diff --git a/cli.py b/cli.py
index a047471b63..ccc1e0d68d 100755
--- a/cli.py
+++ b/cli.py
@@ -1524,9 +1524,11 @@ class HermesCLI:
         # Track whether we're inside a reasoning/thinking block.
         # These tags are model-generated (system prompt tells the model
         # to use them) and get stripped from final_response. We must
-        # suppress them during streaming too.
-        _OPEN_TAGS = ("<REASONING_SCRATCHPAD>", "<think>", "<reasoning>", "<THINKING>")
-        _CLOSE_TAGS = ("</REASONING_SCRATCHPAD>", "</think>", "</reasoning>", "</THINKING>")
+        # suppress them during streaming too — unless show_reasoning is
+        # enabled, in which case we route the inner content to the
+        # reasoning display box instead of discarding it.
+        _OPEN_TAGS = ("<REASONING_SCRATCHPAD>", "<think>", "<reasoning>", "<THINKING>", "<thinking>")
+        _CLOSE_TAGS = ("</REASONING_SCRATCHPAD>", "</think>", "</reasoning>", "</THINKING>", "</thinking>")
 
         # Append to a pre-filter buffer first
         self._stream_prefilt = getattr(self, "_stream_prefilt", "") + text
@@ -1566,6 +1568,12 @@ class HermesCLI:
                 idx = self._stream_prefilt.find(tag)
                 if idx != -1:
                     self._in_reasoning_block = False
+                    # When show_reasoning is on, route inner content to
+                    # the reasoning display box instead of discarding.
+                    if self.show_reasoning:
+                        inner = self._stream_prefilt[:idx]
+                        if inner:
+                            self._stream_reasoning_delta(inner)
                     after = self._stream_prefilt[idx + len(tag):]
                     self._stream_prefilt = ""
                     # Process remaining text after close tag through full
@@ -1573,10 +1581,15 @@ class HermesCLI:
                     if after:
                         self._stream_delta(after)
                     return
-            # Still inside reasoning block — keep only the tail that could
-            # be a partial close tag prefix (save memory on long blocks).
+            # When show_reasoning is on, stream reasoning content live
+            # instead of silently accumulating. Keep only the tail that
+            # could be a partial close tag prefix.
             max_tag_len = max(len(t) for t in _CLOSE_TAGS)
             if len(self._stream_prefilt) > max_tag_len:
+                if self.show_reasoning:
+                    # Route the safe prefix to reasoning display
+                    safe_reasoning = self._stream_prefilt[:-max_tag_len]
+                    self._stream_reasoning_delta(safe_reasoning)
                 self._stream_prefilt = self._stream_prefilt[-max_tag_len:]
             return
 
diff --git a/run_agent.py b/run_agent.py
index 2655ac288c..ffcd809f92 100644
--- a/run_agent.py
+++ b/run_agent.py
@@ -1115,10 +1115,16 @@ class AIAgent:
         return bool(cleaned.strip())
     
     def _strip_think_blocks(self, content: str) -> str:
-        """Remove <think>...</think> blocks from content, returning only visible text."""
+        """Remove reasoning/thinking blocks from content, returning only visible text."""
         if not content:
             return ""
-        return re.sub(r'<think>.*?</think>', '', content, flags=re.DOTALL)
+        # Strip all reasoning tag variants: <think>, <thinking>, <THINKING>,
+        # <reasoning>, <REASONING_SCRATCHPAD>
+        content = re.sub(r'<think>.*?</think>', '', content, flags=re.DOTALL)
+        content = re.sub(r'<thinking>.*?</thinking>', '', content, flags=re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE)
+        content = re.sub(r'<reasoning>.*?</reasoning>', '', content, flags=re.DOTALL)
+        content = re.sub(r'<REASONING_SCRATCHPAD>.*?</REASONING_SCRATCHPAD>', '', content, flags=re.DOTALL)
+        return content
 
     def _looks_like_codex_intermediate_ack(
         self,