diff --git a/common/chat.cpp b/common/chat.cpp
index 7ac7870c..60ef46b8 100644
--- a/common/chat.cpp
+++ b/common/chat.cpp
@@ -1933,6 +1933,172 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_deepseek_v3_2(const common_cha
     return data;
 }
 
+static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_minimax_m3(const common_chat_template &    tmpl,
+                                                             const autoparser::generation_params & inputs) {
+    common_chat_params data;
+
+    data.prompt             = common_chat_template_direct_apply_impl(tmpl, inputs);
+    data.format             = COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_PEG_NATIVE;
+    data.supports_thinking  = true;
+    data.thinking_start_tag = "<mm:think>";
+    data.thinking_end_tag   = "</mm:think>";
+
+    const std::string NS           = "]<]minimax[>[";
+    const std::string THINK_START  = "<mm:think>";
+    const std::string THINK_END    = "</mm:think>";
+    const std::string FC_START     = NS + "<tool_call>";
+    const std::string FC_END       = NS + "</tool_call>";
+    const std::string INVOKE_END   = NS + "</invoke>";
+
+    data.preserved_tokens = {
+        NS,
+        "<tool_call>",
+        "</tool_call>",
+        THINK_START,
+        THINK_END,
+    };
+
+    auto has_tools           = inputs.tools.is_array() && !inputs.tools.empty();
+    auto has_response_format = !inputs.json_schema.is_null() && inputs.json_schema.is_object();
+    auto extract_reasoning   = inputs.reasoning_format != COMMON_REASONING_FORMAT_NONE;
+    auto include_grammar     = has_response_format || (has_tools && inputs.tool_choice != COMMON_CHAT_TOOL_CHOICE_NONE);
+
+    auto parser = build_chat_peg_parser([&](common_chat_peg_builder & p) {
+        auto generation_prompt = p.prefix(inputs.generation_prompt, THINK_START);
+        auto end = p.end();
+
+        auto reasoning = p.eps();
+        if (extract_reasoning && inputs.enable_thinking) {
+            reasoning = p.optional(p.optional(p.literal(THINK_START)) + p.reasoning(p.until(THINK_END)) + THINK_END);
+        } else if (extract_reasoning) {
+            reasoning = p.optional(p.optional(p.literal(THINK_START)) + p.until(THINK_END) + p.literal(THINK_END));
+        }
+
+        if (has_response_format) {
+            auto response_format = p.rule("response-format",
+                p.literal("```json") + p.space() +
+                p.content(p.schema(p.json(), "response-format-schema", inputs.json_schema)) +
+                p.space() + p.literal("```"));
+            return generation_prompt + reasoning + response_format + end;
+        }
+
+        if (!has_tools || inputs.tool_choice == COMMON_CHAT_TOOL_CHOICE_NONE) {
+            return generation_prompt + reasoning + p.content(p.rest()) + end;
+        }
+
+        auto tool_choice = p.choice();
+        foreach_function(inputs.tools, [&](const json & tool) {
+            const auto & function = tool.at("function");
+            std::string  name     = function.at("name");
+            auto params   = function.contains("parameters") ? function.at("parameters") : json::object();
+            const auto & props    = params.contains("properties") ? params.at("properties") : json::object();
+
+            std::set<std::string> required;
+            if (params.contains("required")) {
+                params.at("required").get_to(required);
+            }
+
+            auto schema_info = common_schema_info();
+            schema_info.resolve_refs(params);
+
+            std::vector<common_peg_parser> required_parsers;
+            std::vector<common_peg_parser> optional_parsers;
+            for (const auto & [param_name, param_schema] : props.items()) {
+                bool is_required = required.find(param_name) != required.end();
+                bool is_string   = schema_info.resolves_to_string(param_schema);
+
+                const std::string p_close = NS + "</" + param_name + ">";
+
+                auto arg = p.tool_arg(
+                    p.tool_arg_open(
+                        p.literal(NS + "<") +
+                        p.tool_arg_name(p.literal(param_name)) +
+                        p.literal(">")) +
