diff --git a/cmd/membench/eval.go b/cmd/membench/eval.go
index bddee76fd..729c9f97f 100644
--- a/cmd/membench/eval.go
+++ b/cmd/membench/eval.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ type AggMetrics struct {
 	OverallHitRate float64             `json:"overallHitRate"`
 	ByCategory     map[int]*CatMetrics `json:"byCategory"`
 	TotalQuestions int                 `json:"totalQuestions"`
+	ValidF1Count   int                 `json:"validF1Count"`
 }
 
 // CatMetrics holds metrics for a single category.
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ type CatMetrics struct {
 	F1            float64 `json:"f1"`
 	HitRate       float64 `json:"hitRate"`
 	QuestionCount int     `json:"questionCount"`
+	ValidF1Count  int     `json:"validF1Count"`
 }
 
 // EvalLegacy evaluates using legacy session store (raw history + budget truncation).
@@ -201,38 +203,64 @@ func EvalSeahorse(
 
 // aggregateMetrics computes overall and per-category metrics.
 func aggregateMetrics(qaResults []QAResult) AggMetrics {
-	byCat := map[int]*CatMetrics{}
+	type catAccum struct {
+		f1Sum        float64
+		f1Count      int
+		hitRateSum   float64
+		hitRateCount int
+	}
+	byCatAcc := map[int]*catAccum{}
 	totalF1 := 0.0
 	totalHitRate := 0.0
+	validF1Count := 0
 	for _, qr := range qaResults {
-		totalF1 += qr.TokenF1
-		totalHitRate += qr.HitRate
-		cat, ok := byCat[qr.Category]
-		if !ok {
-			cat = &CatMetrics{}
-			byCat[qr.Category] = cat
+		// Skip sentinel -1.0 scores (LLM API/parse failures) from F1 averaging.
+		if qr.TokenF1 >= 0 {
+			totalF1 += qr.TokenF1
+			validF1Count++
 		}
-		cat.F1 += qr.TokenF1
-		cat.HitRate += qr.HitRate
-		cat.QuestionCount++
+		totalHitRate += qr.HitRate
+		acc, ok := byCatAcc[qr.Category]
+		if !ok {
+			acc = &catAccum{}
+			byCatAcc[qr.Category] = acc
+		}
+		if qr.TokenF1 >= 0 {
+			acc.f1Sum += qr.TokenF1
+			acc.f1Count++
+		}
+		acc.hitRateSum += qr.HitRate
+		acc.hitRateCount++
 	}
-	n := len(qaResults)
-	if n == 0 {
-		n = 1
+	nHit := len(qaResults)
+	if nHit == 0 {
+		nHit = 1
 	}
-	agg := AggMetrics{
-		OverallF1:      totalF1 / float64(n),
-		OverallHitRate: totalHitRate / float64(n),
+	byCat := map[int]*CatMetrics{}
+	for cat, acc := range byCatAcc {
+		cm := &CatMetrics{
+			QuestionCount: acc.hitRateCount,
+			ValidF1Count:  acc.f1Count,
+		}
+		if acc.f1Count > 0 {
+			cm.F1 = acc.f1Sum / float64(acc.f1Count)
+		}
+		if acc.hitRateCount > 0 {
+			cm.HitRate = acc.hitRateSum / float64(acc.hitRateCount)
+		}
+		byCat[cat] = cm
+	}
+	var overallF1 float64
+	if validF1Count > 0 {
+		overallF1 = totalF1 / float64(validF1Count)
+	}
+	return AggMetrics{
+		OverallF1:      overallF1,
+		OverallHitRate: totalHitRate / float64(nHit),
 		ByCategory:     byCat,
 		TotalQuestions: len(qaResults),
+		ValidF1Count:   validF1Count,
 	}
-	for _, cat := range agg.ByCategory {
-		if cat.QuestionCount > 0 {
-			cat.F1 /= float64(cat.QuestionCount)
-			cat.HitRate /= float64(cat.QuestionCount)
-		}
-	}
-	return agg
 }
 
 // SaveResults writes per-sample eval results to JSON files.
@@ -277,27 +305,43 @@ func SaveAggregated(results []EvalResult, outDir string) error {
 func computeModeAgg(results []EvalResult) AggMetrics {
 	agg := AggMetrics{ByCategory: map[int]*CatMetrics{}}
 	for _, r := range results {
-		agg.OverallF1 += r.Agg.OverallF1 * float64(r.Agg.TotalQuestions)
+		// Backward compat: old eval JSON (token mode) without ValidF1Count → use TotalQuestions.
+		// LLM modes may legitimately have ValidF1Count==0 (all failures).
