diff --git a/tests/test_server.py b/tests/test_server.py
index 08b169bd..a55ae5fb 100644
--- a/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_server.py
@@ -712,6 +712,177 @@ def test_rate_limiter_window_cleanup(self):
 class TestStreamChatCompletion:
     """Tests for streaming chat completion behavior."""
 
+    @pytest.mark.anyio
+    async def test_stream_without_parser_flags_emits_structured_tool_calls(
+        self, monkeypatch
+    ):
+        """Streaming tools should still parse without explicit parser flags."""
+        from vllm_mlx.engine.base import GenerationOutput
+        from vllm_mlx.server import (
+            ChatCompletionRequest,
+            Message,
+            stream_chat_completion,
+        )
+        import vllm_mlx.server as server
+
+        class FakeEngine:
+            model_name = "fake-engine"
+
+            async def stream_chat(self, messages, **kwargs):
+                chunks = [
+                    GenerationOutput(text="", new_text="<tool_call>", finished=False),
+                    GenerationOutput(
+                        text="",
+                        new_text="<function=list_directory>",
+                        finished=False,
+                    ),
+                    GenerationOutput(
+                        text="",
+                        new_text="<parameter=path>/Users/testuser</parameter>",
+                        finished=False,
+                    ),
+                    GenerationOutput(
+                        text="",
+                        new_text="</function>",
+                        finished=False,
+                    ),
+                    GenerationOutput(
+                        text="",
+                        new_text="</tool_call>",
+                        finished=True,
+                        finish_reason="stop",
+                        prompt_tokens=5,
+                        completion_tokens=7,
+                    ),
+                ]
+                for chunk in chunks:
+                    yield chunk
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_model_name", "served-model")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_reasoning_parser", None)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_enable_auto_tool_choice", False)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_tool_call_parser", None)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_tool_parser_instance", None)
+
+        request = ChatCompletionRequest(
+            model="served-model",
+            messages=[Message(role="user", content="hi")],
+            tools=[
+                {
+                    "type": "function",
+                    "function": {
+                        "name": "list_directory",
+                        "description": "List files in a directory",
+                        "parameters": {
+                            "type": "object",
+                            "properties": {"path": {"type": "string"}},
+                            "required": ["path"],
+                        },
+                    },
+                }
+            ],
+            stream=True,
+        )
+
+        chunks = [
+            chunk
+            async for chunk in stream_chat_completion(
+                FakeEngine(), request.messages, request
+            )
+        ]
+
+        payloads = [
+            json.loads(chunk.removeprefix("data: ").strip())
+            for chunk in chunks
+            if chunk != "data: [DONE]\n\n"
+        ]
+        tool_payloads = [
+            payload
+            for payload in payloads
+            if payload["choices"] and payload["choices"][0]["delta"].get("tool_calls")
+        ]
+
+        assert len(tool_payloads) == 1
+        delta = tool_payloads[0]["choices"][0]["delta"]
+        assert delta["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["name"] == "list_directory"
+        assert delta["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["arguments"] == (
+            '{"path": "/Users/testuser"}'
+        )
+        assert delta["content"] is None
+        assert tool_payloads[0]["choices"][0]["finish_reason"] == "tool_calls"
+        assert tool_payloads[0]["usage"] == {
+            "prompt_tokens": 5,
+            "completion_tokens": 7,
+            "total_tokens": 12,
+        }
+
+    @pytest.mark.anyio
+    async def test_stream_without_parser_flags_keeps_plain_text(self, monkeypatch):
+        """Generic streaming fallback should not interfere with normal text."""
+        from vllm_mlx.engine.base import GenerationOutput
+        from vllm_mlx.server import (
+            ChatCompletionRequest,
+            Message,
+            stream_chat_completion,
+        )
+        import vllm_mlx.server as server
+
+        class FakeEngine:
+            model_name = "fake-engine"
+
+            async def stream_chat(self, messages, **kwargs):
+                chunks = [
+                    GenerationOutput(text="", new_text="hello ", finished=False),
+                    GenerationOutput(
+                        text="",
+                        new_text="world",
+                        finished=True,
+                        finish_reason="stop",
+                        prompt_tokens=4,
+                        completion_tokens=2,
+                    ),
+                ]
+                for chunk in chunks:
+                    yield chunk
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_model_name", "served-model")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_reasoning_parser", None)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_enable_auto_tool_choice", False)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_tool_call_parser", None)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_tool_parser_instance", None)
+
+        request = ChatCompletionRequest(
+            model="served-model",
+            messages=[Message(role="user", content="hi")],
+            tools=[
+                {
+                    "type": "function",
+                    "function": {
+                        "name": "list_directory",
+                        "description": "List files in a directory",
+                        "parameters": {"type": "object", "properties": {}},
+                    },
+                }
+            ],
+            stream=True,
+        )
+
+        chunks = [
+            chunk
+            async for chunk in stream_chat_completion(
+                FakeEngine(), request.messages, request
+            )
+        ]
+        payloads = [
+            json.loads(chunk.removeprefix("data: ").strip())
+            for chunk in chunks
+            if chunk != "data: [DONE]\n\n"
+        ]
+
+        assert payloads[1]["choices"][0]["delta"]["content"] == "hello "
+        assert payloads[2]["choices"][0]["delta"]["content"] == "world"
+        assert payloads[2]["choices"][0]["finish_reason"] == "stop"
+
     @pytest.mark.anyio
     async def test_reasoning_stream_emits_structured_tool_calls(self, monkeypatch):
         """Tool markup after </think> should emit tool_calls chunks."""
diff --git a/vllm_mlx/server.py b/vllm_mlx/server.py
index 6cd9581b..8960f163 100644
--- a/vllm_mlx/server.py
+++ b/vllm_mlx/server.py
@@ -174,6 +174,15 @@ def _resolve_top_p(request_value: float | None) -> float:
 # Safety net: the tool parser should consume these, but if it doesn't
 # (e.g. malformed JSON, stray closing tags), strip them before emitting.
 _TOOL_MARKUP_PATTERN = re.compile(r"</?tool_call>|</?tool_call_reasoning>")
+_STREAMING_TOOL_MARKERS = (
+    "<tool_call>",
+    "<|tool_call>",
+    "<function=",
+    "[Calling tool:",
+    "[TOOL_CALLS]",
+    "<minimax:tool_call>",
+    '<invoke name="',
+)
 