+                    (is_string
+                         ? p.tool_arg_string_value(p.until(p_close))
+                         : p.tool_arg_json_value(p.schema(p.json(),
+                                                          "tool-" + name + "-arg-" + param_name + "-schema",
+                                                          param_schema, false))) +
+                    p.tool_arg_close(p.literal(p_close)));
+
+                auto named_arg = p.rule("tool-" + name + "-arg-" + param_name, arg);
+                if (is_required) {
+                    required_parsers.push_back(named_arg);
+                } else {
+                    optional_parsers.push_back(named_arg);
+                }
+            }
+
+            common_peg_parser args_seq = p.eps();
+            for (size_t i = 0; i < required_parsers.size(); i++) {
+                if (i > 0) {
+                    args_seq = args_seq + p.space();
+                }
+                args_seq = args_seq + required_parsers[i];
+            }
+
+            if (!optional_parsers.empty()) {
+                common_peg_parser any_opt = p.choice();
+                for (const auto & opt : optional_parsers) {
+                    any_opt |= opt;
+                }
+                args_seq = args_seq + p.repeat(p.space() + any_opt, 0, -1);
+            }
+
+            auto func_parser = p.tool(
+                p.tool_open(p.literal(NS + "<invoke name=\"") +
+                            p.tool_name(p.literal(name)) + p.literal("\">")) +
+                p.space() + args_seq + p.space() +
+                p.tool_close(p.literal(INVOKE_END)));
+
+            tool_choice |= p.rule("tool-" + name, func_parser);
+        });
+
+        auto require_tools = inputs.tool_choice == COMMON_CHAT_TOOL_CHOICE_REQUIRED;
+
+        common_peg_parser tool_calls = p.eps();
+        if (inputs.parallel_tool_calls) {
+            tool_calls = p.trigger_rule("tool-call",
+                p.literal(FC_START) + p.space() + tool_choice +
+                p.zero_or_more(p.space() + tool_choice) + p.space() + p.literal(FC_END));
+        } else {
+            tool_calls = p.trigger_rule("tool-call",
+                p.literal(FC_START) + p.space() + tool_choice + p.space() + p.literal(FC_END));
+        }
+
+        if (!require_tools) {
+            tool_calls = p.optional(tool_calls);
+        }
+
+        auto content_before_tools = p.content(p.until(FC_START));
+        return generation_prompt + reasoning + p.space() + content_before_tools + tool_calls + end;
+    });
+
+    data.parser = parser.save();
+
+    if (include_grammar) {
+        data.grammar_lazy = !(has_response_format || (has_tools && inputs.tool_choice == COMMON_CHAT_TOOL_CHOICE_REQUIRED));
+        data.grammar      = build_grammar([&](const common_grammar_builder & builder) {
+            foreach_function(inputs.tools, [&](const json & tool) {
+                const auto & function = tool.at("function");
+                auto         schema   = function.contains("parameters") ? function.at("parameters") : json::object();
+                builder.resolve_refs(schema);
+            });
+            if (has_response_format) {
+                auto schema = inputs.json_schema;
+                builder.resolve_refs(schema);
+            }
+            parser.build_grammar(builder, data.grammar_lazy);
+        });
+
+        data.grammar_triggers = {
+            { COMMON_GRAMMAR_TRIGGER_TYPE_WORD, FC_START },
+        };
+    }
+
+    return data;
+}
+
 // Cohere2 MoE (a.k.a. "North Code") parser.
 //
 // The assistant turn is fully marker-wrapped:
@@ -2329,6 +2495,13 @@ std::optional<common_chat_params> common_chat_try_specialized_template(
         return common_chat_params_init_gigachat_v3(tmpl, params);
     }
 
+    if (src.find("]<]minimax[>[") != std::string::npos &&
+        src.find("<tool_call>") != std::string::npos &&
+        src.find("<invoke name=") != std::string::npos) {
+        LOG_DBG("Using specialized template: MiniMax-M3\n");
+        return common_chat_params_init_minimax_m3(tmpl, params);
+    }
+
     // DeepSeek V3.2 format detection: template defines dsml_token and uses it for tool calls.