+		vf1 := r.Agg.ValidF1Count
+		if vf1 == 0 && r.Agg.TotalQuestions > 0 && !strings.HasSuffix(r.Mode, "-llm") {
+			vf1 = r.Agg.TotalQuestions
+		}
+		agg.OverallF1 += r.Agg.OverallF1 * float64(vf1)
 		agg.OverallHitRate += r.Agg.OverallHitRate * float64(r.Agg.TotalQuestions)
 		agg.TotalQuestions += r.Agg.TotalQuestions
+		agg.ValidF1Count += vf1
 		for cat, cm := range r.Agg.ByCategory {
 			existing, ok := agg.ByCategory[cat]
 			if !ok {
 				existing = &CatMetrics{}
 				agg.ByCategory[cat] = existing
 			}
-			existing.F1 += cm.F1 * float64(cm.QuestionCount)
+			cvf1 := cm.ValidF1Count
+			if cvf1 == 0 && cm.QuestionCount > 0 && !strings.HasSuffix(r.Mode, "-llm") {
+				cvf1 = cm.QuestionCount
+			}
+			existing.F1 += cm.F1 * float64(cvf1)
 			existing.HitRate += cm.HitRate * float64(cm.QuestionCount)
 			existing.QuestionCount += cm.QuestionCount
+			existing.ValidF1Count += cvf1
 		}
 	}
+	if agg.ValidF1Count > 0 {
+		agg.OverallF1 /= float64(agg.ValidF1Count)
+	}
 	if agg.TotalQuestions > 0 {
-		agg.OverallF1 /= float64(agg.TotalQuestions)
 		agg.OverallHitRate /= float64(agg.TotalQuestions)
 	}
 	for _, cat := range agg.ByCategory {
+		if cat.ValidF1Count > 0 {
+			cat.F1 /= float64(cat.ValidF1Count)
+		}
 		if cat.QuestionCount > 0 {
-			cat.F1 /= float64(cat.QuestionCount)
 			cat.HitRate /= float64(cat.QuestionCount)
 		}
 	}
@@ -359,7 +403,9 @@ func printSection(title string, results []EvalResult) {
 
 // PrintComparison outputs a human-readable comparison table to stdout.
 func PrintComparison(results []EvalResult, llmResults []EvalResult) {
-	printSection("No LLM generation", results)
+	if len(results) > 0 {
+		printSection("No LLM generation", results)
+	}
 	if len(llmResults) > 0 {
 		printSection("With LLM", llmResults)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/membench/eval_llm.go b/cmd/membench/eval_llm.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee401d134
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/membench/eval_llm.go
@@ -0,0 +1,346 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"regexp"
+	"sort"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/pkg/seahorse"
+)
+
+const answerSystemPrompt = `You are a helpful assistant. Given conversation context, answer the question concisely and accurately. If the answer is not in the context, say "I don't know". Answer in 1-3 sentences maximum.`
+
+const judgeSystemPrompt = `You are an impartial judge evaluating answer quality.
+Compare the candidate answer against the reference answer.
+Consider semantic equivalence — different wording expressing the same meaning should score high.
+
+Output ONLY a single integer score from 1 to 5:
+1 = completely wrong or irrelevant
+2 = partially related but mostly incorrect
+3 = partially correct, missing key details
+4 = mostly correct with minor omissions
+5 = fully correct, semantically equivalent
+
+Output ONLY the number, nothing else.`
+
+// generateAnswer asks the LLM to answer a question given retrieved context.
+func generateAnswer(ctx context.Context, client *LLMClient, contextText, question string) (string, error) {
+	// Truncate context to avoid exceeding model limits while preserving valid UTF-8.
+	contextRunes := []rune(contextText)
+	if len(contextRunes) > 6000 {
+		contextText = string(contextRunes[:6000]) + "\n... [truncated]"
+	}
+
+	userPrompt := fmt.Sprintf("## Conversation Context\n\n%s\n\n## Question\n\n%s", contextText, question)
+	return client.Complete(ctx, answerSystemPrompt, userPrompt)
+}
+
+// scoreRe matches the first standalone integer 1-5 in the judge response.
+var scoreRe = regexp.MustCompile(`\b([1-5])\b`)
+
+// judgeAnswer asks the LLM to score the candidate answer vs the gold answer.
+// Returns a score from 0.0 to 1.0, or -1.0 on parse failure.
+func judgeAnswer(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	judgeClient *LLMClient,
+	question, goldAnswer, candidateAnswer string,
+) (float64, error) {
+	userPrompt := fmt.Sprintf(
+		"Question: %s\n\nReference Answer: %s\n\nCandidate Answer: %s\n\nScore:",
+		question, goldAnswer, candidateAnswer,
+	)
+
+	response, err := judgeClient.Complete(ctx, judgeSystemPrompt, userPrompt)
+	if err != nil {
+		return -1.0, err
+	}
+
+	response = strings.TrimSpace(response)
+	if m := scoreRe.FindStringSubmatch(response); len(m) == 2 {
+		score, _ := strconv.Atoi(m[1])
+		return float64(score-1) / 4.0, nil // Normalize 1-5 to 0.0-1.0
+	}
+	log.Printf("WARNING: could not parse judge score from: %q, returning -1", response)
+	return -1.0, nil
+}
+
+// qaWork describes one QA evaluation unit.
