diff --git a/tests/entrypoints/openai/test_fingerprint.py b/tests/entrypoints/openai/test_fingerprint.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b78ed38636c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/entrypoints/openai/test_fingerprint.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright contributors to the vLLM project
+"""Unit tests for ``system_fingerprint`` construction."""
+
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+
+import pytest
+
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai import fingerprint as fp
+
+
+def _cfg(tp=1, pp=1, dp=1, ep=False, digest="a3b21f94deadbeef"):
+    c = SimpleNamespace(
+        parallel_config=SimpleNamespace(
+            tensor_parallel_size=tp,
+            pipeline_parallel_size=pp,
+            data_parallel_size=dp,
+            enable_expert_parallel=ep,
+        )
+    )
+    c.compute_hash = lambda: digest  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+    return c
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _reset():
+    fp.set_default_fingerprint_mode("full")
+    yield
+    fp.set_default_fingerprint_mode("full")
+
+
+def test_four_modes_produce_expected_shapes():
+    from vllm import __version__ as v
+
+    cfg = _cfg(tp=8, ep=True)
+
+    assert fp.build_system_fingerprint(cfg, "full") == (f"vllm-{v}-tp8-ep-a3b21f94")
+    assert fp.build_system_fingerprint(cfg, "hash") == f"vllm-{v}-a3b21f94"
+    assert fp.build_system_fingerprint(cfg, "custom", "my-fp") == "my-fp"
+    assert fp.build_system_fingerprint(cfg, "none") is None
+
+
+def test_full_mode_emits_only_non_trivial_parallelism():
+    from vllm import __version__ as v
+
+    # Single-GPU: nothing between version and hash.
+    assert fp.build_system_fingerprint(_cfg(), "full") == f"vllm-{v}-a3b21f94"
+    # All parallelism axes.
+    assert (
+        fp.build_system_fingerprint(_cfg(tp=8, pp=2, dp=4, ep=True), "full")
+        == f"vllm-{v}-tp8-pp2-dp4-ep-a3b21f94"
+    )
+
+
+def test_get_respects_set_default():
+    cfg = _cfg(tp=8)
+    full = fp.get_system_fingerprint(cfg)
+    assert full == fp.get_system_fingerprint(cfg)
+
+    fp.set_default_fingerprint_mode("hash")
+    hashed = fp.get_system_fingerprint(cfg)
+    assert hashed != full
+    assert "tp8" not in hashed
+
+    fp.set_default_fingerprint_mode("custom", "deploy-42")
+    assert fp.get_system_fingerprint(cfg) == "deploy-42"
+
+    fp.set_default_fingerprint_mode("none")
+    assert fp.get_system_fingerprint(cfg) is None
+
+
+def test_compute_hash_failure_does_not_raise():
+    cfg = _cfg()
+    cfg.compute_hash = lambda: (_ for _ in ()).throw(RuntimeError("boom"))
+    assert fp.build_system_fingerprint(cfg, "full").endswith("-nohash")
+    assert fp.build_system_fingerprint(cfg, "hash").endswith("-nohash")
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/batch_serving.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/batch_serving.py
index b8b26d393c7..cc49909b836 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/batch_serving.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/batch_serving.py
@@ -317,4 +317,5 @@ class OpenAIServingChatBatch(OpenAIServingChat):
             model=model_name,
             choices=choices,
             usage=usage,
+            system_fingerprint=self.system_fingerprint,
         )
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/protocol.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/protocol.py
index aacac38e07f..01d2df88d69 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/protocol.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/protocol.py
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ class ChatCompletionStreamResponse(OpenAIBaseModel):
     model: str
     choices: list[ChatCompletionResponseStreamChoice]
     usage: UsageInfo | None = Field(default=None)
+    # Set only on the final chunk of a stream to mirror non-streaming responses
+    # without the per-chunk serialization overhead.
+    system_fingerprint: str | None = None
     # not part of the OpenAI spec but for tracing the tokens
     prompt_token_ids: list[int] | None = None
 
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/serving.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/serving.py
index 12dc2cd98e2..b916379f3fb 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/serving.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/serving.py
@@ -1195,6 +1195,16 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
                         choices=[choice_data],
                         model=model_name,
                     )
+                    # Stamp the fingerprint on terminal chunks only (those with
+                    # finish_reason set). When ``include_usage`` is on, the
+                    # trailing usage chunk below overrides this as the true
+                    # final message.
+                    if (
+                        not include_usage
+                        and self.system_fingerprint is not None
+                        and choice_data.finish_reason is not None
+                    ):
+                        chunk.system_fingerprint = self.system_fingerprint
 
