diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9c9f6ae..5d49e9d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ export default handler(request, response) {
 
 ### Verification
 
-#### `async verifyRequestByKeyId(rawBody, signature, keyId, options)`
+<a name=verifyRequestByKeyId></a>
+
+#### `async verifyRequestByKeyId(rawBody, signature, keyId, requestOptions)`
 
 Verify the request payload using the provided signature and key ID. The method will request the public key from GitHub's API for the given keyId and then verify the payload.
 
@@ -202,6 +204,87 @@ import { createDoneEvent } from "@copilot-extensions/preview-sdk";
 response.write(createDoneEvent().toString());
 ```
 
+### Parsing
+
+<a name="parseRequestBody"></a>
+
+#### `parseRequestBody(body)`
+
+Parses the raw request body and returns an object with type support.
+
+⚠️ **It's well possible that the type is not 100% correct. Please send pull requests to `index.d.ts` to improve it**
+
+```js
+import { parseRequestBody } from "@copilot-extensions/preview-sdk";
+
+const payload = parseRequestBody(rawBody);
+// When your IDE supports types, typing "payload." should prompt the available keys and their types.
+```
+
+#### `transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility()`
+
+For cases when you want to pipe a user request directly to OpenAI, use this method to remove Copilot-specific fields from the request payload.
+
+```js
+import { transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility } from "@copilot-extensions/preview-sdk";
+import { OpenAI } from "openai";
+
+const openaiPayload = transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility(payload);
+
+const openai = new OpenAI({ apiKey: OPENAI_API_KEY });
+const stream = openai.beta.chat.completions.stream({
+  ...openaiPayload,
+  model: "gpt-4-1106-preview",
+  stream: true,
+});
+```
+
+#### `verifyAndParseRequest()`
+
+Convenience method to verify and parse a request in one go. It calls [`verifyRequestByKeyId()`](#verifyRequestByKeyId) and [`parseRequestBody()`](#parseRequestBody) internally.
+
+```js
+import { verifyAndParseRequest } from "@copilot-extensions/preview-sdk";
+
+const { isValidRequest, payload } = await verifyAndParseRequest(
+  request,
+  signature,
+  key
+);
+
+if (!isValidRequest) {
+  throw new Error("Request could not be verified");
+}
+
+// `payload` has type support.
+```
+
+#### `getUserMessage()`
+
+Convencience method to get the user's message from the request payload.
+
+```js
+import { getUserMessage } from "@copilot-extensions/preview-sdk";
+
+const userMessage = getUserMessage(payload);
+```
+
+#### `getUserConfirmation()`
+
+Convencience method to get the user's confirmation from the request payload (in case the user's last response was a confirmation).
+
+```js
+import { getUserConfirmation } from "@copilot-extensions/preview-sdk";
+
+const userConfirmation = getUserConfirmation(payload);
+
+if (userConfirmation) {
+  console.log("Received a user confirmation", userConfirmation);
+} else {
+  // The user's last response was not a confirmation
+}
+```
+
 ## Dreamcode
 
 While implementing the lower-level functionality, we also dream big: what would our dream SDK for Coplitot extensions look like? Please have a look and share your thoughts and ideas:
diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index 0f25568..ee3f478 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import { request } from "@octokit/request";
 
+// verification types
+
 type RequestInterface = typeof request;
 type RequestOptions = {
   request?: RequestInterface;
@@ -34,6 +36,8 @@ interface VerifyRequestByKeyIdInterface {
   ): Promise<boolean>;
 }
 
+// response types
+
 export interface CreateAckEventInterface {
   (): ResponseEvent<"ack">
 }
@@ -126,6 +130,122 @@ interface CopilotReference {
   };
 }
 
+// parse types
+
+export interface CopilotRequestPayload {
+  copilot_thread_id: string
+  messages: Message[]
+  stop: any
+  top_p: number
+  temperature: number
+  max_tokens: number
+  presence_penalty: number
+  frequency_penalty: number
+  copilot_skills: any[]
+  agent: string
+}
+
+export interface OpenAICompatibilityPayload {
+  messages: {
+    role: string
+    name?: string
+    content: string
+  }[]
+}
+
+export interface Message {
+  role: string
+  content: string
+  copilot_references: MessageCopilotReference[]
+  copilot_confirmations?: MessageCopilotConfirmation[]
+  name?: string
+}
+