+type qaWork struct {
+	sampleID    string
+	qaIndex     int
+	globalIndex int
+	totalQA     int
+	qa          *LocomoQA
+	contextText string
+	sample      *LocomoSample
+}
+
+// qaResult collects one QA evaluation output.
+type qaResultOut struct {
+	index  int // position in the flat QA list for ordering
+	result QAResult
+	answer string
+	score  float64
+}
+
+// evalQAWorker processes a single QA item: generate answer + judge score.
+func evalQAWorker(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	w qaWork,
+	answerClient, judgeClient *LLMClient,
+	logPrefix string,
+) qaResultOut {
+	llmAnswer, err := generateAnswer(ctx, answerClient, w.contextText, w.qa.Question)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("WARN: LLM generation failed for sample %s Q%d: %v", w.sampleID, w.qaIndex, err)
+		llmAnswer = ""
+	}
+
+	score := -1.0
+	if llmAnswer != "" {
+		score, err = judgeAnswer(ctx, judgeClient, w.qa.Question, w.qa.AnswerString(), llmAnswer)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("WARN: LLM judge failed for sample %s Q%d: %v", w.sampleID, w.qaIndex, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	hitRate := RecallHitRate(w.qa.Evidence, w.sample, w.contextText)
+
+	log.Printf("[%s] sample=%s q=%d/%d score=%.2f answer=%q",
+		logPrefix, w.sampleID, w.globalIndex, w.totalQA, score, truncateStr(llmAnswer, 80))
+
+	return qaResultOut{
+		index: w.globalIndex,
+		result: QAResult{
+			Question:   w.qa.Question,
+			Category:   w.qa.Category,
+			GoldAnswer: w.qa.AnswerString(),
+			TokenF1:    score,
+			HitRate:    hitRate,
+		},
+		answer: llmAnswer,
+		score:  score,
+	}
+}
+
+// EvalLegacyLLM evaluates legacy store using LLM generation + LLM-as-Judge.
+func EvalLegacyLLM(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	samples []LocomoSample,
+	legacy *LegacyStore,
+	budgetTokens int,
+	answerClient, judgeClient *LLMClient,
+	concurrency int,
+) []EvalResult {
+	if concurrency < 1 {
+		concurrency = 1
+	}
+	totalQA := countTotalQA(samples)
+	results := make([]EvalResult, 0, len(samples))
+
+	for si := range samples {
+		sample := &samples[si]
+		history := legacy.GetHistory(sample.SampleID)
+
+		allContent := make([]string, 0, len(history))
+		for _, msg := range history {
+			allContent = append(allContent, msg.Content)
+		}
+
+		truncated, _ := BudgetTruncate(allContent, budgetTokens)
+		contextText := StringListToContent(truncated)
+
+		qaResults := make([]QAResult, len(sample.QA))
+
+		if concurrency <= 1 {
+			for qi := range sample.QA {
+				out := evalQAWorker(ctx, qaWork{
+					sampleID: sample.SampleID, qaIndex: qi,
+					globalIndex: si*len(sample.QA) + qi + 1, totalQA: totalQA,
+					qa: &sample.QA[qi], contextText: contextText, sample: sample,
+				}, answerClient, judgeClient, "legacy-llm")
+				qaResults[qi] = out.result
+			}
+		} else {
+			sem := make(chan struct{}, concurrency)
+			var wg sync.WaitGroup
+			for qi := range sample.QA {
+				wg.Add(1)
+				go func() {
+					defer wg.Done()
+					sem <- struct{}{}
+					defer func() { <-sem }()
+					out := evalQAWorker(ctx, qaWork{
+						sampleID: sample.SampleID, qaIndex: qi,
+						globalIndex: si*len(sample.QA) + qi + 1, totalQA: totalQA,
+						qa: &sample.QA[qi], contextText: contextText, sample: sample,
+					}, answerClient, judgeClient, "legacy-llm")
+					qaResults[qi] = out.result // safe: each goroutine writes distinct index
+				}()
+			}
+			wg.Wait()
+		}
+
+		results = append(results, EvalResult{
+			Mode:      "legacy-llm",
+			SampleID:  sample.SampleID,
+			QAResults: qaResults,
+			Agg:       aggregateMetrics(qaResults),
+		})
+	}
+	return results
+}
+
+// buildSeahorseContext retrieves context for a seahorse QA item.
