diff --git a/src-tauri/src/llm.rs b/src-tauri/src/llm.rs
index e05af71..a1b8f20 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/llm.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/llm.rs
@@ -57,27 +57,33 @@ pub async fn chat_stream(
         anyhow::bail!("Ollama returned {status}: {text}");
     }
 
-    let mut buffer = String::new();
+    let mut buffer: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
 
     loop {
         match response.chunk().await {
             Ok(Some(bytes)) => {
-                buffer.push_str(&String::from_utf8_lossy(&bytes));
-                while let Some(nl) = buffer.find('\n') {
-                    let line = buffer[..nl].trim().to_string();
+                buffer.extend_from_slice(&bytes);
+                while let Some(nl) = buffer.iter().position(|&b| b == b'\n') {
+                    let line_bytes = buffer[..nl].to_vec();
                     buffer.drain(..=nl);
+                    let line = String::from_utf8_lossy(&line_bytes);
+                    let line = line.trim();
                     if line.is_empty() {
                         continue;
                     }
-                    match serde_json::from_str::<OllamaChunk>(&line) {
+                    match serde_json::from_str::<OllamaChunk>(line) {
                         Ok(chunk) if chunk.done => {
-                            let _ = app.emit("robin:chat-done", ());
+                            if let Err(e) = app.emit("robin:chat-done", ()) {
+                                log::warn!("llm: failed to emit chat-done: {e}");
+                            }
                             return Ok(());
                         }
                         Ok(chunk) => {
                             if let Some(msg) = chunk.message {
                                 if !msg.content.is_empty() {
-                                    let _ = app.emit("robin:chat-token", msg.content);
+                                    if let Err(e) = app.emit("robin:chat-token", msg.content) {
+                                        log::warn!("llm: failed to emit chat-token: {e}");
+                                    }
                                 }
                             }
                         }
@@ -89,13 +95,15 @@ pub async fn chat_stream(
             }
             Ok(None) => break,
             Err(e) => {
-                return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("stream read error: {e}"));
+                return Err(e).context("stream read error");
             }
         }
     }
 
     // Stream ended without a done:true line
-    let _ = app.emit("robin:chat-done", ());
+    if let Err(e) = app.emit("robin:chat-done", ()) {
+        log::warn!("llm: failed to emit chat-done: {e}");
+    }
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -133,10 +141,16 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn parse_empty_token_is_handled() {
+    fn parse_empty_content_chunk_deserializes() {
         let json = r#"{"model":"llama3.2","created_at":"2024-01-01T00:00:00Z","message":{"role":"assistant","content":""},"done":false}"#;
         let chunk: OllamaChunk = serde_json::from_str(json).unwrap();
         assert!(!chunk.done);
         assert_eq!(chunk.message.unwrap().content, "");
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn malformed_json_fails_to_parse() {
+        let result = serde_json::from_str::<OllamaChunk>("not valid json");
+        assert!(result.is_err(), "malformed JSON must fail to parse");
+    }
 }