+export interface MessageCopilotReference {
+  type: string
+  data: CopilotReferenceData
+  id: string
+  is_implicit: boolean
+  metadata: CopilotReferenceMetadata
+}
+
+export interface CopilotReferenceData {
+  type: string
+  id: number
+  name?: string
+  ownerLogin?: string
+  ownerType?: string
+  readmePath?: string
+  description?: string
+  commitOID?: string
+  ref?: string
+  refInfo?: CopilotReferenceDataRefInfo
+  visibility?: string
+  languages?: CopilotReferenceDataLanguage[]
+  login?: string
+  avatarURL?: string
+  url?: string
+}
+
+export interface CopilotReferenceDataRefInfo {
+  name: string
+  type: string
+}
+
+export interface CopilotReferenceDataLanguage {
+  name: string
+  percent: number
+}
+
+export interface CopilotReferenceMetadata {
+  display_name: string
+  display_icon: string
+  display_url: string
+}
+
+export interface MessageCopilotConfirmation {
+  state: "dismissed" | "accepted"
+  confirmation: {
+    id: string
+    [key: string]: unknown
+  }
+}
+
+export interface ParseRequestBodyInterface {
+  (body: string): CopilotRequestPayload
+}
+
+export interface TransformPayloadForOpenAICompatibilityInterface {
+  (payload: CopilotRequestPayload): OpenAICompatibilityPayload
+}
+
+
+export interface VerifyAndParseRequestInterface {
+  (
+    body: string,
+    signature: string,
+    keyID: string,
+    requestOptions?: RequestOptions,
+  ): Promise<{ isValidRequest: boolean; payload: CopilotRequestPayload }>;
+}
+
+
+export interface GetUserMessageInterface {
+  (payload: CopilotRequestPayload): string;
+}
+
+export type UserConfirmation = {
+  accepted: boolean;
+  id?: string;
+  metadata: Record<string, unknown>;
+}
+
+export interface GetUserConfirmationInterface {
+  (payload: CopilotRequestPayload): UserConfirmation | undefined;
+}
+
+// exported methods
+
 export declare const verifyRequest: VerifyRequestInterface;
 export declare const fetchVerificationKeys: FetchVerificationKeysInterface;
 export declare const verifyRequestByKeyId: VerifyRequestByKeyIdInterface;
@@ -136,3 +256,9 @@ export declare const createDoneEvent: CreateDoneEventInterface;
 export declare const createErrorsEvent: CreateErrorsEventInterface;
 export declare const createReferencesEvent: CreateReferencesEventInterface;
 export declare const createTextEvent: CreateTextEventInterface;
+
+export declare const parseRequestBody: ParseRequestBodyInterface;
+export declare const transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility: TransformPayloadForOpenAICompatibilityInterface;
+export declare const verifyAndParseRequest: VerifyAndParseRequestInterface;
+export declare const getUserMessage: GetUserMessageInterface;
+export declare const getUserConfirmation: GetUserConfirmationInterface;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 686156a..71259ca 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // @ts-check
 
-export * from "./lib/verification.js";
+export * from "./lib/parse.js";
 export * from "./lib/response.js";
+export * from "./lib/verification.js";
diff --git a/index.test-d.ts b/index.test-d.ts
index 14413b7..3e6ed22 100644
--- a/index.test-d.ts
+++ b/index.test-d.ts
@@ -11,16 +11,18 @@ import {
   fetchVerificationKeys,
   verifyRequest,
   verifyRequestByKeyId,
+  parseRequestBody,
+  transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility,
+  verifyAndParseRequest,
+  getUserMessage,
+  getUserConfirmation,
   type VerificationPublicKey,
+  CopilotRequestPayload,
 } from "./index.js";
 
-const rawBody = "";
-const signature = "";
-const keyId = "";
-const key = ""
 const token = "";
 
-export async function verifyRequestByKeyIdTest() {
+export async function verifyRequestByKeyIdTest(rawBody: string, signature: string, keyId: string) {
   const result = await verifyRequestByKeyId(rawBody, signature, keyId);
   expectType<boolean>(result);
 
@@ -43,7 +45,7 @@ export async function verifyRequestByKeyIdTest() {
   await verifyRequestByKeyId(rawBody, signature, keyId, { request });
 }
 
-export async function verifyRequestTest() {
+export async function verifyRequestTest(rawBody: string, signature: string, key: string) {
   const result = await verifyRequest(rawBody, signature, key);
   expectType<boolean>(result);
 
@@ -227,3 +229,41 @@ export function createDoneEventTest() {
   // @ts-expect-error - .event is required
   event.event
 }
+
+export function parseRequestBodyTest(body: string) {
+  const result = parseRequestBody(body)
+  expectType<CopilotRequestPayload>(result);
