diff --git a/internal/providers/gemini_test.go b/internal/providers/gemini_test.go
index cb1522b7..d450ba36 100644
--- a/internal/providers/gemini_test.go
+++ b/internal/providers/gemini_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package providers
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"reflect"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"gophergate/internal/models"
@@ -209,3 +210,57 @@ func TestEmitGeminiChunk_ToolCalls(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected response on channel")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestStreamGeminiJSONArrayStream(t *testing.T) {
+	input := `[
+		{
+			"candidates": [
+				{
+					"content": {
+						"parts": [
+							{"text": "Hello"}
+						]
+					}
+				}
+			]
+		},
+		{
+			"candidates": [
+				{
+					"content": {
+						"parts": [
+							{"text": " world"}
+						]
+					}
+				}
+			],
+			"usageMetadata": {
+				"promptTokenCount": 5,
+				"candidatesTokenCount": 2,
+				"totalTokenCount": 7
+			}
+		}
+	]`
+
+	ch := make(chan *models.ChatCompletionStreamResponse, 5)
+	defer close(ch)
+
+	streamGeminiJSONArrayStream(strings.NewReader(input), ch, "gemini-2.5-flash")
+
+	var texts []string
+	for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
+		select {
+		case resp := <-ch:
+			if len(resp.Choices) > 0 && resp.Choices[0].Delta.Content != nil {
+				texts = append(texts, *resp.Choices[0].Delta.Content)
+			}
+		default:
+			t.Fatalf("expected chunk %d", i+1)
+		}
+	}
+
+	joined := strings.Join(texts, "")
+	if joined != "Hello world" {
+		t.Errorf("expected 'Hello world', got %q", joined)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/providers/helpers.go b/internal/providers/helpers.go
index 84e99877..159c054e 100644
--- a/internal/providers/helpers.go
+++ b/internal/providers/helpers.go
@@ -523,9 +523,12 @@ func StreamGemini(ctx io.ReadCloser, model string) (<-chan *models.ChatCompletio
 		first := string(peek[:n])
 
 		if first[0] == '[' {
-			// JSON array format
-			rest, _ := io.ReadAll(ctx)
-			streamGeminiJSONArray(append([]byte(first), rest...), ch, model)
+			// JSON array format — stream parse it in real-time
+			combined := io.MultiReader(
+				strings.NewReader(string(peek[:n])),
+				ctx,
+			)
+			streamGeminiJSONArrayStream(combined, ch, model)
 			return
 		} else if strings.HasPrefix(first, "data:") || strings.HasPrefix(first, "data: ") {
 			// SSE format — pre-pend the peeked bytes then run SSE scanner
@@ -548,35 +551,48 @@ func StreamGemini(ctx io.ReadCloser, model string) (<-chan *models.ChatCompletio
 	return ch, nil
 }
 
-// readAll reads remaining bytes from a reader (keeps the function signature simple
-// for the JSON array fallback path).
-func readAll(r io.Reader) []byte {
-	b, _ := io.ReadAll(r)
-	return b
-}
+func streamGeminiJSONArrayStream(r io.Reader, ch chan<- *models.ChatCompletionStreamResponse, model string) {
+	dec := json.NewDecoder(r)
 
-func streamGeminiJSONArray(data []byte, ch chan<- *models.ChatCompletionStreamResponse, model string) {
-	var chunks []geminiStreamChunk
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &chunks); err != nil {
-		fmt.Printf("[Gemini-Stream] JSON array parse error: %v\n", err)
+	// Read open bracket '['
+	t, err := dec.Token()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("[Gemini-Stream] JSON array token error: %v\n", err)
 		return
 	}
-	// Track the last chunk with usage for the final emission
+	delim, ok := t.(json.Delim)
+	if !ok || delim != '[' {
+		fmt.Printf("[Gemini-Stream] JSON array expected '[', got %v\n", t)
+		return
+	}
+
 	var lastUsage *geminiStreamChunk
-	for i := range chunks {
-		if chunks[i].UsageMetadata.TotalTokenCount > 0 {
-			lastUsage = &chunks[i]
+
+	// Read array elements
+	for dec.More() {
+		var chunk geminiStreamChunk
+		if err := dec.Decode(&chunk); err != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("[Gemini-Stream] JSON array decode error: %v\n", err)
+			return
+		}
+
+		if chunk.UsageMetadata.TotalTokenCount > 0 {
+			temp := chunk
+			lastUsage = &temp
+		}
+
+		// Emit content-bearing chunks immediately
+		if len(chunk.Candidates) > 0 {
+			emitGeminiChunk(ch, &chunk, model)
 		}
 	}
-	if lastUsage != nil {
-		// Emit a synthetic final chunk with usage data
-		if len(lastUsage.Candidates) == 0 && lastUsage.UsageMetadata.TotalTokenCount > 0 {
-			emitGeminiChunk(ch, lastUsage, model)
-		}
-	}
-	// Also emit each content-bearing chunk
-	for i := range chunks {
-		emitGeminiChunk(ch, &chunks[i], model)
+
+	// Read close bracket ']'
+	_, _ = dec.Token()
+
+	// Emit synthetic final chunk with usage if we collected it and it was not yet emitted
+	if lastUsage != nil && len(lastUsage.Candidates) == 0 && lastUsage.UsageMetadata.TotalTokenCount > 0 {
+		emitGeminiChunk(ch, lastUsage, model)
 	}
 }