+func buildSeahorseContext(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	ir *SeahorseIngestResult,
+	sample *LocomoSample,
+	qa *LocomoQA,
+	budgetTokens int,
+) string {
+	store := ir.Engine.GetRetrieval().Store()
+	retrieval := ir.Engine.GetRetrieval()
+	convID := ir.ConvMap[sample.SampleID]
+
+	keywords := ExtractKeywords(qa.Question)
+	bestRank := map[int64]float64{}
+	for _, kw := range keywords {
+		searchResults, err := store.SearchMessages(ctx, seahorse.SearchInput{
+			Pattern:        kw,
+			ConversationID: convID,
+			Limit:          20,
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, sr := range searchResults {
+			if sr.MessageID > 0 {
+				if prev, ok := bestRank[sr.MessageID]; !ok || sr.Rank < prev {
+					bestRank[sr.MessageID] = sr.Rank
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	messageIDs := make([]int64, 0, len(bestRank))
+	for id := range bestRank {
+		messageIDs = append(messageIDs, id)
+	}
+	sort.Slice(messageIDs, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return bestRank[messageIDs[i]] < bestRank[messageIDs[j]]
+	})
+
+	var contentParts []string
+	if len(messageIDs) > 0 {
+		expandResult, err := retrieval.ExpandMessages(ctx, messageIDs)
+		if err == nil {
+			for _, msg := range expandResult.Messages {
+				contentParts = append(contentParts, msg.Content)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if len(contentParts) == 0 {
+		return ""
+	}
+	truncated, _ := BudgetTruncate(contentParts, budgetTokens)
+	return StringListToContent(truncated)
+}
+
+// EvalSeahorseLLM evaluates seahorse retrieval using LLM generation + LLM-as-Judge.
+func EvalSeahorseLLM(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	samples []LocomoSample,
+	ir *SeahorseIngestResult,
+	budgetTokens int,
+	answerClient, judgeClient *LLMClient,
+	concurrency int,
+) []EvalResult {
+	if concurrency < 1 {
+		concurrency = 1
+	}
+	totalQA := countTotalQA(samples)
+	results := make([]EvalResult, 0, len(samples))
+
+	for si := range samples {
+		sample := &samples[si]
+		if _, ok := ir.ConvMap[sample.SampleID]; !ok {
+			log.Printf("WARN: no conversation ID for sample %s", sample.SampleID)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		qaResults := make([]QAResult, len(sample.QA))
+
+		evalOne := func(qi int) {
+			qa := &sample.QA[qi]
+			contextText := buildSeahorseContext(ctx, ir, sample, qa, budgetTokens)
+			if contextText == "" {
+				qaResults[qi] = QAResult{
+					Question:   qa.Question,
+					Category:   qa.Category,
+					GoldAnswer: qa.AnswerString(),
+					TokenF1:    0.0,
+					HitRate:    0.0,
+				}
+				log.Printf("[seahorse-llm] sample=%s q=%d/%d score=0.00 answer=(no context)",
+					sample.SampleID, si*len(sample.QA)+qi+1, totalQA)
+				return
+			}
+			out := evalQAWorker(ctx, qaWork{
+				sampleID: sample.SampleID, qaIndex: qi,
+				globalIndex: si*len(sample.QA) + qi + 1, totalQA: totalQA,
+				qa: qa, contextText: contextText, sample: sample,
+			}, answerClient, judgeClient, "seahorse-llm")
+			qaResults[qi] = out.result
+		}
+
+		if concurrency <= 1 {
+			for qi := range sample.QA {
+				evalOne(qi)
+			}
+		} else {
+			sem := make(chan struct{}, concurrency)
+			var wg sync.WaitGroup
+			for qi := range sample.QA {
+				wg.Add(1)
+				go func() {
+					defer wg.Done()
+					sem <- struct{}{}
+					defer func() { <-sem }()
+					evalOne(qi)
+				}()
+			}
+			wg.Wait()
+		}
+
+		results = append(results, EvalResult{
+			Mode:      "seahorse-llm",
+			SampleID:  sample.SampleID,
+			QAResults: qaResults,
+			Agg:       aggregateMetrics(qaResults),
+		})
+	}
+	return results
+}
+
+func countTotalQA(samples []LocomoSample) int {
+	n := 0
+	for i := range samples {
+		n += len(samples[i].QA)
+	}
+	return n
+}
+
+func truncateStr(s string, maxLen int) string {
+	s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, "\n", " ")
+	runes := []rune(s)
+	if len(runes) > maxLen {
+		return string(runes[:maxLen]) + "..."
