diff --git a/src/agent/loop_.rs b/src/agent/loop_.rs
index b4d62a5..0789a03 100644
--- a/src/agent/loop_.rs
+++ b/src/agent/loop_.rs
@@ -660,13 +660,26 @@ pub(crate) async fn run_tool_call_loop(
                 }
             };
 
-        let display_text = if parsed_text.is_empty() {
+        let parsed_text_is_empty = parsed_text.trim().is_empty();
+        let display_text = if parsed_text_is_empty {
             response_text.clone()
         } else {
             parsed_text
         };
+        let has_tool_call_markup =
+            response_text.contains("<tool_call>") && response_text.contains("</tool_call>");
 
         if tool_calls.is_empty() {
+            // Recovery path: the model attempted tool use but emitted malformed JSON.
+            // Ask it to re-send valid tool-call payload instead of leaking raw markup to users.
+            if has_tool_call_markup && parsed_text_is_empty {
+                history.push(ChatMessage::assistant(response_text.clone()));
+                history.push(ChatMessage::user(
+                    "[Tool parser error]\nYour previous <tool_call> payload was invalid JSON and was NOT executed. Re-send the same tool call using strict valid JSON only. Escape inner double quotes inside string values.",
+                ));
+                continue;
+            }
+
             // No tool calls — this is the final response
             history.push(ChatMessage::assistant(response_text.clone()));
             return Ok(display_text);
@@ -1382,6 +1395,12 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(scrubbed.contains("public"));
     }
     use crate::memory::{Memory, MemoryCategory, SqliteMemory};
+    use crate::observability::NoopObserver;
+    use crate::providers::Provider;
+    use crate::tools::{Tool, ToolResult};
+    use async_trait::async_trait;
+    use std::sync::Arc;
+    use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering};
     use tempfile::TempDir;
 
     #[test]
@@ -1923,4 +1942,120 @@ Done."#;
         let result = parse_tool_calls_from_json_value(&value);
         assert_eq!(result.len(), 2);
     }
+
+    struct MalformedThenValidToolProvider;
+
+    #[async_trait]
+    impl Provider for MalformedThenValidToolProvider {
+        async fn chat_with_system(
+            &self,
+            _system_prompt: Option<&str>,
+            _message: &str,
+            _model: &str,
+            _temperature: f64,
+        ) -> anyhow::Result<String> {
+            anyhow::bail!("chat_with_system should not be called in this test");
+        }
+
+        async fn chat_with_history(
+            &self,
+            messages: &[ChatMessage],
+            _model: &str,
+            _temperature: f64,
+        ) -> anyhow::Result<String> {
+            if messages
+                .iter()
+                .any(|m| m.role == "user" && m.content.contains("[Tool results]"))
+            {
+                return Ok("Top memory users parsed successfully.".to_string());
+            }
+
+            if messages
+                .iter()
+                .any(|m| m.role == "user" && m.content.contains("[Tool parser error]"))
+            {
+                return Ok(
+                    r#"<tool_call>
+{"name":"shell","arguments":{"command":"echo fixed"}}
+</tool_call>"#
+                        .to_string(),
+                );
+            }
+
+            Ok(
+                r#"<tool_call>
+{"name":"shell","arguments":{"command":"echo "$rss $name ($pid)""}}
+</tool_call>"#
+                    .to_string(),
+            )
+        }
+    }
+
+    struct CountingShellTool {
+        runs: Arc<AtomicUsize>,
+    }
+
+    #[async_trait]
+    impl Tool for CountingShellTool {
+        fn name(&self) -> &str {
+            "shell"
+        }
+
+        fn description(&self) -> &str {
+            "Count shell executions"
+        }
+
+        fn parameters_schema(&self) -> serde_json::Value {
+            serde_json::json!({
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                    "command": { "type": "string" }
+                },
+                "required": ["command"]
+            })
+        }
+
+        async fn execute(&self, args: serde_json::Value) -> anyhow::Result<ToolResult> {
+            self.runs.fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
+            Ok(ToolResult {
+                success: true,
+                output: args
+                    .get("command")
+                    .and_then(serde_json::Value::as_str)
+                    .unwrap_or_default()
+                    .to_string(),
+                error: None,
+            })
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn run_tool_call_loop_retries_invalid_tool_call_markup() {
+        let runs = Arc::new(AtomicUsize::new(0));
+        let tools_registry: Vec<Box<dyn Tool>> = vec![Box::new(CountingShellTool {
+            runs: Arc::clone(&runs),
+        })];
+
+        let mut history = vec![ChatMessage::system("sys"), ChatMessage::user("check memory")];
+
+        let response = run_tool_call_loop(
+            &MalformedThenValidToolProvider,
+            &mut history,
+            &tools_registry,
+            &NoopObserver,
+            "test-provider",
+            "test-model",
+            0.0,
+            true,
+        )
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(response, "Top memory users parsed successfully.");
+        assert_eq!(runs.load(Ordering::SeqCst), 1);
+        assert!(!response.contains("<tool_call>"));
+        assert!(history
+            .iter()
+            .any(|m| m.role == "user" && m.content.contains("[Tool parser error]")));
+    }
 }