diff --git a/stacks/meromero-charrp/README.md b/stacks/meromero-charrp/README.md
index 118a9ea..57b061c 100644
--- a/stacks/meromero-charrp/README.md
+++ b/stacks/meromero-charrp/README.md
@@ -7,6 +7,32 @@ The **non-thinking, multimodal** RP prose seat. Serves the LiteLLM `char-rp` ali
 - **Port:** :8016 → LiteLLM `char-rp`.
 - **Context:** 256K (`--max-model-len 262144`). Gemma-4 uses sliding-window attention → KV-efficient, ~2× concurrency at full context.
 - **Vision:** enabled (image + text). `preprocessor_config.json` was materialized from the model's own `processor_config.json` (`Gemma4ImageProcessor`); audio is config-declared but weightless.
+- **Tool-calling:** enabled via the `gemma4` parser (**not** `qwen3_coder` — that's the Qwen-family XML the other seats use). Gemma-4 emits its own native `<|tool_call>call:name{...}<tool_call|>` syntax.
+
+## Tool-calling — the three flags are a set, don't split them
+
+```yaml
+- --tool-call-parser gemma4        # native <|tool_call> syntax; without it ANY tools request 400s
+- --enable-auto-tool-choice
+- --reasoning-parser gemma4        # absorbs the <|channel>…<channel|> thought markers
+- --default-chat-template-kwargs '{"enable_thinking": false}'   # MANDATORY, see below
+```
+
+Why the last one is mandatory: the gemma4 parser reads `enable_thinking` out of
+`chat_template_kwargs` and **defaults it to `True`** (`vllm/parser/gemma4.py:439`). With `True`,
+`is_reasoning_end()` returns `False` at a new turn, which pre-initialises the parser engine to
+`REASONING` — so **all plain RP prose lands in `reasoning_content` and `content` comes back
+`null`**, breaking every `char-rp` consumer. This model's `chat_template.jinja:350` already
+defaults `enable_thinking` to `false`, so passing it explicitly renders a **byte-identical
+prompt** (verified across plain / tools / post-tool-response / system-prompt shapes) — it changes
+nothing about generation, it only corrects the parser's state machine.
+
+Without `--reasoning-parser gemma4`, the post-tool-response turn leaks a literal
+`<|channel>thought\n<channel|>` prefix into `content` (upstream vllm #45834 — the chat template
+leaves the prompt sitting inside an open channel block).
+
+Verified green after the fix: tool call (streaming + non-streaming), tool-result round-trip,
+plain prose in `content`, vision.
 - **Tuning:** `.env` — `MEROMERO_GPU_MEM_UTIL=0.52` (leaves ~4.6 GB GPU0 headroom), `MEROMERO_MAX_MODEL_LEN=262144`, `MEROMERO_GPU_ID=0`.
 
 Replaces the retired **char-rp-gguf** (Magidonia-24B GGUF / llama.cpp) seat. The quant pipeline
diff --git a/stacks/meromero-charrp/compose.yaml b/stacks/meromero-charrp/compose.yaml
index c01abf6..9c5f81c 100644
--- a/stacks/meromero-charrp/compose.yaml
+++ b/stacks/meromero-charrp/compose.yaml
@@ -30,6 +30,31 @@ services:
       - compressed-tensors
       - --served-model-name
       - char-rp
+      # Tool-calling: Gemma-4 emits its OWN native syntax
+      # (<|tool_call>call:name{...}<tool_call|>), NOT the qwen3_coder XML the
+      # other seats use. vLLM 0.24 ships a matching `gemma4` parser whose token
+      # constants line up with this tokenizer's etc/eoc/escape tokens exactly.
+      # Without these two flags any tools-bearing request 400s outright.
+      - --tool-call-parser
+      - gemma4
+      - --enable-auto-tool-choice
+      # The gemma4 REASONING parser is what absorbs the <|channel>...<channel|>
+      # thought markers; without it they leak into `content` verbatim on the
+      # post-tool-response turn (upstream vllm #45834 — the chat template leaves
+      # the prompt inside an open channel block).
+      - --reasoning-parser
+      - gemma4
+      # MANDATORY companion to the reasoning parser on this seat. The parser
+      # reads enable_thinking from chat_template_kwargs and DEFAULTS IT TO TRUE
+      # (vllm/parser/gemma4.py:439). True makes is_reasoning_end() return False
+      # at a new turn, which pre-initialises the engine to REASONING -> ALL plain
+      # RP prose lands in reasoning_content with a NULL content, breaking every
+      # char-rp consumer. This template already defaults enable_thinking to false
+      # (chat_template.jinja:350), so passing it explicitly renders a BYTE-
+      # IDENTICAL prompt (verified across plain/tools/post-tool/system shapes) --
+      # it only corrects the parser's state machine. Do not remove.
+      - --default-chat-template-kwargs
+      - '{"enable_thinking": false}'
       - --max-model-len
       - "${MEROMERO_MAX_MODEL_LEN:-262144}"
       - --max-num-seqs