+	}
+	return s
+}
diff --git a/cmd/membench/eval_test.go b/cmd/membench/eval_test.go
index d500a38ca..32dea07c9 100644
--- a/cmd/membench/eval_test.go
+++ b/cmd/membench/eval_test.go
@@ -102,3 +102,81 @@ func TestComputeModeAgg(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("TotalQuestions = %d, want 10", got.TotalQuestions)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestAggregateMetricsSentinel(t *testing.T) {
+	qa := []QAResult{
+		{Category: 1, TokenF1: 0.8, HitRate: 0.5},
+		{Category: 1, TokenF1: -1.0, HitRate: 0.3},
+		{Category: 1, TokenF1: 0.4, HitRate: 0.7},
+	}
+	agg := aggregateMetrics(qa)
+
+	if agg.ValidF1Count != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("ValidF1Count = %d, want 2", agg.ValidF1Count)
+	}
+	if agg.TotalQuestions != 3 {
+		t.Errorf("TotalQuestions = %d, want 3", agg.TotalQuestions)
+	}
+	wantF1 := (0.8 + 0.4) / 2.0
+	if math.Abs(agg.OverallF1-wantF1) > 1e-9 {
+		t.Errorf("OverallF1 = %.6f, want %.6f", agg.OverallF1, wantF1)
+	}
+	wantHR := (0.5 + 0.3 + 0.7) / 3.0
+	if math.Abs(agg.OverallHitRate-wantHR) > 1e-9 {
+		t.Errorf("OverallHitRate = %.6f, want %.6f", agg.OverallHitRate, wantHR)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAggregateMetricsAllSentinel(t *testing.T) {
+	qa := []QAResult{
+		{Category: 1, TokenF1: -1.0, HitRate: 0.5},
+		{Category: 1, TokenF1: -1.0, HitRate: 0.3},
+	}
+	agg := aggregateMetrics(qa)
+
+	if agg.ValidF1Count != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("ValidF1Count = %d, want 0", agg.ValidF1Count)
+	}
+	if agg.OverallF1 != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("OverallF1 = %.6f, want 0", agg.OverallF1)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestComputeModeAggSentinelWeighting(t *testing.T) {
+	results := []EvalResult{
+		{
+			Mode:     "test",
+			SampleID: "s1",
+			QAResults: []QAResult{
+				{Category: 1, TokenF1: 0.8, HitRate: 0.5},
+				{Category: 1, TokenF1: -1.0, HitRate: 0.3},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Mode:     "test",
+			SampleID: "s2",
+			QAResults: []QAResult{
+				{Category: 1, TokenF1: 0.4, HitRate: 0.6},
+				{Category: 1, TokenF1: 0.6, HitRate: 0.8},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	for i := range results {
+		results[i].Agg = aggregateMetrics(results[i].QAResults)
+	}
+
+	got := computeModeAgg(results)
+
+	// s1: ValidF1Count=1, F1=0.8; s2: ValidF1Count=2, F1=0.5
+	// Weighted: (0.8*1 + 0.5*2) / 3 = 1.8/3 = 0.6
+	wantF1 := 0.6
+	if math.Abs(got.OverallF1-wantF1) > 1e-9 {
+		t.Errorf("OverallF1 = %.6f, want %.6f", got.OverallF1, wantF1)
+	}
+	if got.ValidF1Count != 3 {
+		t.Errorf("ValidF1Count = %d, want 3", got.ValidF1Count)
+	}
+	if got.TotalQuestions != 4 {
+		t.Errorf("TotalQuestions = %d, want 4", got.TotalQuestions)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/membench/llm_client.go b/cmd/membench/llm_client.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6c62424da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/membench/llm_client.go
@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"log"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// LLMClient wraps an OpenAI-compatible chat completion endpoint.
+type LLMClient struct {
+	BaseURL    string
+	Model      string
+	APIKey     string
+	NoThinking bool // send chat_template_kwargs to disable thinking (llama.cpp specific)
+	MaxRetries int  // max retry attempts for transient errors (0 = no retry)
+	Client     *http.Client
+}
+
+// LLMClientOptions configures the LLM client.
+type LLMClientOptions struct {
+	BaseURL    string
+	Model      string
+	APIKey     string
+	Timeout    time.Duration
+	NoThinking bool
+	MaxRetries int // max retry attempts (default 3)
+}
+
+// NewLLMClient creates a client for an OpenAI-compatible chat completion API.
+func NewLLMClient(opts LLMClientOptions) *LLMClient {
+	if opts.Timeout == 0 {
+		opts.Timeout = 120 * time.Second
+	}
+	maxRetries := opts.MaxRetries
+	if maxRetries < 0 {
+		maxRetries = 3
+	}
+	return &LLMClient{
+		BaseURL:    strings.TrimRight(opts.BaseURL, "/"),
+		Model:      opts.Model,
+		APIKey:     opts.APIKey,
+		NoThinking: opts.NoThinking,
+		MaxRetries: maxRetries,
+		Client: &http.Client{
+			Timeout: opts.Timeout,
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+type chatRequest struct {
+	Model              string         `json:"model"`
+	Messages           []chatMessage  `json:"messages"`
+	Temperature        float64        `json:"temperature"`
+	MaxTokens          int            `json:"max_tokens"`
+	ChatTemplateKwargs map[string]any `json:"chat_template_kwargs,omitempty"` // llama.cpp
+	Think              *bool          `json:"think,omitempty"`                // Ollama
+	Thinking           map[string]any `json:"thinking,omitempty"`             // GLM (智谱)
+}
+
+type chatMessage struct {
+	Role    string `json:"role"`
+	Content string `json:"content"`
+}
+
+type chatResponse struct {
+	Choices []struct {
+		Message struct {
+			Content          string `json:"content"`
+			ReasoningContent string `json:"reasoning_content,omitempty"`
+		} `json:"message"`
+	} `json:"choices"`
+}
+
+// Complete sends a chat completion request and returns the assistant's reply.