 
 def _load_prefix_cache_from_disk() -> None:
@@ -580,6 +589,66 @@ def _detect_native_tool_support() -> bool:
         return False
 
 
+def _tool_choice_disabled(request: ChatCompletionRequest | None) -> bool:
+    """Return True when tool_choice explicitly disables tool calling."""
+    if request is None:
+        return False
+
+    tool_choice = getattr(request, "tool_choice", None)
+    if tool_choice is None:
+        request_dict = request.model_dump()
+        tool_choice = request_dict.get("tool_choice")
+    return tool_choice == "none"
+
+
+def _get_streaming_tool_parser(request: ChatCompletionRequest | None):
+    """Get a streaming-capable tool parser for this request.
+
+    Uses the configured parser when auto tool choice is enabled, otherwise falls
+    back to the generic auto parser so streaming still matches the generic
+    non-streaming tool parsing behavior.
+    """
+    global _tool_parser_instance
+
+    if request is None:
+        return None
+    if _tool_choice_disabled(request):
+        return None
+
+    tokenizer = None
+    if _engine is not None and hasattr(_engine, "_tokenizer"):
+        tokenizer = _engine._tokenizer
+
+    if _enable_auto_tool_choice and _tool_call_parser:
+        if _tool_parser_instance is None:
+            try:
+                parser_cls = ToolParserManager.get_tool_parser(_tool_call_parser)
+                _tool_parser_instance = parser_cls(tokenizer)
+                logger.info(f"Initialized tool call parser: {_tool_call_parser}")
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.warning(f"Failed to init tool parser for streaming: {e}")
+                return None
+        _tool_parser_instance.reset()
+        return _tool_parser_instance
+
+    if not getattr(request, "tools", None):
+        return None
+
+    try:
+        parser_cls = ToolParserManager.get_tool_parser("auto")
+        parser = parser_cls(tokenizer)
+        parser.reset()
+        return parser
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.warning(f"Failed to init generic streaming tool parser: {e}")
+        return None
+
+
+def _streaming_tool_markup_possible(text: str) -> bool:
+    """Heuristic marker check to avoid parser work on ordinary text chunks."""
+    return any(marker in text for marker in _STREAMING_TOOL_MARKERS)
+
+
 def load_embedding_model(
     model_name: str | None,
     *,
@@ -2294,24 +2363,10 @@ async def _stream_anthropic_messages(
 
     # Tool call streaming suppression — prevents raw tool markup from leaking
     # as text_delta events. Mirrors the OpenAI streaming path logic.
-    global _tool_parser_instance
     tool_parser = None
     tool_accumulated_text = ""
     tool_markup_possible = False
-    tool_choice = getattr(openai_request, "tool_choice", None)
-    if _enable_auto_tool_choice and _tool_call_parser and tool_choice != "none":
-        if _tool_parser_instance is None:
-            try:
-                parser_cls = ToolParserManager.get_tool_parser(_tool_call_parser)
-                tokenizer = None
-                if _engine is not None and hasattr(_engine, "_tokenizer"):
-                    tokenizer = _engine._tokenizer
-                _tool_parser_instance = parser_cls(tokenizer)
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-        if _tool_parser_instance is not None:
-            tool_parser = _tool_parser_instance
-            tool_parser.reset()
+    tool_parser = _get_streaming_tool_parser(openai_request)
 
     try:
         async for output in engine.stream_chat(messages=messages, **chat_kwargs):
@@ -2341,7 +2396,12 @@ async def _stream_anthropic_messages(
 