                     # handle usage stats if requested & if continuous
                     if include_continuous_usage:
@@ -1229,6 +1239,7 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
                     choices=[],
                     model=model_name,
                     usage=final_usage,
+                    system_fingerprint=self.system_fingerprint,
                 )
                 final_usage_data = final_usage_chunk.model_dump_json(
                     exclude_unset=True, exclude_none=True
@@ -1637,6 +1648,7 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
             model=model_name,
             choices=choices,
             usage=usage,
+            system_fingerprint=self.system_fingerprint,
             prompt_logprobs=clamp_prompt_logprobs(final_res.prompt_logprobs),
             prompt_token_ids=(
                 final_res.prompt_token_ids if request.return_token_ids else None
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/cli_args.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/cli_args.py
index 898e62f7713..3ebdec3c67f 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/cli_args.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/cli_args.py
@@ -153,9 +153,21 @@ class BaseFrontendArgs:
     """If set to True, log the stack trace of error responses"""
     tokens_only: bool = False
     """
-    If set to True, only enable the Tokens In<>Out endpoint. 
+    If set to True, only enable the Tokens In<>Out endpoint.
     This is intended for use in a Disaggregated Everything setup.
     """
+    fingerprint_mode: Literal["full", "hash", "custom", "none"] = "full"
+    """Controls the ``system_fingerprint`` field on responses.
+
+    - ``full`` (default): ``vllm-<version>[-<parallelism>]-<hash8>``. Encodes
+      server version, non-trivial parallelism degrees (tp/pp/dp/ep), and an
+      8-char config hash.
+    - ``hash``: ``vllm-<version>-<hash8>``. Parallelism stripped.
+    - ``custom``: emits the literal string from ``--fingerprint-value``.
+    - ``none``: the field is omitted (serialized as ``null``).
+    """
+    fingerprint_value: str | None = None
+    """Literal fingerprint string used when ``--fingerprint-mode=custom``."""
 
     @classmethod
     def _customize_cli_kwargs(
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/completion/protocol.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/completion/protocol.py
index c785d254084..7edea50d73a 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/completion/protocol.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/completion/protocol.py
@@ -512,3 +512,6 @@ class CompletionStreamResponse(OpenAIBaseModel):
     model: str
     choices: list[CompletionResponseStreamChoice]
     usage: UsageInfo | None = Field(default=None)
+    # Set only on the final chunk of a stream to mirror non-streaming responses
+    # without the per-chunk serialization overhead.
+    system_fingerprint: str | None = None
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/completion/serving.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/completion/serving.py
index fb7f253c7ea..454b170a5fa 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/completion/serving.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/completion/serving.py
@@ -383,6 +383,7 @@ class OpenAIServingCompletion(OpenAIServing):
 
                     chunk = CompletionStreamResponse(
                         id=request_id,
+                        object="text_completion",
                         created=created_time,
                         model=model_name,
                         choices=[
@@ -401,6 +402,14 @@ class OpenAIServingCompletion(OpenAIServing):
                             )
                         ],
                     )
+                    # Stamp on terminal chunk only when no trailing usage chunk
+                    # will follow (that one is the true final message).
+                    if (
+                        not include_usage
+                        and self.system_fingerprint is not None
+                        and finish_reason is not None
+                    ):
+                        chunk.system_fingerprint = self.system_fingerprint
                     if include_continuous_usage:
                         prompt_tokens = num_prompt_tokens[prompt_idx]
                         completion_tokens = previous_num_tokens[i]
@@ -410,7 +419,7 @@ class OpenAIServingCompletion(OpenAIServing):
                             total_tokens=prompt_tokens + completion_tokens,
                         )
 
-                    response_json = chunk.model_dump_json(exclude_unset=False)
+                    response_json = chunk.model_dump_json(exclude_unset=True)
                     yield f"data: {response_json}\n\n"
 
             total_prompt_tokens = sum(num_prompt_tokens)
@@ -433,6 +442,7 @@ class OpenAIServingCompletion(OpenAIServing):
                     model=model_name,
                     choices=[],
                     usage=final_usage_info,
+                    system_fingerprint=self.system_fingerprint,
                 )
                 final_usage_data = final_usage_chunk.model_dump_json(
                     exclude_unset=False, exclude_none=True
@@ -562,6 +572,7 @@ class OpenAIServingCompletion(OpenAIServing):
             model=model_name,
             choices=choices,
             usage=usage,
+            system_fingerprint=self.system_fingerprint,
             kv_transfer_params=kv_transfer_params,
         )
 
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/engine/serving.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/engine/serving.py
index d5fb5e137ef..77cce6bec5b 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/engine/serving.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/engine/serving.py
@@ -157,6 +157,19 @@ class OpenAIServing:
         self.renderer = engine_client.renderer
         self.input_processor = engine_client.input_processor
 
