diff --git a/packages/gateway/meshnet_gateway/server.py b/packages/gateway/meshnet_gateway/server.py
index 7a31ef8..ebce5df 100644
--- a/packages/gateway/meshnet_gateway/server.py
+++ b/packages/gateway/meshnet_gateway/server.py
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ class _GatewayHandler(http.server.BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
             self._send_json(200, completion)
 
     def _proxy_to_head_worker(self, url: str, body_bytes: bytes) -> None:
-        """Forward a raw request body to a head worker and stream the response back."""
+        """Forward a raw request body to a head worker and relay SSE without buffering."""
         target_url = f"{url}/v1/chat/completions"
         req = urllib.request.Request(
             target_url,
@@ -297,6 +297,19 @@ class _GatewayHandler(http.server.BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
         try:
             with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30.0) as r:
                 content_type = r.headers.get("Content-Type", "application/json")
+                if "text/event-stream" in content_type:
+                    self.send_response(r.status)
+                    self.send_header("Content-Type", content_type)
+                    self.send_header("Cache-Control", "no-cache")
+                    self.send_header("X-Accel-Buffering", "no")
+                    self.end_headers()
+                    while True:
+                        line = r.readline()
+                        if not line:
+                            break
+                        self.wfile.write(line)
+                        self.wfile.flush()
+                    return
                 resp_body = r.read()
                 status = r.status
         except urllib.error.HTTPError as exc:
diff --git a/packages/tracker/meshnet_tracker/dashboard.html b/packages/tracker/meshnet_tracker/dashboard.html
index b22cfec..6bcd175 100644
--- a/packages/tracker/meshnet_tracker/dashboard.html
+++ b/packages/tracker/meshnet_tracker/dashboard.html
@@ -1241,7 +1241,7 @@ async function sendChat() {
         .map(msg => ({ role: msg.role, content: msg.content })),
       { role: "user", content: prompt },
     ],
-    stream: false,
+    stream: true,
     max_tokens: 15120,
   };
   chatBusy = true;
@@ -1249,36 +1249,83 @@ async function sendChat() {
   promptEl.value = "";
   promptEl.style.height = "auto";
   chatHistory.push({ role: "user", content: prompt, model: selectedChatModel });
+  const assistantMessage = { role: "assistant", content: "", model: selectedChatModel };
+  chatHistory.push(assistantMessage);
   renderChatHistory();
   persistActiveChatSession();
-  renderChatStatus("sending request…");
-  const r = await apiCall("/v1/chat/completions", "POST", body, bearerToken);
-  chatBusy = false;
-  $("chat-send").disabled = false;
-  if (!r.ok) {
-    const error = r.data && r.data.error
-      ? (typeof r.data.error === "string" ? r.data.error : r.data.error.message || "request failed")
-      : "request failed";
-    chatHistory.push({ role: "error", content: error, model: selectedChatModel });
+  renderChatStatus("streaming response…");
+
+  try {
+    const headers = { "Content-Type": "application/json" };
+    if (bearerToken) headers["Authorization"] = "Bearer " + bearerToken;
+    const response = await fetch("/v1/chat/completions", {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers,
+      credentials: "same-origin",
+      body: JSON.stringify(body),
+    });
+    if (!response.ok) {
+      const data = await response.json().catch(() => ({}));
+      const error = data && data.error
+        ? (typeof data.error === "string" ? data.error : data.error.message || "request failed")
+        : "request failed";
+      assistantMessage.role = "error";
+      assistantMessage.content = error;
+      renderChatHistory();
+      persistActiveChatSession();
+      renderChatStatus(error);
+      return;
+    }
+    if (!response.body) throw new Error("stream response body is missing");
+
+    const reader = response.body.getReader();
+    const decoder = new TextDecoder();
+    let buffer = "";
+    let receivedAny = false;
+    while (true) {
+      const { value, done } = await reader.read();
+      if (done) break;
+      buffer += decoder.decode(value, { stream: true });
+      const events = buffer.split("\n\n");
+      buffer = events.pop() || "";
+      for (const eventText of events) {
+        for (const line of eventText.split("\n")) {
+          if (!line.startsWith("data: ")) continue;
+          const data = line.slice(6).trim();
+          if (data === "[DONE]") {
+            buffer = "";
+            break;
+          }
+          try {
+            const chunk = JSON.parse(data);
+            const delta = chunk.choices && chunk.choices[0] && chunk.choices[0].delta;
+            if (delta && delta.content) {
+              assistantMessage.content += delta.content;
+              receivedAny = true;
+              renderChatHistory();
+              persistActiveChatSession();
+            }
+          } catch {
+            // Ignore malformed SSE keepalive/event lines.
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    if (!receivedAny) assistantMessage.content = "(empty response)";
     renderChatHistory();
     persistActiveChatSession();
-    renderChatStatus(error);
+    renderChatStatus("done");
+  } catch (err) {
+    assistantMessage.role = "error";
+    assistantMessage.content = err && err.message ? err.message : "request failed";
+    renderChatHistory();
+    persistActiveChatSession();
+    renderChatStatus(assistantMessage.content);
+  } finally {
+    chatBusy = false;
+    $("chat-send").disabled = false;
     promptEl.focus();
-    return;
   }
-  const reply = (r.data && r.data.choices && r.data.choices[0] && r.data.choices[0].message && r.data.choices[0].message.content) || "";
-  const usage = r.data && r.data.usage;
-  chatHistory.push({
-    role: "assistant",
-    content: reply || "(empty response)",
-    model: selectedChatModel,
-  });
-  renderChatHistory();
-  persistActiveChatSession();
-  renderChatStatus(usage
-    ? `done: ${usage.total_tokens ?? "?"} tokens`
-    : "done");
-  promptEl.focus();
 }
 