+func (c *LLMClient) Complete(ctx context.Context, systemPrompt, userPrompt string) (string, error) {
+	sysContent := systemPrompt
+	if c.NoThinking && sysContent != "" {
+		// Prepend /no_think tag — works with Ollama /v1 endpoint and
+		// Qwen chat templates where the JSON think field is ignored.
+		sysContent = "/no_think\n" + sysContent
+	}
+	messages := []chatMessage{}
+	if sysContent != "" {
+		messages = append(messages, chatMessage{Role: "system", Content: sysContent})
+	}
+	messages = append(messages, chatMessage{Role: "user", Content: userPrompt})
+
+	body := chatRequest{
+		Model:       c.Model,
+		Messages:    messages,
+		Temperature: 0.1,
+		MaxTokens:   512,
+	}
+	if c.NoThinking {
+		// llama.cpp: chat_template_kwargs
+		body.ChatTemplateKwargs = map[string]any{
+			"enable_thinking": false,
+		}
+		// Ollama (0.9+): think field
+		thinkFalse := false
+		body.Think = &thinkFalse
+		// GLM (智谱): thinking field
+		body.Thinking = map[string]any{
+			"type": "disabled",
+		}
+	}
+
+	jsonBody, err := json.Marshal(body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("marshal request: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	endpoint := strings.TrimRight(c.BaseURL, "/") + "/chat/completions"
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "POST", endpoint, bytes.NewReader(jsonBody))
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("create request: %w", err)
+	}
+	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+	if c.APIKey != "" {
+		req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+c.APIKey)
+	}
+
+	var respBody []byte
+	var lastErr error
+	for attempt := 0; attempt <= c.MaxRetries; attempt++ {
+		if attempt > 0 {
+			backoff := time.Duration(1<<(attempt-1)) * time.Second // 1s, 2s, 4s, ...
+			log.Printf("LLM retry %d/%d after %v: %v", attempt, c.MaxRetries, backoff, lastErr)
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return "", ctx.Err()
+			case <-time.After(backoff):
+			}
+			// Rebuild request (body reader is consumed)
+			req, err = http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "POST", endpoint, bytes.NewReader(jsonBody))
+			if err != nil {
+				return "", fmt.Errorf("create request: %w", err)
+			}
+			req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			if c.APIKey != "" {
+				req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+c.APIKey)
+			}
+		}
+
+		var resp *http.Response
+		resp, lastErr = c.Client.Do(req)
+		if lastErr != nil {
+			continue // network/timeout error → retry
+		}
+
+		respBody, lastErr = io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+		resp.Body.Close()
+		if lastErr != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if resp.StatusCode == 429 || resp.StatusCode >= 500 {
+			lastErr = fmt.Errorf("API error %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, string(respBody))
+			continue // rate limit or server error → retry
+		}
+		if resp.StatusCode != 200 {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("API error %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, string(respBody))
+		}
+
+		lastErr = nil
+		break
+	}
+	if lastErr != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("after %d retries: %w", c.MaxRetries, lastErr)
+	}
+
+	var chatResp chatResponse
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(respBody, &chatResp); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("parse response: %w", err)
+	}
+	if len(chatResp.Choices) == 0 {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("no choices in response")
+	}
+	content := strings.TrimSpace(chatResp.Choices[0].Message.Content)
+	// Strip any residual <think>...</think> blocks
+	if idx := strings.Index(content, "</think>"); idx >= 0 {
+		content = strings.TrimSpace(content[idx+len("</think>"):])
+	}
+	// Fallback: GLM/DeepSeek put thinking output in reasoning_content when thinking is enabled
+	if content == "" && chatResp.Choices[0].Message.ReasoningContent != "" {
+		content = strings.TrimSpace(chatResp.Choices[0].Message.ReasoningContent)
+	}
+	if content == "" {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("empty LLM response")
+	}
+	return content, nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/membench/main.go b/cmd/membench/main.go
index 0c5a9387a..c07bb3471 100644
--- a/cmd/membench/main.go
+++ b/cmd/membench/main.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
@@ -15,10 +16,22 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	flagData   string
-	flagOut    string
-	flagMode   string
-	flagBudget int
+	flagData         string
+	flagOut          string
+	flagMode         string
+	flagBudget       int
+	flagEvalMode     string
+	flagAPIBase      string
+	flagAPIKey       string
+	flagModel        string
+	flagNoThinking   bool
+	flagLimit        int
+	flagTimeout      int
+	flagRetries      int
+	flagJudgeModel   string
+	flagJudgeAPIBase string
+	flagJudgeAPIKey  string
+	flagConcurrency  int
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -48,6 +61,22 @@ func main() {
 	evalCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagOut, "out", "./bench-out", "output working directory")
 	evalCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagMode, "mode", "all", "modes to evaluate: legacy, seahorse, or all")
 	evalCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagBudget, "budget", 4000, "token budget for retrieval")
+	evalCmd.Flags().
