diff --git a/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions/EquipmentTagRefResolver.cs b/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions/EquipmentTagRefResolver.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ca71667c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions/EquipmentTagRefResolver.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+using System.Collections.Concurrent;
+
+namespace ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions;
+
+/// <summary>
+///     Resolves a driver subscription/read/write <c>fullReference</c> to a driver tag-definition,
+///     bridging the two authoring models: a legacy authored tag-table entry (looked up by name)
+///     OR an equipment tag whose reference is its raw <c>TagConfig</c> JSON (parsed on first use
+///     and cached). Negative results are cached too, so a genuinely-unknown reference is parsed once.
+/// </summary>
+/// <typeparam name="TDef">The driver's internal tag-definition type.</typeparam>
+public sealed class EquipmentTagRefResolver<TDef> where TDef : class
+{
+    private readonly Func<string, TDef?> _byName;
+    private readonly Func<string, TDef?> _parseRef;
+    private readonly ConcurrentDictionary<string, TDef?> _cache = new(StringComparer.Ordinal);
+
+    /// <param name="byName">Authored tag-table lookup (returns null on miss).</param>
+    /// <param name="parseRef">Parses an equipment-tag reference (TagConfig JSON) into a transient def, or null.</param>
+    public EquipmentTagRefResolver(Func<string, TDef?> byName, Func<string, TDef?> parseRef)
+    {
+        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(byName);
+        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(parseRef);
+        _byName = byName;
+        _parseRef = parseRef;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>True when <paramref name="fullReference"/> resolves to a def (authored or equipment).</summary>
+    /// <param name="fullReference">The wire reference handed to the driver.</param>
+    /// <param name="def">The resolved tag-definition when this returns true.</param>
+    /// <returns><see langword="true"/> when a definition was found.</returns>
+    public bool TryResolve(string fullReference, out TDef def)
+    {
+        var authored = _byName(fullReference);
+        if (authored is not null) { def = authored; return true; }
+
+        var resolved = _cache.GetOrAdd(fullReference, _parseRef);
+        if (resolved is not null) { def = resolved; return true; }
+
+        def = null!;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Drops the transient-parse cache (call on driver reinitialise so a config change re-parses).</summary>
+    public void Clear() => _cache.Clear();
+}
diff --git a/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions.Tests/EquipmentTagRefResolverTests.cs b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions.Tests/EquipmentTagRefResolverTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d6b5f498
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions.Tests/EquipmentTagRefResolverTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+using Shouldly;
+using ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.Abstractions.Tests;
+
+public class EquipmentTagRefResolverTests
+{
+    private sealed record Def(string Id);
+
+    private static EquipmentTagRefResolver<Def> Make(
+        Dictionary<string, Def> byName, Func<string, Def?> parse)
+        => new(r => byName.TryGetValue(r, out var d) ? d : null, parse);
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Legacy_name_resolves_via_byName()
+    {
+        var r = Make(new() { ["Temp"] = new Def("Temp") }, _ => null);
+        r.TryResolve("Temp", out var def).ShouldBeTrue();
+        def!.Id.ShouldBe("Temp");
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Equipment_ref_resolves_via_parse_and_is_cached()
+    {
+        var calls = 0;
+        var r = Make(new(), reference => { calls++; return reference.StartsWith("{") ? new Def(reference) : null; });
+        r.TryResolve("{\"a\":1}", out var d1).ShouldBeTrue();
+        r.TryResolve("{\"a\":1}", out var d2).ShouldBeTrue();
+        d1!.Id.ShouldBe("{\"a\":1}");
+        calls.ShouldBe(1);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Garbage_ref_returns_false_and_caches_negative()
+    {
+        var calls = 0;
+        var r = Make(new(), _ => { calls++; return null; });
+        r.TryResolve("nope", out _).ShouldBeFalse();
+        r.TryResolve("nope", out _).ShouldBeFalse();
+        calls.ShouldBe(1);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Clear_drops_transient_cache()
+    {
+        var calls = 0;
+        var r = Make(new(), reference => { calls++; return new Def(reference); });
+        r.TryResolve("{\"a\":1}", out _).ShouldBeTrue();
+        r.Clear();
+        r.TryResolve("{\"a\":1}", out _).ShouldBeTrue();
+        calls.ShouldBe(2);
+    }
+}