diff --git a/src/vtk_prompt/client.py b/src/vtk_prompt/client.py
index 3177d6c..e395801 100644
--- a/src/vtk_prompt/client.py
+++ b/src/vtk_prompt/client.py
@@ -33,6 +33,40 @@
 logger = get_logger(__name__)
 
 
+def _parse_text_tool_calls(content: str | None, tool_names: set[str]) -> list[dict] | None:
+    """Extract tool calls a backend emitted as text instead of structured tool_calls.
+
+    Some local OpenAI-compatible backends (e.g. Ollama with a quantized model) return
+    a tool call as plain content rather than populating ``tool_calls``. Handle both a
+    ``<tool_call>{...}</tool_call>`` block and a bare JSON object with ``name`` and
+    ``arguments``. Only objects whose name matches a known tool are treated as calls,
+    so normal tagged answers are never misread. Returns a list of {name, arguments}.
+    """
+    if not content:
+        return None
+    candidates = re.findall(r"<tool_call>\s*(\{.*?\})\s*</tool_call>", content, re.DOTALL)
+    if not candidates:
+        stripped = content.strip()
+        if stripped.startswith("{") and stripped.endswith("}"):
+            candidates = [stripped]
+    calls: list[dict] = []
+    for raw in candidates:
+        try:
+            obj = json.loads(raw)
+        except (ValueError, TypeError):
+            continue
+        name = obj.get("name")
+        args = obj.get("arguments", {})
+        if isinstance(args, str):
+            try:
+                args = json.loads(args)
+            except (ValueError, TypeError):
+                args = {}
+        if name in tool_names and isinstance(args, dict):
+            calls.append({"name": name, "arguments": args})
+    return calls or None
+
+
 @dataclass
 class VTKPromptClient:
     """OpenAI client for VTK code generation."""
@@ -296,6 +330,8 @@ def query(
         custom_prompt: dict | None = None,
         ui_mode: bool = False,
         execution_error: str | None = None,
+        log_tool_calls: bool = False,
+        agentic_retrieval: bool = False,
     ) -> tuple[str, str, Any] | tuple[str, str, Any, list[str]] | str:
         """Generate VTK code using vtk-mcp tools when available.
 
@@ -359,7 +395,8 @@ def query(
         else:
             # Normal path: build context and prompt
             context_snippets = None
-            if mcp_client:
+            # Agentic mode: skip pre-injected context so the model must use tools.
+            if mcp_client and not agentic_retrieval:
                 mcp_context = mcp_client.get_enriched_context(message, top_k=top_k)
                 if mcp_context:
                     context_snippets = mcp_context
@@ -417,6 +454,11 @@ def query(
 
         # Fetch vtk-mcp tools for LLM tool calling
         tools = mcp_client.list_tools() if mcp_client else []
+        tool_names: set[str] = {
+            str(name)
+            for t in tools
+            if (name := (t.get("function") or {}).get("name")) is not None
+        }
 
         # Retry loop for AST validation
         for attempt in range(retry_attempts):
@@ -468,18 +510,64 @@ def query(
                         except Exception:
                             args = {}
                         result = mcp_client.call_tool(tc.function.name, args)  # type: ignore
-                        logger.debug("Tool %s -> %s...", tc.function.name, result[:80])
+                        if log_tool_calls:
+                            logger.info(
+                                "vtk-mcp: %s(%s) -> %s",
+                                tc.function.name,
+                                tc.function.arguments,
+                                result[:120],
+                            )
+                        else:
+                            logger.debug("Tool %s -> %s...", tc.function.name, result[:80])
                         self.conversation.append(
                             {"role": "tool", "tool_call_id": tc.id, "content": result}
                         )
                     continue  # let LLM decide what to do next
 
+                # Fallback: the backend returned a tool call as plain text rather than
+                # in tool_calls (common with quantized local models). Run it anyway.
+                text_calls = _parse_text_tool_calls(choice.message.content, tool_names)
+                if tools and text_calls:
+                    text_msg: dict = {"role": "assistant", "content": ""}
+                    text_msg["tool_calls"] = [
+                        {
+                            "id": f"call_{i}",
+                            "type": "function",
+                            "function": {
+                                "name": c["name"],
+                                "arguments": json.dumps(c["arguments"]),
+                            },
+                        }
+                        for i, c in enumerate(text_calls)
+                    ]
+                    self.conversation.append(text_msg)
+                    for i, c in enumerate(text_calls):
+                        result = mcp_client.call_tool(c["name"], c["arguments"])  # type: ignore
+                        if log_tool_calls:
+                            logger.info(
+                                "vtk-mcp (text): %s(%s) -> %s",
+                                c["name"],
+                                json.dumps(c["arguments"]),
+                                result[:120],
+                            )
+                        else:
+                            logger.debug("Tool %s (text) -> %s...", c["name"], result[:80])
+                        self.conversation.append(
+                            {"role": "tool", "tool_call_id": f"call_{i}", "content": result}
+                        )
+                    continue
+
                 # LLM generated a response (not a tool call)
                 content = choice.message.content or "No content in response"
                 break
 
