diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/openai/realtime_segmenter.go b/core/http/endpoints/openai/realtime_segmenter.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..77116229f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/openai/realtime_segmenter.go
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package openai
+
+import "strings"
+
+// streamSegmenter accumulates streamed LLM text and emits complete utterance
+// segments (sentence/clause boundaries) so the realtime pipeline can hand each
+// segment to TTS as soon as it's complete, overlapping generation, synthesis
+// and playback instead of waiting for the whole reply.
+//
+// A segment is committed when a sentence terminator (. ! ?) is followed by
+// whitespace, or at a newline. Terminators not followed by whitespace (e.g.
+// decimals like "3.14" mid-stream) stay buffered until more text arrives or the
+// stream is flushed.
+type streamSegmenter struct {
+	buf strings.Builder
+}
+
+func isSentenceTerminator(b byte) bool {
+	return b == '.' || b == '!' || b == '?'
+}
+
+func isSpace(b byte) bool {
+	return b == ' ' || b == '\t' || b == '\n' || b == '\r'
+}
+
+// Push appends text to the buffer and returns any newly-completed segments,
+// trimmed of surrounding whitespace. Incomplete trailing text stays buffered.
+func (s *streamSegmenter) Push(text string) []string {
+	s.buf.WriteString(text)
+	cur := s.buf.String()
+
+	var segments []string
+	start := 0
+	for i := 0; i < len(cur); i++ {
+		cut := -1
+		switch {
+		case cur[i] == '\n':
+			cut = i // segment excludes the newline
+		case isSentenceTerminator(cur[i]) && i+1 < len(cur) && isSpace(cur[i+1]):
+			cut = i + 1 // segment includes the terminator
+		}
+		if cut >= 0 {
+			if seg := strings.TrimSpace(cur[start:cut]); seg != "" {
+				segments = append(segments, seg)
+			}
+			start = cut
+		}
+	}
+
+	rem := cur[start:]
+	s.buf.Reset()
+	s.buf.WriteString(rem)
+	return segments
+}
+
+// Flush returns the remaining buffered text (trimmed) and clears the buffer.
+func (s *streamSegmenter) Flush() string {
+	seg := strings.TrimSpace(s.buf.String())
+	s.buf.Reset()
+	return seg
+}
diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/openai/realtime_segmenter_test.go b/core/http/endpoints/openai/realtime_segmenter_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..13d9a8c78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/openai/realtime_segmenter_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package openai
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+// streamSegmenter turns a stream of LLM token text into complete sentence/clause
+// segments so TTS can start synthesizing before the full reply is generated.
+var _ = Describe("streamSegmenter", func() {
+	It("buffers partial text until a sentence terminator followed by space", func() {
+		var s streamSegmenter
+		Expect(s.Push("Hello")).To(BeEmpty())
+		Expect(s.Push(" world")).To(BeEmpty())
+		Expect(s.Push(". ")).To(Equal([]string{"Hello world."}))
+	})
+
+	It("emits each complete sentence and keeps the trailing partial buffered", func() {
+		var s streamSegmenter
+		Expect(s.Push("One. Two! Three")).To(Equal([]string{"One.", "Two!"}))
+		Expect(s.Flush()).To(Equal("Three"))
+	})
+
+	It("splits on newlines", func() {
+		var s streamSegmenter
+		Expect(s.Push("Line one\nLine two")).To(Equal([]string{"Line one"}))
+		Expect(s.Flush()).To(Equal("Line two"))
+	})
+
+	It("does not split decimals or mid-token punctuation", func() {
+		var s streamSegmenter
+		Expect(s.Push("Pi is 3.14 today")).To(BeEmpty())
+		Expect(s.Flush()).To(Equal("Pi is 3.14 today"))
+	})
+
+	It("flushes to empty when the buffer holds only consumed text", func() {
+		var s streamSegmenter
+		s.Push("Done. ")
+		Expect(s.Flush()).To(Equal(""))
+	})
+})