     // The template source contains the token as a variable assignment, not as a literal in markup.
     if (src.find("dsml_token") != std::string::npos &&
@@ -2629,4 +2802,3 @@ std::map<std::string, bool> common_chat_templates_get_caps(const common_chat_tem
     GGML_ASSERT(chat_templates->template_default != nullptr);
     return chat_templates->template_default->caps.to_map();
 }
-
diff --git a/models/templates/MiniMax-M3.jinja b/models/templates/MiniMax-M3.jinja
deleted file mode 100644
index ff04e450..00000000
--- a/models/templates/MiniMax-M3.jinja
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,169 +0,0 @@
-{# MiniMax-M3 override.
-   Keep MiniMax-M2's PEG-compatible tool-call wrapper, but use M3 thinking tags. #}
-{%- set toolcall_begin_token   = '<minimax:tool_call>'         -%}
-{%- set toolcall_end_token     = '</minimax:tool_call>'        -%}
-{%- set think_begin_token      = '<mm:think>'                  -%}
-{%- set think_end_token        = '</mm:think>'                 -%}
-
-{#- Tool Rendering Functions ============================================== -#}
-{%- macro render_tool_namespace(namespace_name, tool_list) -%}
-{%- for tool in tool_list -%}
-<tool>{{ tool.function | tojson(ensure_ascii=False) }}</tool>
-{% endfor -%}
-{%- endmacro -%}
-
-{%- macro visible_text(content) -%}
-    {%- if content is string -%}
-        {{ content }}
-    {%- elif content is iterable and content is not mapping -%}
-        {%- for item in content -%}
-            {%- if item is mapping and item.type == 'text' -%}
-                {{- item.text }}
-            {%- elif item is string -%}
-                {{- item }}
-            {%- endif -%}
-        {%- endfor -%}
-    {%- else -%}
-        {{- content }}
-    {%- endif -%}
-{%- endmacro -%}
-
-{#- System Message Construction ============================================ -#}
-{%- macro build_system_message(system_message) -%}
-    {%- if system_message and system_message.content -%}
-        {{- visible_text(system_message.content) }}
-    {%- else -%}
-        {%- if model_identity is not defined -%}
-            {%- set model_identity = "You are a helpful assistant." -%}
-        {%- endif -%}
-        {{- model_identity }}
-    {%- endif -%}
-
-    {%- if system_message and system_message.current_date -%}
-        {{- '\n' ~ 'Current date: ' + system_message.current_date }}
-    {%- endif -%}
-    {%- if system_message and system_message.current_location -%}
-        {{- '\n' ~ 'Current location: ' + system_message.current_location }}
-    {%- endif -%}
-{%- endmacro -%}
-
-{#- Main Template Logic ===================================================== -#}
-{%- set system_message = none -%}
-{%- set conversation_messages = messages -%}
-{%- if messages and messages[0].role == "system" -%}
-    {%- set system_message = messages[0] -%}
-    {%- set conversation_messages = messages[1:] -%}
-{%- endif -%}
-
-{#- Get the last user message turn, for interleaved thinking -#}
-{%- set ns = namespace(last_user_index=-1) %}
-{% for m in conversation_messages %}
-    {%- if m.role == 'user' %}
-        {% set ns.last_user_index = loop.index0 -%}
-    {%- endif %}
-{%- endfor %}
-
-{#- Render system message -#}
-{{- ']~!b[' ~ ']~b]system' ~ '\n' }}
-{{- build_system_message(system_message) }}
-
-{#- Render tools if available -#}
-{%- if tools -%}
-    {{- '\n\n' ~ '# Tools' ~ '\n' ~ 'You may call one or more tools to assist with the user query.\nHere are the tools available in JSONSchema format:' ~ '\n' }}
-    {{- '\n' ~ '<tools>' ~ '\n' }}
-    {{- render_tool_namespace("functions", tools) }}
-    {{- '</tools>' ~ '\n\n' }}
-    {{- 'When making tool calls, use XML format to invoke tools and pass parameters:' ~ '\n' }}
-    {{- '\n' ~ toolcall_begin_token }}
-    <invoke name="tool-name">
-        <parameter name="param-name1">param-value-1</parameter>
-        <parameter name="param-name2">param-value-2</parameter>
-        ...
