diff --git a/lib/llm/src/protocols/common.rs b/lib/llm/src/protocols/common.rs
index f3c8a894b3..7bf3467df7 100644
--- a/lib/llm/src/protocols/common.rs
+++ b/lib/llm/src/protocols/common.rs
@@ -257,6 +257,10 @@ pub struct StopConditions {
     /// tokens after the EOS token is generated.
     // TODO(ignore_eos) - improve this my masking the EOS token with logit bias
     pub ignore_eos: Option<bool>,
+
+    /// Maximum number of thinking tokens allowed
+    /// NOTE: Currently a passthrough - no enforcement logic implemented
+    pub max_thinking_tokens: Option<u32>,
 }
 
 impl StopConditions {
diff --git a/lib/llm/src/protocols/openai.rs b/lib/llm/src/protocols/openai.rs
index 6d0839200a..c816c56a48 100644
--- a/lib/llm/src/protocols/openai.rs
+++ b/lib/llm/src/protocols/openai.rs
@@ -67,6 +67,12 @@ trait OpenAIStopConditionsProvider {
             self.nvext().and_then(|nv| nv.ignore_eos.as_ref()),
         )
     }
+
+    /// Get max_thinking_tokens from nvext
+    /// NOTE: This is currently a passthrough for future thinking budget implementation
+    fn get_max_thinking_tokens(&self) -> Option<u32> {
+        self.nvext().and_then(|nv| nv.max_thinking_tokens)
+    }
 }
 
 trait OpenAIOutputOptionsProvider {
@@ -152,6 +158,7 @@ impl<T: OpenAIStopConditionsProvider> StopConditionsProvider for T {
         let max_tokens = self.get_max_tokens();
         let min_tokens = self.get_min_tokens();
         let stop = self.get_stop();
+        let max_thinking_tokens = self.get_max_thinking_tokens();
 
         if let Some(stop) = &stop
             && stop.len() > 4
@@ -168,6 +175,7 @@ impl<T: OpenAIStopConditionsProvider> StopConditionsProvider for T {
             stop,
             stop_token_ids_hidden: None,
             ignore_eos,
+            max_thinking_tokens,
         })
     }
 }
diff --git a/lib/llm/src/protocols/openai/nvext.rs b/lib/llm/src/protocols/openai/nvext.rs
index 68f6253900..5335f83245 100644
--- a/lib/llm/src/protocols/openai/nvext.rs
+++ b/lib/llm/src/protocols/openai/nvext.rs
@@ -100,6 +100,12 @@ pub struct NvExt {
     #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
     #[builder(default, setter(strip_option))]
     pub guided_decoding_backend: Option<String>,
+
+    /// Maximum number of thinking tokens allowed
+    /// NOTE: Currently passed through to backends as a no-op for future implementation
+    #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+    #[builder(default, setter(strip_option))]
+    pub max_thinking_tokens: Option<u32>,
 }
 
 impl Default for NvExt {
@@ -157,6 +163,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(nv_ext.guided_regex, None);
         assert_eq!(nv_ext.guided_grammar, None);
         assert_eq!(nv_ext.guided_choice, None);
+        assert_eq!(nv_ext.max_thinking_tokens, None);
     }
 
     // Test valid builder configurations
@@ -172,6 +179,7 @@ mod tests {
             .guided_grammar("S -> 'a' S 'b' | 'c'".to_string())
             .guided_choice(vec!["choice1".to_string(), "choice2".to_string()])
             .guided_decoding_backend("xgrammar".to_string())
+            .max_thinking_tokens(1024)
             .build()
             .unwrap();
 
@@ -193,6 +201,7 @@ mod tests {
             Some(vec!["choice1".to_string(), "choice2".to_string()])
         );
         assert_eq!(nv_ext.guided_decoding_backend, Some("xgrammar".to_string()));
+        assert_eq!(nv_ext.max_thinking_tokens, Some(1024));
         // Validate the built struct
         assert!(nv_ext.validate().is_ok());
     }
diff --git a/lib/llm/tests/test_common_ext.rs b/lib/llm/tests/test_common_ext.rs
index f62cb74e27..c49fea7855 100644
--- a/lib/llm/tests/test_common_ext.rs
+++ b/lib/llm/tests/test_common_ext.rs
@@ -184,6 +184,40 @@ fn test_chat_completions_common_overrides_nvext() {
     assert_eq!(stop_conditions.min_tokens, Some(50));
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_max_thinking_tokens_extraction() {
+    // Test that max_thinking_tokens is extracted from nvext to StopConditions
+    let json_str = r#"{
+        "model": "test-model",
+        "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
+        "nvext": {
+            "max_thinking_tokens": 1024
+        }
+    }"#;
+
+    let request: NvCreateChatCompletionRequest = serde_json::from_str(json_str).unwrap();
+
+    // Verify nvext parsing
+    assert_eq!(
+        request.nvext.as_ref().unwrap().max_thinking_tokens,
+        Some(1024)
+    );
+
+    // Verify extraction to StopConditions
+    let stop_conditions = request.extract_stop_conditions().unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(stop_conditions.max_thinking_tokens, Some(1024));
+
+    // Test with None value
+    let json_str_none = r#"{
+        "model": "test-model",
+        "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
+    }"#;
+
+    let request_none: NvCreateChatCompletionRequest = serde_json::from_str(json_str_none).unwrap();
+    let stop_conditions_none = request_none.extract_stop_conditions().unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(stop_conditions_none.max_thinking_tokens, None);
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_chat_completions_backward_compatibility() {
     // Test backward compatibility - ignore_eos and guided_json only in nvext