diff --git a/zclparse/parser.go b/zclparse/parser.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06c1234
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zclparse/parser.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package parser
+
+import (
+	"github.com/apparentlymart/go-zcl/zcl"
+	"github.com/apparentlymart/go-zcl/zcl/json"
+)
+
+// NOTE: This is the public interface for parsing. The actual parsers are
+// in other packages alongside this one, with this package just wrapping them
+// to provide a unified interface for the caller across all supported formats.
+
+// Parser is the main interface for parsing configuration files. As well as
+// parsing files, a parser also retains a registry of all of the files it
+// has parsed so that multiple attempts to parse the same file will return
+// the same object and so the collected files can be used when printing
+// diagnostics.
+//
+// Any diagnostics for parsing a file are only returned once on the first
+// call to parse that file. Callers are expected to collect up diagnostics
+// and present them together, so returning diagnostics for the same file
+// multiple times would create a confusing result.
+type Parser struct {
+	files map[string]*zcl.File
+}
+
+// ParseJSON parses the given JSON buffer (which is assumed to have been loaded
+// from the given filename) and returns the zcl.File object representing it.
+func (p *Parser) ParseJSON(src []byte, filename string) (*zcl.File, zcl.Diagnostics) {
+	if existing := p.files[filename]; existing != nil {
+		return existing, nil
+	}
+
+	file, diags := json.Parse(src, filename)
+	p.files[filename] = file
+	return file, diags
+}
+
+// ParseJSONFile reads the given filename and parses it as JSON, similarly to
+// ParseJSON. An error diagnostic is returned if the given file cannot be read.
+func (p *Parser) ParseJSONFile(filename string) (*zcl.File, zcl.Diagnostics) {
+	if existing := p.files[filename]; existing != nil {
+		return existing, nil
+	}
+
+	file, diags := json.ParseFile(filename)
+	p.files[filename] = file
+	return file, diags
+}
+
+// AddFile allows a caller to record in a parser a file that was parsed some
+// other way, thus allowing it to be included in the registry of sources.
+func (p *Parser) AddFile(filename string, file *zcl.File) {
+	p.files[filename] = file
+}
+
+// Sources returns a map from filenames to the raw source code that was
+// read from them. This is intended to be used, for example, to print
+// diagnostics with contextual information.
+//
+// The arrays underlying the returned slices should not be modified.
+func (p *Parser) Sources() map[string][]byte {
+	ret := make(map[string][]byte)
+	for fn, f := range p.files {
+		ret[fn] = f.Bytes
+	}
+	return ret
+}