+		StringVar(&flagEvalMode, "eval-mode", "token", "evaluation mode: token (direct match) or llm (LLM-as-Judge)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().
+		StringVar(&flagAPIBase, "api-base", "", "API base URL with version path, e.g. http://host/v1 (default: http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1, env: MEMBENCH_API_BASE)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagAPIKey, "api-key", "", "API key for the LLM endpoint (env: MEMBENCH_API_KEY)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagModel, "model", "", "model name for LLM eval (env: MEMBENCH_MODEL)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().
+		BoolVar(&flagNoThinking, "no-thinking", false, "disable thinking mode via chat_template_kwargs (llama.cpp + Qwen)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagLimit, "limit", 0, "max QA questions per sample (0 = all)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagTimeout, "timeout", 120, "HTTP timeout in seconds for LLM requests")
+	evalCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagRetries, "retries", 3, "max retry attempts for transient LLM errors (timeout/5xx/429)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagJudgeModel, "judge-model", "", "model for judge scoring (defaults to --model)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().
+		StringVar(&flagJudgeAPIBase, "judge-api-base", "", "API base URL for judge model (defaults to --api-base)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagJudgeAPIKey, "judge-api-key", "", "API key for judge model (defaults to --api-key)")
+	evalCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagConcurrency, "concurrency", 1, "number of concurrent QA evaluations")
 
 	reportCmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "report",
@@ -65,6 +94,22 @@ func main() {
 	runCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagOut, "out", "./bench-out", "output working directory")
 	runCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagMode, "mode", "all", "modes to run: legacy, seahorse, or all")
 	runCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagBudget, "budget", 4000, "token budget for retrieval")
+	runCmd.Flags().
+		StringVar(&flagEvalMode, "eval-mode", "token", "evaluation mode: token (direct match) or llm (LLM-as-Judge)")
+	runCmd.Flags().
+		StringVar(&flagAPIBase, "api-base", "", "API base URL with version path, e.g. http://host/v1 (default: http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1, env: MEMBENCH_API_BASE)")
+	runCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagAPIKey, "api-key", "", "API key for the LLM endpoint (env: MEMBENCH_API_KEY)")
+	runCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagModel, "model", "", "model name for LLM eval (env: MEMBENCH_MODEL)")
+	runCmd.Flags().
+		BoolVar(&flagNoThinking, "no-thinking", false, "disable thinking mode via chat_template_kwargs (llama.cpp + Qwen)")
+	runCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagLimit, "limit", 0, "max QA questions per sample (0 = all)")
+	runCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagTimeout, "timeout", 120, "HTTP timeout in seconds for LLM requests")
+	runCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagRetries, "retries", 3, "max retry attempts for transient LLM errors (timeout/5xx/429)")
+	runCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagJudgeModel, "judge-model", "", "model for judge scoring (defaults to --model)")
+	runCmd.Flags().
+		StringVar(&flagJudgeAPIBase, "judge-api-base", "", "API base URL for judge model (defaults to --api-base)")
+	runCmd.Flags().StringVar(&flagJudgeAPIKey, "judge-api-key", "", "API key for judge model (defaults to --api-key)")
+	runCmd.Flags().IntVar(&flagConcurrency, "concurrency", 1, "number of concurrent QA evaluations")
 
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(ingestCmd, evalCmd, reportCmd, runCmd)
 
@@ -136,7 +181,50 @@ func runEval(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	}
 	log.Printf("Loaded %d samples", len(samples))
 
-	var allResults []EvalResult
+	if flagLimit > 0 {
+		for i := range samples {
+			if len(samples[i].QA) > flagLimit {
+				samples[i].QA = samples[i].QA[:flagLimit]
+			}
+		}
+		log.Printf("Limited to %d QA per sample", flagLimit)
+	}
+
+	evalMode := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(flagEvalMode))
+	var useLLM bool
+	switch evalMode {
+	case "token":
+		useLLM = false
+	case "llm":
+		useLLM = true
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid --eval-mode %q: must be token or llm", flagEvalMode)
+	}
+	var answerClient, judgeClient *LLMClient
+	if useLLM {
+		opts, err := buildLLMOptions()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		answerClient = NewLLMClient(opts)
+		judgeClient = answerClient // default: same client
+		if flagJudgeModel != "" {
+			jOpts := opts // copy base settings
+			jOpts.Model = flagJudgeModel
+			if flagJudgeAPIBase != "" {
+				jOpts.BaseURL = flagJudgeAPIBase
+			}
+			if flagJudgeAPIKey != "" {
+				jOpts.APIKey = flagJudgeAPIKey
+			}
+			judgeClient = NewLLMClient(jOpts)
+			log.Printf("Judge model: model=%s base=%s no-thinking=%v", jOpts.Model, jOpts.BaseURL, jOpts.NoThinking)
+		}
+		log.Printf("LLM eval mode: model=%s base=%s no-thinking=%v concurrency=%d",
+			opts.Model, opts.BaseURL, opts.NoThinking, flagConcurrency)
+	}
+
+	var tokenResults, llmResults []EvalResult
 
 	for _, mode := range modes {
 		switch mode {
@@ -145,21 +233,34 @@ func runEval(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			for i := range samples {
 				legacy.IngestSample(&samples[i])
 			}
-			results := EvalLegacy(ctx, samples, legacy, flagBudget)
-			allResults = append(allResults, results...)