                 # Filter tool call markup during streaming
                 if tool_parser and content_to_emit:
-                    if not tool_markup_possible and "<" not in content_to_emit:
+                    if (
+                        not tool_markup_possible
+                        and not _streaming_tool_markup_possible(
+                            tool_accumulated_text + content_to_emit
+                        )
+                    ):
                         tool_accumulated_text += content_to_emit
                     else:
                         if not tool_markup_possible:
@@ -2386,7 +2446,12 @@ async def _stream_anthropic_messages(
 
                 # Filter tool call markup during streaming
                 if tool_parser and content_to_emit:
-                    if not tool_markup_possible and "<" not in content_to_emit:
+                    if (
+                        not tool_markup_possible
+                        and not _streaming_tool_markup_possible(
+                            tool_accumulated_text + content_to_emit
+                        )
+                    ):
                         tool_accumulated_text += content_to_emit
                     else:
                         if not tool_markup_possible:
@@ -2618,27 +2683,11 @@ async def stream_chat_completion(
     last_output = None
 
     # Tool call streaming state
-    global _tool_parser_instance
     tool_parser = None
     tool_accumulated_text = ""
     tool_calls_detected = False
-    tool_markup_possible = False  # Fast path: skip parsing until '<' seen
-    tool_choice = getattr(request, "tool_choice", None)
-    if _enable_auto_tool_choice and _tool_call_parser and tool_choice != "none":
-        # Initialize parser if needed (same as _parse_tool_calls_with_parser)
-        if _tool_parser_instance is None:
-            try:
-                parser_cls = ToolParserManager.get_tool_parser(_tool_call_parser)
-                tokenizer = None
-                if _engine is not None and hasattr(_engine, "_tokenizer"):
-                    tokenizer = _engine._tokenizer
-                _tool_parser_instance = parser_cls(tokenizer)
-                logger.info(f"Initialized tool call parser: {_tool_call_parser}")
-            except Exception as e:
-                logger.warning(f"Failed to init tool parser for streaming: {e}")
-        if _tool_parser_instance is not None:
-            tool_parser = _tool_parser_instance
-            tool_parser.reset()
+    tool_markup_possible = False  # Fast path: skip parsing until markers appear
+    tool_parser = _get_streaming_tool_parser(request)
 
     try:
         # Stream content
@@ -2689,7 +2738,12 @@ async def stream_chat_completion(
 
                 # Tool call parsing on content portion
                 if tool_parser and content:
-                    if not tool_markup_possible and "<" not in content:
+                    if (
+                        not tool_markup_possible
+                        and not _streaming_tool_markup_possible(
+                            tool_accumulated_text + content
+                        )
+                    ):
                         tool_accumulated_text += content
                         # Suppress whitespace-only content when tools are active;
                         # avoids emitting stray newlines before tool call XML.
@@ -2799,10 +2853,16 @@ async def stream_chat_completion(
 
                 # Tool call streaming parsing
                 if tool_parser and delta_text:
-                    # Fast path: skip full parsing until '<' is seen in the stream,
-                    # which could start tool markup (e.g. <tool_call>). This avoids
-                    # per-token string scanning on the growing accumulated text.
-                    if not tool_markup_possible and "<" not in delta_text:
+                    # Fast path: skip full parsing until likely tool markup appears.
+                    # This preserves the cheap path for ordinary text while still
+                    # allowing generic streaming tool parsing when no explicit
+                    # parser flags are configured.
+                    if (
+                        not tool_markup_possible
+                        and not _streaming_tool_markup_possible(
+                            tool_accumulated_text + delta_text
+                        )
+                    ):
                         tool_accumulated_text += delta_text
                         # No tool markup yet, fall through to normal chunk emission
                     else:
@@ -2883,11 +2943,7 @@ async def stream_chat_completion(
             tool_parser
             and tool_accumulated_text
             and not tool_calls_detected
-            and (
-                "<tool_call>" in tool_accumulated_text
-                or "<|tool_call>" in tool_accumulated_text
-                or "<function" in tool_accumulated_text
-            )
+            and _streaming_tool_markup_possible(tool_accumulated_text)
         ):
             final_parse_result = tool_parser.extract_tool_calls(tool_accumulated_text)
             if final_parse_result.tools_called: