diff --git a/middleware.ts b/middleware.ts
index 5e90d8e5..a55d7f83 100644
--- a/middleware.ts
+++ b/middleware.ts
@@ -51,12 +51,26 @@ export default async function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
     const hostHeader = headers.get('x-forwarded-host') || headers.get('host') || fallbackHost;
 
     urlObj.protocol = proto;
-
-    effectiveRequest = new NextRequest(urlObj, {
-      headers: request.headers,
-      method: request.method,
-      body: request.body,
-    });
+    // Do NOT reconstruct NextRequest for GET/HEAD requests to avoid stream locking/piping errors.
+    // next-intl middleware primarily uses the URL and headers, so a simplified request-like object
+    // or a redirected URL is often enough. For robustness, we only clone if we really have to.
+    if (method === 'GET' || method === 'HEAD') {
+      // In Next.js 15+, we can clone headers but avoid re-passing the body stream.
+      effectiveRequest = new NextRequest(urlObj, {
+        headers: new Headers(request.headers),
+        method: request.method,
+        // No body for GET/HEAD
+      });
+    } else {
+      // For POST/PUT etc, we must be careful. Re-passing the body can only be done once.
+      // If we don't need to fix the URL for the body-reading part, we can skip it.
+      // But usually intl-middleware doesn't care about the body.
+      effectiveRequest = new NextRequest(urlObj, {
+        headers: new Headers(request.headers),
+        method: request.method,
+        body: request.body,
+      });
+    }
 
     if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production' || !process.env.CI) {
       console.log(
diff --git a/patches/@mintel__payload-ai@1.9.15.patch b/patches/@mintel__payload-ai@1.9.15.patch
index 3593550a..5bac5422 100644
--- a/patches/@mintel__payload-ai@1.9.15.patch
+++ b/patches/@mintel__payload-ai@1.9.15.patch
@@ -129,3 +129,16 @@ index 9081ae77d4eae53ce660e285c1a6babde99ceaab..f262f1dd0fd1199734024cc27905d956
  
  export const ChatWindowProvider: React.FC<{ children: React.ReactNode }> = ({ children }) => {
      return (
+
+diff --git a/dist/endpoints/chatEndpoint.js b/dist/endpoints/chatEndpoint.js
+--- a/dist/endpoints/chatEndpoint.js
++++ b/dist/endpoints/chatEndpoint.js
+@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
+     try {
+         const result = streamText({
+             // @ts-ignore - AI SDK type mismatch
+-            model: openrouter('google/gemini-3.0-flash'),
++            model: openrouter('google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview'),
+             messages,
+             tools: activeTools,
+             system: `You are a helpful Payload CMS MCP Assistant orchestrating the local Mintel ecosystem.