-			log.Printf("legacy: evaluated %d samples", len(results))
+			if useLLM {
+				results := EvalLegacyLLM(ctx, samples, legacy, flagBudget, answerClient, judgeClient, flagConcurrency)
+				llmResults = append(llmResults, results...)
+				log.Printf("legacy-llm: evaluated %d samples", len(results))
+			} else {
+				results := EvalLegacy(ctx, samples, legacy, flagBudget)
+				tokenResults = append(tokenResults, results...)
+				log.Printf("legacy: evaluated %d samples", len(results))
+			}
 		case "seahorse":
 			dbPath := filepath.Join(flagOut, "seahorse.db")
 			ir, err := IngestSeahorse(ctx, samples, dbPath)
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("ingest seahorse: %w", err)
 			}
-			results := EvalSeahorse(ctx, samples, ir, flagBudget)
-			allResults = append(allResults, results...)
-			log.Printf("seahorse: evaluated %d samples", len(results))
+			if useLLM {
+				results := EvalSeahorseLLM(ctx, samples, ir, flagBudget, answerClient, judgeClient, flagConcurrency)
+				llmResults = append(llmResults, results...)
+				log.Printf("seahorse-llm: evaluated %d samples", len(results))
+			} else {
+				results := EvalSeahorse(ctx, samples, ir, flagBudget)
+				tokenResults = append(tokenResults, results...)
+				log.Printf("seahorse: evaluated %d samples", len(results))
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
+	allResults := append(tokenResults, llmResults...)
 	if err := SaveResults(allResults, flagOut); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("save results: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -167,7 +268,7 @@ func runEval(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("save aggregated: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	PrintComparison(allResults, nil)
+	PrintComparison(tokenResults, llmResults)
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -199,10 +300,62 @@ func runReport(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("no eval results found in %s", flagOut)
 	}
 
-	PrintComparison(allResults, nil)
+	var tokenResults, llmResults []EvalResult
+	for _, r := range allResults {
+		if strings.HasSuffix(r.Mode, "-llm") {
+			llmResults = append(llmResults, r)
+		} else {
+			tokenResults = append(tokenResults, r)
+		}
+	}
+	PrintComparison(tokenResults, llmResults)
 	return nil
 }
 
 func runAll(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	return runEval(cmd, args)
 }
+
+// envOrFlag returns the flag value if non-empty, otherwise falls back to the
+// environment variable.
+func envOrFlag(flag, envKey string) string {
+	if flag != "" {
+		return flag
+	}
+	return os.Getenv(envKey)
+}
+
+// buildLLMOptions resolves LLM client configuration from flags and environment
+// variables. Flag values take precedence over environment variables.
+//
+// Environment variables:
+//
+//	MEMBENCH_API_BASE  – OpenAI-compatible base URL  (default http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1)
+//	MEMBENCH_API_KEY   – Bearer token for the endpoint
+//	MEMBENCH_MODEL     – Model name to send in the request
+func buildLLMOptions() (LLMClientOptions, error) {
+	base := envOrFlag(flagAPIBase, "MEMBENCH_API_BASE")
+	if base == "" {
+		base = "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1"
+	}
+	model := envOrFlag(flagModel, "MEMBENCH_MODEL")
+	if model == "" {
+		return LLMClientOptions{}, fmt.Errorf(
+			"--model or MEMBENCH_MODEL is required for LLM eval mode",
+		)
+	}
+	apiKey := envOrFlag(flagAPIKey, "MEMBENCH_API_KEY")
+
+	if flagTimeout <= 0 {
+		return LLMClientOptions{}, fmt.Errorf("--timeout must be > 0, got %d", flagTimeout)
+	}
+
+	return LLMClientOptions{
+		BaseURL:    base,
+		Model:      model,
+		APIKey:     apiKey,
+		NoThinking: flagNoThinking,
+		Timeout:    time.Duration(flagTimeout) * time.Second,
+		MaxRetries: flagRetries,
+	}, nil
+}