-    </invoke>
-    {{- '\n' ~ toolcall_end_token }}
-{%- endif -%}
-
-{{- '[e~[\n' }}
-
-{#- Render messages -#}
-{%- set last_tool_call = namespace(name=none) -%}
-{%- for message in conversation_messages -%}
-    {%- if message.role == 'assistant' -%}
-        {{- ']~b]ai' ~ '\n' }}
-
-        {%- set reasoning_content = '' %}
-        {%- set content = visible_text(message.content) %}
-        {%- if message.reasoning_content is string %}
-            {%- set reasoning_content = message.reasoning_content %}
-        {%- else %}
-            {%- if think_end_token in content %}
-                {%- set reasoning_content = content.split(think_end_token)[0].strip('\n').split(think_begin_token)[-1].strip('\n') %}
-                {%- set content = content.split(think_end_token)[-1].strip('\n') %}
-            {%- elif '</think>' in content %}
-                {%- set reasoning_content = content.split('</think>')[0].strip('\n').split('<think>')[-1].strip('\n') %}
-                {%- set content = content.split('</think>')[-1].strip('\n') %}
-            {%- endif %}
-        {%- endif %}
-        {%- if reasoning_content and loop.index0 > ns.last_user_index -%}
-            {{- think_begin_token ~ '\n' ~ reasoning_content ~ '\n' ~ think_end_token ~ '\n\n' }}
-        {%- endif -%}
-        {%- if content -%}
-            {{- content }}
-        {%- endif -%}
-
-        {%- if message.tool_calls -%}
-            {{- '\n' ~ toolcall_begin_token ~ '\n' }}
-            {%- for tool_call in message.tool_calls -%}
-                {%- if tool_call.function %}
-                    {%- set tool_call = tool_call.function %}
-                {%- endif %}
-                {{- '<invoke name="' ~ tool_call.name ~ '">' }}
-                {% set _args = tool_call.arguments %}
-                {%- for k, v in _args.items() %}
-                    {{- '<parameter name="' ~ k ~ '">' }}
-                    {{- v | tojson(ensure_ascii=False) if v is not string else v }}
-                    {{- '</parameter>' }}
-                {% endfor %}
-                {{- '</invoke>' ~ '\n' }}
-            {%- endfor -%}
-
-            {{- toolcall_end_token}}
-            {%- set last_tool_call.name = message.tool_calls[-1].function.name -%}
-        {%- else -%}
-            {%- set last_tool_call.name = none -%}
-        {%- endif -%}
-        {{- '[e~[' ~ '\n' }}
-
-    {%- elif message.role == 'tool' -%}
-    {%- if last_tool_call.name is none -%}
-        {{- raise_exception("Message has tool role, but there was no previous assistant message with a tool call!") }}
-    {%- endif -%}
-    {%- if loop.first or (conversation_messages[loop.index0 - 1].role != 'tool') -%}
-        {{- ']~b]tool' }}
-    {%- endif -%}
-    {%- if message.content is string -%}
-        {{- '\n' }}
-        {{- message.content }}
-        {{- '</' ~ last_tool_call.name ~ '>' }}
-    {%- else -%}
-        {%- for tr in message.content -%}
-            {{- '\n' }}
-            {{- tr.output if tr.output is defined else (tr.text if tr.type == 'text' and tr.text is defined else tr) }}
-            {{- '\n' }}
-        {%- endfor -%}
-    {%- endif -%}
-    {%- if loop.last or (conversation_messages[loop.index0 + 1].role != 'tool') -%}
-        {{- '[e~[\n' -}}
-    {%- endif -%}
-
-    {%- elif message.role == 'user' -%}
-        {{- ']~b]user' ~ '\n' }}
-        {{- visible_text(message.content) }}
-        {{- '[e~[' ~ '\n' }}
-    {%- endif -%}
-{%- endfor -%}
-
-{#- Generation prompt -#}
-{%- if add_generation_prompt -%}
-{{- ']~b]ai' ~ '\n' ~ think_begin_token ~ '\n' }}
-{%- endif -%}
diff --git a/tests/test-chat-template.cpp b/tests/test-chat-template.cpp
index 6cc13213..a7514b52 100644
--- a/tests/test-chat-template.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-chat-template.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 using json = nlohmann::ordered_json;
 
 static int main_automated_tests(void);
+static common_chat_msg simple_msg(const std::string & role, const std::string & content);
 
