diff --git a/src/server/main.py b/src/server/main.py
index 6f6558a..da0ff35 100644
--- a/src/server/main.py
+++ b/src/server/main.py
@@ -154,31 +154,83 @@ async def global_exception_handler(request: Request, exc: Exception):
 # Tool calling helpers
 #===============================================================#
 
+def _extract_hermes_tool_call_payloads(text: str) -> List[str]:
+    open_tag = "<tool_call>"
+    close_tag = "</tool_call>"
+    payloads: List[str] = []
+    cursor = 0
+
+    while True:
+        start = text.find(open_tag, cursor)
+        if start < 0:
+            break
+
+        payload_start = start + len(open_tag)
+        end = text.find(close_tag, payload_start)
+        if end < 0:
+            # Hermes parsers accept an open tool call until EOS.
+            payload = text[payload_start:].strip()
+            if payload:
+                payloads.append(payload)
+            break
+
+        payload = text[payload_start:end].strip()
+        if payload:
+            payloads.append(payload)
+
+        cursor = end + len(close_tag)
+
+    return payloads
+
+
+def _format_tool_call_arguments(arguments: Any) -> str:
+    if isinstance(arguments, str):
+        try:
+            return json.dumps(json.loads(arguments))
+        except json.JSONDecodeError:
+            return arguments
+    return json.dumps(arguments)
+
+
 def parse_tool_calls(text: str) -> Optional[List[Dict[str, Any]]]:
-    # Find all potential JSON objects
-    pattern = r'\{(?:[^{}]|(?:\{[^{}]*\}))*\}'
-    matches = re.findall(pattern, text, re.DOTALL)
-    
-    if not matches:
-        return None
-    
-    tool_calls = []
-    for match in matches:
+    tool_calls: List[Dict[str, Any]] = []
+
+    # Hermes format: <tool_call>{...}</tool_call>, with EOS fallback for missing close tag.
+    for payload in _extract_hermes_tool_call_payloads(text):
+        try:
+            data = json.loads(payload)
+            if isinstance(data, dict) and "name" in data and "arguments" in data:
+                tool_calls.append({
+                    "id": f"call_{uuid.uuid4().hex[:24]}",
+                    "type": "function",
+                    "function": {
+                        "name": str(data.get("name", "")),
+                        "arguments": _format_tool_call_arguments(data.get("arguments", {})),
+                    },
+                })
+        except json.JSONDecodeError:
+            continue
+
+    if tool_calls:
+        return tool_calls
+
+    # Backward compatibility for plain JSON tool call outputs without tags.
+    pattern = r"\{(?:[^{}]|(?:\{[^{}]*\}))*\}"
+    for match in re.findall(pattern, text, re.DOTALL):
         try:
             data = json.loads(match)
-            # Check if it has the expected structure
-            if "name" in data and "arguments" in data:
+            if isinstance(data, dict) and "name" in data and "arguments" in data:
                 tool_calls.append({
                     "id": f"call_{uuid.uuid4().hex[:24]}",
                     "type": "function",
                     "function": {
-                        "name": data.get("name", ""),
-                        "arguments": json.dumps(data.get("arguments", {}))
-                    }
+                        "name": str(data.get("name", "")),
+                        "arguments": _format_tool_call_arguments(data.get("arguments", {})),
+                    },
                 })
         except json.JSONDecodeError:
-            pass
-    
+            continue
+
     return tool_calls if tool_calls else None
 
 #===============================================================#
@@ -300,6 +352,7 @@ async def event_stream() -> AsyncIterator[bytes]:
                 accumulated_text = ""
                 metrics_data = None
                 tool_call_sent = False
+                tool_call_started = False
                 cancel_request_id = None
                 
                 try:
@@ -320,6 +373,13 @@ async def event_stream() -> AsyncIterator[bytes]:
                             continue
                         
                         accumulated_text += item
+                        if not tool_call_started:
+                            tool_call_started = (
+                                "<tool_call>" in accumulated_text
+                                or "<tool_call" in accumulated_text
+                                or "<tool_" in accumulated_text
+                            )
+
                         tool_calls = parse_tool_calls(accumulated_text)
                         
