diff --git a/.jules/bolt.md b/.jules/bolt.md
index 99f4cf5..3644ef5 100644
--- a/.jules/bolt.md
+++ b/.jules/bolt.md
@@ -2,3 +2,7 @@
 **Learning:** In tight parsing loops in Rust (e.g., `normalize_keywords` and `remove_numeric_separators`), using `.chars().collect::<Vec<_>>()` introduces severe performance overhead due to O(N) memory allocation per operation. Similarly, repeatedly allocating new `String` instances for word extraction and `.to_ascii_lowercase()` within loops causes significant heap traffic.
 
 **Action:** When performing string transformations or extractions in high-frequency functions, prefer slicing directly with `&str`, checking bytes directly (e.g. `value.as_bytes()`) where possible (such as when scanning for single-byte ASCII characters), and using non-allocating comparison methods like `eq_ignore_ascii_case()` instead of allocating a lowercase string. Always avoid `.chars().collect::<Vec<_>>()` when a streaming iterator (`chars()` or `as_bytes()`) suffices.
+## 2026-08-12 - [Avoid String allocation during initial parsing segment split]
+**Learning:** In `split_segments`, constructing `Segment` previously performed `text.to_owned()` for every split segment. This caused unnecessary memory allocation, as the parsed segment string could just borrow from the original input `&str`.
+
+**Action:** Update parsing intermediate structs (like `Segment`) to carry string slices (`&'a str`) representing chunks of the input string rather than owning `String`s when they are only used briefly to route segments to transformation parsers.
diff --git a/compiler/rockql-parser/src/lib.rs b/compiler/rockql-parser/src/lib.rs
index 04e1d44..1ddfaa9 100644
--- a/compiler/rockql-parser/src/lib.rs
+++ b/compiler/rockql-parser/src/lib.rs
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ impl Display for Diagnostic {
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
-struct Segment {
-    text: String,
+struct Segment<'a> {
+    text: &'a str,
     span: Span,
 }
 
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ pub fn parse(source: &str) -> Result<Query, Vec<Diagnostic>> {
     let mut diagnostics = Vec::new();
 
     for segment in segments {
-        match parse_transform(&segment.text, segment.span) {
+        match parse_transform(segment.text, segment.span) {
             Ok(transform) => transforms.push(SpannedTransform::new(segment.span, transform)),
             Err(diagnostic) => diagnostics.push(diagnostic),
         }
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ pub fn format_source(source: &str) -> Result<String, Vec<Diagnostic>> {
     parse(source).map(|query| format!("{query}\n"))
 }
 
-fn split_segments(source: &str) -> Vec<Segment> {
+fn split_segments(source: &str) -> Vec<Segment<'_>> {
     let mut segments = Vec::new();
 
     for (line_index, line) in source.lines().enumerate() {
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ fn split_segments(source: &str) -> Vec<Segment> {
     segments
 }
 
-fn push_segment(segments: &mut Vec<Segment>, raw: &str, line: usize, byte_start: usize) {
+fn push_segment<'a>(segments: &mut Vec<Segment<'a>>, raw: &'a str, line: usize, byte_start: usize) {
     let text = raw.trim();
     if text.is_empty() {
         return;
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ fn push_segment(segments: &mut Vec<Segment>, raw: &str, line: usize, byte_start:
 
     let leading_bytes = raw.find(text).unwrap_or(0);
     segments.push(Segment {
-        text: text.to_owned(),
+        text,
         span: Span::new(line, byte_start + leading_bytes + 1),
     });
 }