+}
+
+export function transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibilityTest(payload: CopilotRequestPayload) {
+  const result = transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility(payload)
+  expectType<{
+    messages: {
+      content: string;
+      role: string;
+      name?: string
+    }[]
+  }
+  >(result);
+}
+
+export async function verifyAndParseRequestTest(rawBody: string, signature: string, keyId: string) {
+  const result = await verifyAndParseRequest(rawBody, signature, keyId)
+  expectType<{ isValidRequest: boolean, payload: CopilotRequestPayload }>(result);
+}
+
+export function getUserMessageTest(payload: CopilotRequestPayload) {
+  const result = getUserMessage(payload)
+  expectType<string>(result)
+}
+
+export function getUserConfirmationTest(payload: CopilotRequestPayload) {
+  const result = getUserConfirmation(payload)
+
+  if (result === undefined) {
+    expectType<undefined>(result)
+    return
+  }
+
+  expectType<{ accepted: boolean; id?: string; metadata: Record<string, unknown> }>(result)
+}
diff --git a/lib/parse.js b/lib/parse.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83d84d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/parse.js
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+import { verifyRequestByKeyId } from "./verification.js";
+
+/** @type {import('..').ParseRequestBodyInterface} */
+export function parseRequestBody(body) {
+  return JSON.parse(body);
+}
+
+/** @type {import('..').TransformPayloadForOpenAICompatibilityInterface} */
+export function transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility(payload) {
+  return {
+    messages: payload.messages.map((message) => {
+      return {
+        role: message.role,
+        name: message.name,
+        content: message.content,
+      };
+    }),
+  };
+}
+
+/** @type {import('..').VerifyAndParseRequestInterface} */
+export async function verifyAndParseRequest(body, signature, keyID, options) {
+  const isValidRequest = await verifyRequestByKeyId(
+    body,
+    signature,
+    keyID,
+    options
+  );
+
+  return {
+    isValidRequest,
+    payload: parseRequestBody(body),
+  };
+}
+
+/** @type {import('..').GetUserMessageInterface} */
+export function getUserMessage(payload) {
+  return payload.messages[payload.messages.length - 1].content;
+}
+
+/** @type {import('..').GetUserConfirmationInterface} */
+export function getUserConfirmation(payload) {
+  const confirmation =
+    payload.messages[payload.messages.length - 1].copilot_confirmations?.[0];
+
+  if (!confirmation) return;
+
+  const { id, ...metadata } = confirmation.confirmation;
+
+  return {
+    accepted: confirmation.state === "accepted",
+    id,
+    metadata,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/test/parse.test.js b/test/parse.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe55173
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parse.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+import { test, suite } from "node:test";
+
+import { MockAgent } from "undici";
+import { request as defaultRequest } from "@octokit/request";
+
+import {
+  getUserConfirmation,
+  getUserMessage,
+  parseRequestBody,
+  transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility,
+  verifyAndParseRequest,
+} from "../index.js";
+import {
+  CURRENT_PUBLIC_KEY,
+  KEY_ID,
+  RAW_BODY,
+  SIGNATURE,
+} from "./verification.test.js";
+
+suite("request parsing", () => {
+  test("parseRequestBody()", (t) => {
+    // parseRequestBody() does not check for structure. We assume it adheres
+    // to the expected structure when we verify that request came indeed
+    // from GitHub
+    const payload = parseRequestBody('{"messages": []}');
+    t.assert.deepStrictEqual(payload.messages, []);
+  });
+
+  test("transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility()", (t) => {
+    const payload = transformPayloadForOpenAICompatibility({
+      messages: [],
+      someCopilotKey: "value",
+    });
+    t.assert.deepStrictEqual(payload.messages, []);
+  });
+
+  test("verifyAndParseRequest()", async (t) => {
+    const mockAgent = new MockAgent();
+    function fetchMock(url, opts) {
+      opts ||= {};
+      opts.dispatcher = mockAgent;
+      return fetch(url, opts);
+    }
+
+    mockAgent.disableNetConnect();
+    const mockPool = mockAgent.get("https://api.github.com");
+    mockPool
+      .intercept({
+        method: "get",