 static void run_multiple(const std::string& dir_path, bool stop_on_first_failure, const json& input, bool use_common = false);
 static void run_single(const std::string& contents, json input, bool use_common = false, const std::string & output_path = "");
@@ -225,7 +226,6 @@ static std::string normalize_newlines(const std::string & s) {
 #endif
 }
 
-
 static std::string format_using_common(
             const std::string & template_str,
             const std::string & bos_token,
@@ -243,6 +243,87 @@ static std::string format_using_common(
     return output;
 }
 
+static void test_minimax_m3_native_tool_parser(void) {
+    const std::string template_str = R"(
+{%- set ns_token = ']<]minimax[>[' -%}
+{%- set toolcall_begin_token = ns_token ~ '<tool_call>' -%}
+{%- set toolcall_end_token = ns_token ~ '</tool_call>' -%}
+{%- for message in messages -%}
+{{- message.role ~ ': ' ~ message.content ~ '\n' -}}
+{%- endfor -%}
+{%- if tools -%}
+{{- toolcall_begin_token ~ ns_token ~ '<invoke name="example">' ~ ns_token ~ '</invoke>' ~ toolcall_end_token -}}
+{%- endif -%}
+{%- if add_generation_prompt -%}
+{{- '<mm:think>' -}}
+{%- endif -%}
+)";
+
+    common_chat_templates_inputs inputs;
+    inputs.use_jinja = true;
+    inputs.messages = { simple_msg("user", "Call a tool") };
+    inputs.add_generation_prompt = true;
+    inputs.reasoning_format = COMMON_REASONING_FORMAT_DEEPSEEK;
+    inputs.enable_thinking = true;
+    inputs.parallel_tool_calls = true;
+    inputs.tools = {
+        common_chat_tool{
+            /* .name = */ "special_function",
+            /* .description = */ "Test function",
+            /* .parameters = */ R"({
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                    "arg1": { "type": "integer" }
+                },
+                "required": ["arg1"]
+            })",
+        },
+        common_chat_tool{
+            /* .name = */ "python",
+            /* .description = */ "Run Python",
+            /* .parameters = */ R"({
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                    "code": { "type": "string" }
+                },
+                "required": ["code"]
+            })",
+        },
+    };
+
+    common_chat_templates_ptr tmpls(common_chat_templates_init(/* model= */ nullptr, template_str));
+    auto params = common_chat_templates_apply(tmpls.get(), inputs);
+
+    assert(params.format == COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_PEG_NATIVE);
+    assert(!params.parser.empty());
+
+    common_peg_arena arena;
+    arena.load(params.parser);
+
+    common_chat_parser_params parser_params(params);
+    parser_params.parser = arena;
+
+    const std::string output =
+        "Calling both</mm:think>\n"
+        "]<]minimax[>[<tool_call>\n"
+        "]<]minimax[>[<invoke name=\"special_function\">"
+        "]<]minimax[>[<arg1>1]<]minimax[>[</arg1>"
+        "]<]minimax[>[</invoke>\n"
+        "]<]minimax[>[<invoke name=\"python\">"
+        "]<]minimax[>[<code>print('hey')]<]minimax[>[</code>"
+        "]<]minimax[>[</invoke>\n"
+        "]<]minimax[>[</tool_call>";
+
+    auto msg = common_chat_parse(output, /* is_partial = */ false, parser_params);
+    assert(msg.reasoning_content == "Calling both");
+    assert(msg.content.empty());
+    assert(msg.tool_calls.size() == 2);
+    assert(msg.tool_calls[0].name == "special_function");
+    assert(json::parse(msg.tool_calls[0].arguments) == json::parse(R"({"arg1": 1})"));
+    assert(msg.tool_calls[1].name == "python");
+    assert(json::parse(msg.tool_calls[1].arguments) == json::parse("{\"code\": \"print('hey')\"}"));
+}
+
 
 // skip libcommon, use direct jinja engine
 static jinja::value_string format_using_direct_engine(
@@ -336,6 +417,8 @@ static common_chat_msg simple_msg(const std::string & role, const std::string &
 int main_automated_tests(void) {
     // jinja::enable_debug(true);
 
+    test_minimax_m3_native_tool_parser();
+
     std::vector<llama_chat_message> conversation {
         {"system", "You are a helpful assistant"},
         {"user", "Hello"},