             if content is None:
                 # Tool loop exhausted without a text response
+                if log_tool_calls:
+                    logger.info(
+                        "vtk-mcp: tool loop hit the %d-round cap without a final response",
+                        MAX_TOOL_ROUNDS,
+                    )
                 if attempt == retry_attempts - 1:
                     return ("No response generated", "", getattr(response, "usage", None) or {})
                 continue
diff --git a/src/vtk_prompt/controllers/configuration.py b/src/vtk_prompt/controllers/configuration.py
index 601841b..a4e4433 100644
--- a/src/vtk_prompt/controllers/configuration.py
+++ b/src/vtk_prompt/controllers/configuration.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ def save_config(app: Any) -> str:
     mcp_url = getattr(app.state, "mcp_url", "").strip()
     data_root = getattr(app.state, "data_root", "").strip()
     top_k = int(getattr(app.state, "top_k", 5))
+    log_tool_calls = bool(getattr(app.state, "log_tool_calls", False))
+    agentic_retrieval = bool(getattr(app.state, "agentic_retrieval", False))
     base_url = getattr(app.state, "local_base_url", "").strip() if not use_cloud else ""
 
     content = {
@@ -56,6 +58,8 @@ def save_config(app: Any) -> str:
         "mcp_url": mcp_url,
         "data_root": data_root,
         "top_k": top_k,
+        "log_tool_calls": log_tool_calls,
+        "agentic_retrieval": agentic_retrieval,
         "retries": retries,
         "modelParameters": {
             "temperature": temperature,
diff --git a/src/vtk_prompt/controllers/generation.py b/src/vtk_prompt/controllers/generation.py
index 576f0ed..72e728f 100644
--- a/src/vtk_prompt/controllers/generation.py
+++ b/src/vtk_prompt/controllers/generation.py
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ async def generate_and_execute_code(app: Any) -> None:
                 temperature=float(app.state.temperature),
                 top_k=int(app.state.top_k),
                 retry_attempts=int(app.state.retry_attempts),
+                log_tool_calls=bool(app.state.log_tool_calls),
+                agentic_retrieval=bool(app.state.agentic_retrieval),
                 provider=app.state.provider,
                 custom_prompt=app.custom_prompt_data,
                 ui_mode=True,  # This tells the client to use UI-specific components
@@ -176,6 +178,8 @@ async def generate_and_execute_code(app: Any) -> None:
                 temperature=float(app.state.temperature),
                 top_k=int(app.state.top_k),
                 retry_attempts=1,
+                log_tool_calls=bool(app.state.log_tool_calls),
+                agentic_retrieval=bool(app.state.agentic_retrieval),
                 provider=app.state.provider,
                 custom_prompt=app.custom_prompt_data,
                 ui_mode=True,
diff --git a/src/vtk_prompt/state/initializer.py b/src/vtk_prompt/state/initializer.py
index 74ae8b7..be26236 100644
--- a/src/vtk_prompt/state/initializer.py
+++ b/src/vtk_prompt/state/initializer.py
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ def initialize_state(app: Any) -> None:
     app.state.code_history_pos = -1
     app.state.is_loading = False
     app.state.mcp_url = ""
+    app.state.log_tool_calls = False  # log vtk-mcp tool calls to the console
+    app.state.agentic_retrieval = False  # skip pre-injected context; use tools
     app.state.error_message = ""
     app.state.input_tokens = 0
     app.state.output_tokens = 0
diff --git a/src/vtk_prompt/ui/layout/settings_dialog.py b/src/vtk_prompt/ui/layout/settings_dialog.py
index 48cbdf0..f7b1c88 100644
--- a/src/vtk_prompt/ui/layout/settings_dialog.py
+++ b/src/vtk_prompt/ui/layout/settings_dialog.py
@@ -190,6 +190,23 @@ def _advanced_tab() -> None:
                 hint="Context snippets retrieved per request",
                 persistent_hint=True,
             )
+            vuetify.VCheckbox(
+                label="Log tool calls to the server console",
+                v_model=("log_tool_calls", False),
+                density="compact",
+                color="primary",
+                disabled=("!mcp_url",),
+                hide_details=True,
+                classes="mt-2",
+            )
+            vuetify.VCheckbox(
+                label="Agentic retrieval (use tools instead of pre-injected context)",
+                v_model=("agentic_retrieval", False),
+                density="compact",
+                color="primary",
+                disabled=("!mcp_url",),
+                hide_details=True,
+            )
 
             vuetify.VDivider(classes="my-5")
             _section("Generation")
diff --git a/src/vtk_prompt/utils/prompt_loader.py b/src/vtk_prompt/utils/prompt_loader.py
index 668d89a..8ab2480 100644
--- a/src/vtk_prompt/utils/prompt_loader.py
+++ b/src/vtk_prompt/utils/prompt_loader.py
@@ -120,6 +120,14 @@ def _process_rag_and_generation_settings(app: Any) -> None:
         _mcp = app.custom_prompt_data.get("mcp_url")
         if isinstance(_mcp, str):
             app.state.mcp_url = _mcp.strip()
+    if "log_tool_calls" in app.custom_prompt_data:
+        _ltc = app.custom_prompt_data.get("log_tool_calls")
+        if isinstance(_ltc, bool):
+            app.state.log_tool_calls = _ltc
+    if "agentic_retrieval" in app.custom_prompt_data:
+        _ag = app.custom_prompt_data.get("agentic_retrieval")
+        if isinstance(_ag, bool):
+            app.state.agentic_retrieval = _ag
     if "base_url" in app.custom_prompt_data:
         _base = app.custom_prompt_data.get("base_url")
         if isinstance(_base, str) and _base.strip():