diff --git a/hermes_state.py b/hermes_state.py
index 1d1f951c0..5864cbcff 100644
--- a/hermes_state.py
+++ b/hermes_state.py
@@ -259,12 +259,16 @@ class SessionDB:
         msg_id = cursor.lastrowid
 
         # Update counters
-        is_tool_related = role == "tool" or tool_calls is not None
-        if is_tool_related:
+        # Count actual tool calls from the tool_calls list (not from tool responses).
+        # A single assistant message can contain multiple parallel tool calls.
+        num_tool_calls = 0
+        if tool_calls is not None:
+            num_tool_calls = len(tool_calls) if isinstance(tool_calls, list) else 1
+        if num_tool_calls > 0:
             self._conn.execute(
                 """UPDATE sessions SET message_count = message_count + 1,
-                   tool_call_count = tool_call_count + 1 WHERE id = ?""",
-                (session_id,),
+                   tool_call_count = tool_call_count + ? WHERE id = ?""",
+                (num_tool_calls, session_id),
             )
         else:
             self._conn.execute(
diff --git a/tests/test_hermes_state.py b/tests/test_hermes_state.py
index 734db494f..de2e05e52 100644
--- a/tests/test_hermes_state.py
+++ b/tests/test_hermes_state.py
@@ -94,13 +94,50 @@ class TestMessageStorage:
         session = db.get_session("s1")
         assert session["message_count"] == 2
 
-    def test_tool_message_increments_tool_count(self, db):
+    def test_tool_response_does_not_increment_tool_count(self, db):
+        """Tool responses (role=tool) should not increment tool_call_count.
+
+        Only assistant messages with tool_calls should count.
+        """
         db.create_session(session_id="s1", source="cli")
         db.append_message("s1", role="tool", content="result", tool_name="web_search")
 
+        session = db.get_session("s1")
+        assert session["tool_call_count"] == 0
+
+    def test_assistant_tool_calls_increment_by_count(self, db):
+        """An assistant message with N tool_calls should increment by N."""
+        db.create_session(session_id="s1", source="cli")
+        tool_calls = [
+            {"id": "call_1", "function": {"name": "web_search", "arguments": "{}"}},
+        ]
+        db.append_message("s1", role="assistant", content="", tool_calls=tool_calls)
+
         session = db.get_session("s1")
         assert session["tool_call_count"] == 1
 
+    def test_tool_call_count_matches_actual_calls(self, db):
+        """tool_call_count should equal the number of tool calls made, not messages."""
+        db.create_session(session_id="s1", source="cli")
+
+        # Assistant makes 2 parallel tool calls in one message
+        tool_calls = [
+            {"id": "call_1", "function": {"name": "ha_call_service", "arguments": "{}"}},
+            {"id": "call_2", "function": {"name": "ha_call_service", "arguments": "{}"}},
+        ]
+        db.append_message("s1", role="assistant", content="", tool_calls=tool_calls)
+
+        # Two tool responses come back
+        db.append_message("s1", role="tool", content="ok", tool_name="ha_call_service")
+        db.append_message("s1", role="tool", content="ok", tool_name="ha_call_service")
+
+        session = db.get_session("s1")
+        # Should be 2 (the actual number of tool calls), not 3
+        assert session["tool_call_count"] == 2, (
+            f"Expected 2 tool calls but got {session['tool_call_count']}. "
+            "tool responses are double-counted and multi-call messages are under-counted"
+        )
+
     def test_tool_calls_serialization(self, db):
         db.create_session(session_id="s1", source="cli")
         tool_calls = [{"id": "call_1", "function": {"name": "web_search", "arguments": "{}"}}]