                         # If tool call detected and not yet sent, stream tool call deltas
@@ -366,7 +426,7 @@ async def event_stream() -> AsyncIterator[bytes]:
                                     }]
                                 }
                                 yield (f"data: {json.dumps(tool_call_args)}\n\n").encode()
-                        elif not tool_calls:
+                        elif not tool_calls and not tool_call_started:
                             # Regular content streaming
                             chunk_payload = {
                                 "id": request_id,
diff --git a/src/tests/test_tool_call_parser_unit.py b/src/tests/test_tool_call_parser_unit.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d5daf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/test_tool_call_parser_unit.py
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+import json
+from typing import Any, AsyncIterator, Dict, List
+
+import pytest  # type: ignore[import]
+from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse
+
+import src.server.main as server_main
+from src.server.models.requests_openai import OpenAIChatCompletionRequest
+
+
+class _DummyRequest:
+    async def is_disconnected(self) -> bool:
+        return False
+
+
+def _extract_sse_payloads(chunks: List[bytes]) -> List[str]:
+    payloads: List[str] = []
+    for chunk in chunks:
+        for line in chunk.decode().splitlines():
+            if line.startswith("data: "):
+                payloads.append(line[6:])
+    return payloads
+
+
+def test_parse_tool_calls_supports_hermes_tool_call_tags() -> None:
+    text = (
+        "<tool_call>"
+        '{"name":"search","arguments":{"query":"OpenVINO"}}'
+        "</tool_call>"
+    )
+
+    tool_calls = server_main.parse_tool_calls(text)
+
+    assert tool_calls is not None
+    assert len(tool_calls) == 1
+    assert tool_calls[0]["type"] == "function"
+    assert tool_calls[0]["function"]["name"] == "search"
+    assert json.loads(tool_calls[0]["function"]["arguments"]) == {"query": "OpenVINO"}
+
+
+def test_parse_tool_calls_supports_missing_closing_tag_until_eos() -> None:
+    text = '<tool_call>{"name":"search","arguments":{"query":"vLLM"}}'
+
+    tool_calls = server_main.parse_tool_calls(text)
+
+    assert tool_calls is not None
+    assert len(tool_calls) == 1
+    assert tool_calls[0]["function"]["name"] == "search"
+    assert json.loads(tool_calls[0]["function"]["arguments"]) == {"query": "vLLM"}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_openai_chat_completions_non_streaming_tool_calls(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    class _Workers:
+        async def generate(self, model_name: str, generation_config: Any) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+            return {
+                "text": (
+                    "<tool_call>"
+                    '{"name":"search","arguments":{"query":"OpenArc"}}'
+                    "</tool_call>"
+                ),
+                "metrics": {"input_token": 4, "new_token": 6, "total_token": 10},
+            }
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server_main, "_workers", _Workers())
+
+    request = OpenAIChatCompletionRequest(
+        model="demo-model",
+        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Find OpenArc docs"}],
+        stream=False,
+    )
+
+    response = await server_main.openai_chat_completions(request, _DummyRequest())
+
+    choice = response["choices"][0]
+    assert choice["finish_reason"] == "tool_calls"
+    assert choice["message"]["content"] is None
+    assert len(choice["message"]["tool_calls"]) == 1
+    assert choice["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["name"] == "search"
+    assert json.loads(choice["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["arguments"]) == {
+        "query": "OpenArc"
+    }
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_openai_chat_completions_streaming_hermes_tool_call(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    class _Workers:
+        async def stream_generate(self, model_name: str, generation_config: Any) -> AsyncIterator[Any]:
+            yield "<tool_"
+            yield 'call>{"name":"search","arguments":{"query":"OpenArc"}}'
+            yield "</tool_call>"
+            yield {"metrics": {"input_token": 2, "new_token": 3, "total_token": 5}}
+
+        async def infer_cancel(self, request_id: str) -> None:
+            return None
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server_main, "_workers", _Workers())
+
+    request = OpenAIChatCompletionRequest(
+        model="demo-model",
+        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Find OpenArc docs"}],
+        stream=True,
+    )
+
+    response = await server_main.openai_chat_completions(request, _DummyRequest())
+    assert isinstance(response, StreamingResponse)
+
+    chunks: List[bytes] = []
+    async for chunk in response.body_iterator:
+        chunks.append(chunk)
+
+    payloads = _extract_sse_payloads(chunks)
+    assert payloads[-1] == "[DONE]"
+
+    json_payloads = [json.loads(p) for p in payloads if p != "[DONE]"]
+
+    content_deltas = [
+        payload
+        for payload in json_payloads
+        if payload["choices"][0]["delta"].get("content")
+    ]
+    assert content_deltas == []
+
+    tool_deltas = [
+        payload
+        for payload in json_payloads
+        if payload["choices"][0]["delta"].get("tool_calls")
+    ]
+    assert len(tool_deltas) >= 2
+    assert tool_deltas[0]["choices"][0]["delta"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["name"] == "search"
+    assert json.loads(
+        tool_deltas[1]["choices"][0]["delta"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["arguments"]
+    ) == {"query": "OpenArc"}
+
+    assert json_payloads[-1]["choices"][0]["finish_reason"] == "tool_calls"