+        # Computed once at startup (cached by ``vllm_config`` identity) and
+        # stamped on non-streaming responses. Streaming chunks deliberately
+        # omit it to avoid per-chunk overhead.
+        from vllm.entrypoints.openai.fingerprint import get_system_fingerprint
+
+        try:
+            self.system_fingerprint: str | None = get_system_fingerprint(
+                engine_client.vllm_config
+            )
+        except Exception:
+            # Never fail server startup over the fingerprint.
+            self.system_fingerprint = None
+
     async def beam_search(
         self,
         prompt: EngineInput,
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/fingerprint.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/fingerprint.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e858e667d06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/fingerprint.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright contributors to the vLLM project
+"""Build the ``system_fingerprint`` string returned by the OpenAI-compatible
+server.
+
+Four modes, configured via ``--fingerprint-mode``:
+
+* ``full`` (default): ``vllm-<version>[-<parallelism>]-<hash8>`` — encodes
+  server version, any non-trivial parallelism degree (tp/pp/dp/ep), and an
+  8-char prefix of ``vllm_config.compute_hash()`` (covers model identity,
+  quant config, speculative, attention backend, etc.).
+* ``hash``: ``vllm-<version>-<hash8>`` — parallelism stripped.
+* ``custom``: user-provided literal via ``--fingerprint-value``.
+* ``none``: the field is omitted (serialized as ``null``).
+
+``get_system_fingerprint`` is only called at serving-class init (a handful
+of times per server); each subclass caches the returned string on
+``self.system_fingerprint``, so per-request cost is one attribute read.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import Any, Literal
+
+FingerprintMode = Literal["full", "hash", "custom", "none"]
+
+_DEFAULT_MODE: FingerprintMode = "full"
+_CUSTOM_VALUE: str | None = None
+
+
+def set_default_fingerprint_mode(
+    mode: FingerprintMode,
+    custom_value: str | None = None,
+) -> None:
+    """Configure the fingerprint mode for subsequent ``get_system_fingerprint``
+    calls. Called once at server startup."""
+    global _DEFAULT_MODE, _CUSTOM_VALUE
+    _DEFAULT_MODE = mode
+    _CUSTOM_VALUE = custom_value
+
+
+def get_system_fingerprint(vllm_config: Any) -> str | None:
+    """Return the fingerprint for ``vllm_config`` using the mode configured by
+    ``set_default_fingerprint_mode``."""
+    return build_system_fingerprint(vllm_config, _DEFAULT_MODE, _CUSTOM_VALUE)
+
+
+def build_system_fingerprint(
+    vllm_config: Any,
+    mode: FingerprintMode = "full",
+    custom_value: str | None = None,
+) -> str | None:
+    if mode == "none":
+        return None
+    if mode == "custom":
+        return custom_value
+
+    from vllm import __version__ as vllm_version
+
+    try:
+        hash8 = vllm_config.compute_hash()[:8]
+    except Exception:
+        hash8 = "nohash"
+
+    if mode == "hash":
+        return f"vllm-{vllm_version}-{hash8}"
+
+    # mode == "full"
+    parts: list[str] = [f"vllm-{vllm_version}"]
+    pc = getattr(vllm_config, "parallel_config", None)
+    if pc is not None:
+        tp = getattr(pc, "tensor_parallel_size", 1)
+        if tp > 1:
+            parts.append(f"tp{tp}")
+        pp = getattr(pc, "pipeline_parallel_size", 1)
+        if pp > 1:
+            parts.append(f"pp{pp}")
+        dp = getattr(pc, "data_parallel_size", 1)
+        if dp > 1:
+            parts.append(f"dp{dp}")
+        if getattr(pc, "enable_expert_parallel", False):
+            parts.append("ep")
+    parts.append(hash8)
+    return "-".join(parts)
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/generate/api_router.py b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/generate/api_router.py
index 9a64db929e8..4386baa14e1 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/openai/generate/api_router.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/openai/generate/api_router.py
@@ -61,9 +61,17 @@ async def init_generate_state(
     )
     from vllm.entrypoints.openai.chat_completion.serving import OpenAIServingChat
     from vllm.entrypoints.openai.completion.serving import OpenAIServingCompletion
+    from vllm.entrypoints.openai.fingerprint import set_default_fingerprint_mode
     from vllm.entrypoints.openai.responses.serving import OpenAIServingResponses
     from vllm.entrypoints.serve.disagg.serving import ServingTokens
 
+    # Applied before any serving class is constructed so that each one picks
+    # up the chosen mode on its first cache miss.
+    set_default_fingerprint_mode(
+        getattr(args, "fingerprint_mode", "full"),
+        getattr(args, "fingerprint_value", None),
+    )
+
     if args.tool_server == "demo":
         tool_server: ToolServer | None = DemoToolServer()
         assert isinstance(tool_server, DemoToolServer)