 function bindChatPromptShortcuts() {
diff --git a/tests/test_dashboard.py b/tests/test_dashboard.py
index ff8029d..ad05d48 100644
--- a/tests/test_dashboard.py
+++ b/tests/test_dashboard.py
@@ -33,6 +33,21 @@ def test_dashboard_served_with_all_panels():
         tracker.stop()
 
 
+def test_dashboard_chat_uses_streaming_fetch():
+    tracker = TrackerServer(billing=BillingLedger())
+    port = tracker.start()
+    try:
+        html = urllib.request.urlopen(
+            f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}/dashboard"
+        ).read().decode()
+    finally:
+        tracker.stop()
+
+    assert "stream: true" in html
+    assert ".body.getReader()" in html
+    assert 'data === "[DONE]"' in html
+
+
 def test_dashboard_served_by_follower():
     """A tracker that is not the leader (unreachable peers → never elected)
     still serves the dashboard from its own replicated state."""
diff --git a/tests/test_tracker_as_node.py b/tests/test_tracker_as_node.py
index 4b3528b..bf0cc47 100644
--- a/tests/test_tracker_as_node.py
+++ b/tests/test_tracker_as_node.py
@@ -142,6 +142,21 @@ def _send_chat_request(gateway_url: str, prompt: str) -> dict:
         return json.loads(r.read())
 
 
+def _send_streaming_chat_request(gateway_url: str, prompt: str):
+    data = json.dumps({
+        "model": GPT2_MODEL,
+        "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": prompt}],
+        "stream": True,
+    }).encode()
+    req = urllib.request.Request(
+        f"{gateway_url}/v1/chat/completions",
+        data=data,
+        headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
+        method="POST",
+    )
+    return urllib.request.urlopen(req)
+
+
 def test_all_responses_valid_openai_format(tracker_node_setup):
     """Ten requests via gateway all return valid OpenAI chat completion format."""
     gateway_url, _, _ = tracker_node_setup
@@ -155,6 +170,30 @@ def test_all_responses_valid_openai_format(tracker_node_setup):
         assert isinstance(message.get("content"), str), f"request {i}: content must be a string"
 
 
+def test_streaming_head_worker_response_is_not_buffered_with_content_length(tracker_node_setup):
+    """Gateway must relay head-worker SSE as a live stream, not a buffered JSON-sized body."""
+    gateway_url, _, _ = tracker_node_setup
+
+    with _send_streaming_chat_request(gateway_url, "stream through head worker") as resp:
+        assert resp.status == 200
+        assert "text/event-stream" in resp.headers["Content-Type"]
+        assert "Content-Length" not in resp.headers
+        data_lines = []
+        while len(data_lines) < 4:
+            line = resp.readline().decode().strip()
+            if line.startswith("data: "):
+                data_lines.append(line)
+            if line == "data: [DONE]":
+                break
+
+    assert data_lines[-1] == "data: [DONE]"
+    content = "".join(
+        json.loads(line[6:])["choices"][0].get("delta", {}).get("content", "")
+        for line in data_lines[:-1]
+    )
+    assert "head-worker" in content
+
+
 def test_both_tracker_nodes_receive_load(tracker_node_setup):
     """Both head workers handle at least one request each out of ten."""
     gateway_url, tracker_node_a, tracker_node_b = tracker_node_setup