rejects_a_non_abcip_blob()
+        => AbCipEquipmentTagParser.TryParse("""{"region":"x"}""", out _).ShouldBeFalse();
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Rejects_a_blob_with_an_empty_tagPath()
+        => AbCipEquipmentTagParser.TryParse("""{"tagPath":"  ","dataType":"DInt"}""", out _).ShouldBeFalse();
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Rejects_tagPath_given_as_a_non_string()
+        => AbCipEquipmentTagParser.TryParse("""{"tagPath":42}""", out _).ShouldBeFalse();
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Rejects_garbage()
+        => AbCipEquipmentTagParser.TryParse("not json", out _).ShouldBeFalse();
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Rejects_a_plain_authored_name_without_a_leading_brace()
+        => AbCipEquipmentTagParser.TryParse("Motor1.Speed", out _).ShouldBeFalse();
+
+    /// <summary>
+    ///     End-to-end driver-level proof: an AbCip driver with NO authored tags can still read an
+    ///     equipment-tag ref (the raw TagConfig JSON) — the resolver parses it into a transient
+    ///     definition (whose DeviceHostAddress names a configured device) and the read goes to the
+    ///     wire instead of returning BadNodeIdUnknown.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Driver_resolves_an_equipment_ref_and_reads_instead_of_BadNodeIdUnknown()
+    {
+        var json = """{"deviceHostAddress":"ab://10.0.0.5/1,0","tagPath":"Motor1.Speed","dataType":"DInt"}""";
+        var factory = new FakeAbCipTagFactory();
+        var opts = new AbCipDriverOptions
+        {
+            Devices = [new AbCipDeviceOptions("ab://10.0.0.5/1,0")],
+            Tags = [],
+        };
+        var drv = new AbCipDriver(opts, "abcip-eq", factory);
+        await drv.InitializeAsync("{}", CancellationToken.None);
+        factory.Customise = p => new FakeAbCipTag(p) { Value = 4242 };
+
+        var snapshots = await drv.ReadAsync([json], CancellationToken.None);
+
+        snapshots.Single().StatusCode.ShouldBe(AbCipStatusMapper.Good);
+        snapshots.Single().StatusCode.ShouldNotBe(AbCipStatusMapper.BadNodeIdUnknown);
+        snapshots.Single().Value.ShouldBe(4242);
+    }
+}