+        path: `/meta/public_keys/copilot_api`,
+      })
+      .reply(
+        200,
+        {
+          public_keys: [
+            {
+              key: CURRENT_PUBLIC_KEY,
+              key_identifier: KEY_ID,
+              is_current: true,
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+        {
+          headers: {
+            "content-type": "application/json",
+            "x-request-id": "<request-id>",
+          },
+        }
+      );
+    const testRequest = defaultRequest.defaults({
+      request: { fetch: fetchMock },
+    });
+
+    const result = await verifyAndParseRequest(RAW_BODY, SIGNATURE, KEY_ID, {
+      request: testRequest,
+    });
+
+    t.assert.deepStrictEqual(
+      { isValidRequest: true, payload: JSON.parse(RAW_BODY) },
+      result
+    );
+  });
+
+  test("getUserMessage()", (t) => {
+    const payload = {
+      messages: [
+        {
+          content: "Some previous message",
+        },
+        {
+          content: "Hello, world!",
+        },
+      ],
+    };
+    const result = getUserMessage(payload);
+    t.assert.equal("Hello, world!", result);
+  });
+
+  test("getUserConfirmation()", (t) => {
+    const payload = {
+      messages: [
+        {
+          content: "Some previous message",
+        },
+        {
+          content: "Hello, world!",
+          copilot_confirmations: [
+            {
+              state: "accepted",
+              confirmation: {
+                id: "some-confirmation-id",
+                someConfirmationMetadata: "value",
+              },
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+      ],
+    };
+    const result = getUserConfirmation(payload);
+    t.assert.deepStrictEqual(
+      {
+        accepted: true,
+        id: "some-confirmation-id",
+        metadata: { someConfirmationMetadata: "value" },
+      },
+      result
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/response.test.js b/test/response.test.js
index 3f1a660..3b66b23 100644
--- a/test/response.test.js
+++ b/test/response.test.js
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-// @ts-check
-
 import { test, suite } from "node:test";
 
 import {
diff --git a/test/verification.test.js b/test/verification.test.js
index 2484371..4ac89a9 100644
--- a/test/verification.test.js
+++ b/test/verification.test.js
@@ -10,17 +10,17 @@ import {
   verifyRequestByKeyId,
 } from "../index.js";
 
-const RAW_BODY = `{"copilot_thread_id":"9a1cc23a-ab73-498b-87a5-96c94cb7e3f3","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"@gr2m hi","copilot_references":[{"type":"github.repository","data":{"type":"repository","id":102985470,"name":"sandbox","ownerLogin":"gr2m","ownerType":"User","readmePath":"README.md","description":"@gr2m's little sandbox to play","commitOID":"9b04fffccbb818b2e317394463731b66f1ec5e89","ref":"refs/heads/main","refInfo":{"name":"main","type":"branch"},"visibility":"public","languages":[{"name":"JavaScript","percent":100}]},"id":"gr2m/sandbox","is_implicit":false,"metadata":{"display_name":"gr2m/sandbox","display_icon":"","display_url":""}}],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"@gr2m test","copilot_references":[{"type":"github.repository","data":{"type":"repository","id":102985470,"name":"sandbox","ownerLogin":"gr2m","ownerType":"User","readmePath":"README.md","description":"@gr2m's little sandbox to play","commitOID":"9b04fffccbb818b2e317394463731b66f1ec5e89","ref":"refs/heads/main","refInfo":{"name":"main","type":"branch"},"visibility":"public","languages":[{"name":"JavaScript","percent":100}]},"id":"gr2m/sandbox","is_implicit":false,"metadata":{"display_name":"gr2m/sandbox","display_icon":"","display_url":""}}],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"@gr2m test","copilot_references":[{"type":"github.repository","data":{"type":"repository","id":102985470,"name":"sandbox","ownerLogin":"gr2m","ownerType":"User","readmePath":"README.md","description":"@gr2m's little sandbox to play","commitOID":"9b04fffccbb818b2e317394463731b66f1ec5e89","ref":"refs/heads/main","refInfo":{"name":"main","type":"branch"},"visibility":"public","languages":[{"name":"JavaScript","percent":100}]},"id":"gr2m/sandbox","is_implicit":false,"metadata":{"display_name":"gr2m/sandbox","display_icon":"","display_url":""}}],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"Current Date and Time (UTC): 2024-08-26 19:43:13\\nUser's Current URL: https://github.com/gr2m/sandbox\\nCurrent User's Login: gr2m\\n","name":"_session","copilot_references":[],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"","copilot_references":[{"type":"github.repository","data":{"type":"repository","id":102985470,"name":"sandbox","ownerLogin":"gr2m","ownerType":"User","readmePath":"README.md","description":"@gr2m's little sandbox to play","commitOID":"9b04fffccbb818b2e317394463731b66f1ec5e89","ref":"refs/heads/main","refInfo":{"name":"main","type":"branch"},"visibility":"public","languages":[{"name":"JavaScript","percent":100}]},"id":"gr2m/sandbox","is_implicit":false,"metadata":{"display_name":"gr2m/sandbox","display_icon":"","display_url":""}}],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"test","copilot_references":[],"copilot_confirmations":[]}],"stop":null,"top_p":0,"temperature":0,"max_tokens":0,"presence_penalty":0,"frequency_penalty":0,"copilot_skills":null,"agent":"gr2m"}`;
-const KEY_ID =
+export const RAW_BODY = `{"copilot_thread_id":"9a1cc23a-ab73-498b-87a5-96c94cb7e3f3","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"@gr2m hi","copilot_references":[{"type":"github.repository","data":{"type":"repository","id":102985470,"name":"sandbox","ownerLogin":"gr2m","ownerType":"User","readmePath":"README.md","description":"@gr2m's little sandbox to play","commitOID":"9b04fffccbb818b2e317394463731b66f1ec5e89","ref":"refs/heads/main","refInfo":{"name":"main","type":"branch"},"visibility":"public","languages":[{"name":"JavaScript","percent":100}]},"id":"gr2m/sandbox","is_implicit":false,"metadata":{"display_name":"gr2m/sandbox","display_icon":"","display_url":""}}],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"@gr2m test","copilot_references":[{"type":"github.repository","data":{"type":"repository","id":102985470,"name":"sandbox","ownerLogin":"gr2m","ownerType":"User","readmePath":"README.md","description":"@gr2m's little sandbox to play","commitOID":"9b04fffccbb818b2e317394463731b66f1ec5e89","ref":"refs/heads/main","refInfo":{"name":"main","type":"branch"},"visibility":"public","languages":[{"name":"JavaScript","percent":100}]},"id":"gr2m/sandbox","is_implicit":false,"metadata":{"display_name":"gr2m/sandbox","display_icon":"","display_url":""}}],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"@gr2m test","copilot_references":[{"type":"github.repository","data":{"type":"repository","id":102985470,"name":"sandbox","ownerLogin":"gr2m","ownerType":"User","readmePath":"README.md","description":"@gr2m's little sandbox to play","commitOID":"9b04fffccbb818b2e317394463731b66f1ec5e89","ref":"refs/heads/main","refInfo":{"name":"main","type":"branch"},"visibility":"public","languages":[{"name":"JavaScript","percent":100}]},"id":"gr2m/sandbox","is_implicit":false,"metadata":{"display_name":"gr2m/sandbox","display_icon":"","display_url":""}}],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"Current Date and Time (UTC): 2024-08-26 19:43:13\\nUser's Current URL: https://github.com/gr2m/sandbox\\nCurrent User's Login: gr2m\\n","name":"_session","copilot_references":[],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"","copilot_references":[{"type":"github.repository","data":{"type":"repository","id":102985470,"name":"sandbox","ownerLogin":"gr2m","ownerType":"User","readmePath":"README.md","description":"@gr2m's little sandbox to play","commitOID":"9b04fffccbb818b2e317394463731b66f1ec5e89","ref":"refs/heads/main","refInfo":{"name":"main","type":"branch"},"visibility":"public","languages":[{"name":"JavaScript","percent":100}]},"id":"gr2m/sandbox","is_implicit":false,"metadata":{"display_name":"gr2m/sandbox","display_icon":"","display_url":""}}],"copilot_confirmations":null},{"role":"user","content":"test","copilot_references":[],"copilot_confirmations":[]}],"stop":null,"top_p":0,"temperature":0,"max_tokens":0,"presence_penalty":0,"frequency_penalty":0,"copilot_skills":null,"agent":"gr2m"}`;
+export const KEY_ID =
   "4fe6b016179b74078ade7581abf4e84fb398c6fae4fb973972235b84fcd70ca3";
 
-const CURRENT_PUBLIC_KEY = `-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
+export const CURRENT_PUBLIC_KEY = `-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
 MFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAELPuPiLVQbHY/clvpNnY+0BzYIXgo
 S0+XhEkTWUZEEznIVpS3rQseDTG6//gEWr4j9fY35+dGOxwOx3Z9mK3i7w==
 -----END PUBLIC KEY-----
 `;
 
-const SIGNATURE =
+export const SIGNATURE =
   "MEYCIQC8aEmkYA/4EQrXEOi2OL9nfpbnrCxkMc6HrH7b6SogKgIhAIYBThcpzkCCswiV1+pOaPI+zFQF9ShG61puoKs9rJjq";
 
 test("smoke", (t) => {