diff --git a/pkg/providers/tool_call_extract.go b/pkg/providers/tool_call_extract.go
index 7ddea0e99..37c4dcdfb 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/tool_call_extract.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/tool_call_extract.go
@@ -9,6 +9,25 @@ import (
 // Both ClaudeCliProvider and CodexCliProvider use this to extract
 // tool calls that the model outputs in its response text.
 func extractToolCallsFromText(text string) []ToolCall {
+	// Try direct match first (handles compact JSON)
+	if calls := extractToolCallsFromTextImpl(text); len(calls) > 0 {
+		return calls
+	}
+	// Try with trimmed whitespace (handles pretty-printed JSON with leading whitespace)
+	trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(text)
+	if trimmed != text {
+		if calls := extractToolCallsFromTextImpl(trimmed); len(calls) > 0 {
+			return calls
+		}
+	}
+	// Try to parse the entire text as JSON and look for tool_calls
+	// (handles cases where tool_calls is nested or prefixed with other content)
+	return extractToolCallsFromJSON(text)
+}
+
+// extractToolCallsFromTextImpl does the actual extraction assuming the input
+// starts with the JSON containing tool_calls.
+func extractToolCallsFromTextImpl(text string) []ToolCall {
 	start := strings.Index(text, `{"tool_calls"`)
 	if start == -1 {
 		return nil
@@ -56,8 +75,87 @@ func extractToolCallsFromText(text string) []ToolCall {
 	return result
 }
 
+// extractToolCallsFromJSON attempts to parse the entire text as JSON and
+// extract tool_calls from anywhere in the object graph.
+func extractToolCallsFromJSON(text string) []ToolCall {
+	// Try to find {"tool_calls": ...} anywhere in the text using a simple search
+	idx := strings.Index(text, `"tool_calls"`)
+	if idx == -1 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Find the opening brace before "tool_calls"
+	braceStart := idx
+	for braceStart >= 0 && text[braceStart] != '{' {
+		braceStart--
+	}
+	if braceStart < 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	end := findMatchingBrace(text, braceStart)
+	if end == braceStart {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	jsonStr := text[braceStart:end]
+	var wrapper struct {
+		ToolCalls []struct {
+			ID       string `json:"id"`
+			Type     string `json:"type"`
+			Function struct {
+				Name      string `json:"name"`
+				Arguments string `json:"arguments"`
+			} `json:"function"`
+		} `json:"tool_calls"`
+	}
+
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonStr), &wrapper); err != nil || len(wrapper.ToolCalls) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	var result []ToolCall
+	for _, tc := range wrapper.ToolCalls {
+		var args map[string]any
+		json.Unmarshal([]byte(tc.Function.Arguments), &args)
+
+		result = append(result, ToolCall{
+			ID:        tc.ID,
+			Type:      tc.Type,
+			Name:      tc.Function.Name,
+			Arguments: args,
+			Function: &FunctionCall{
+				Name:      tc.Function.Name,
+				Arguments: tc.Function.Arguments,
+			},
+		})
+	}
+
+	return result
+}
+
 // stripToolCallsFromText removes tool call JSON from response text.
+// Handles both compact JSON and pretty-printed JSON with whitespace.
 func stripToolCallsFromText(text string) string {
+	// Try direct match first
+	result := stripToolCallsImpl(text)
+	if result != text {
+		return strings.TrimSpace(result)
+	}
+	// Try with trimmed whitespace
+	trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(text)
+	if trimmed != text {
+		result = stripToolCallsImpl(trimmed)
+		if result != trimmed {
+			return strings.TrimSpace(result)
+		}
+	}
+	// Try to find and strip tool_calls JSON from anywhere in the text
+	return stripToolCallsFromJSON(text)
+}
+
+// stripToolCallsImpl does the actual stripping assuming the input starts with JSON.
+func stripToolCallsImpl(text string) string {
 	start := strings.Index(text, `{"tool_calls"`)
 	if start == -1 {
 		return text
@@ -68,5 +166,29 @@ func stripToolCallsFromText(text string) string {
 		return text
 	}
 
-	return strings.TrimSpace(text[:start] + text[end:])
+	return text[:start] + text[end:]
+}
+
+// stripToolCallsFromJSON finds and removes tool_calls JSON from anywhere in the text.
+func stripToolCallsFromJSON(text string) string {
+	idx := strings.Index(text, `"tool_calls"`)
+	if idx == -1 {
+		return text
+	}
+
+	// Find the opening brace before "tool_calls"
+	braceStart := idx
+	for braceStart >= 0 && text[braceStart] != '{' {
+		braceStart--
+	}
+	if braceStart < 0 {
+		return text
+	}
+
+	end := findMatchingBrace(text, braceStart)
+	if end == braceStart {
+		return text
+	}
+
+	return strings.TrimSpace(text[:braceStart] + text[end:])
 }