diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 7b29020..2d7e47b 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ keywords = ["Swagger", "OpenAPI", "REST"]
 license = "MIT"
 desc = "OpenAPI server and client helper for Julia"
 authors = ["JuliaHub Inc."]
-version = "0.2.1"
+version = "0.2.2"
 
 [deps]
 Base64 = "2a0f44e3-6c83-55bd-87e4-b1978d98bd5f"
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ p7zip_jll = "3f19e933-33d8-53b3-aaab-bd5110c3b7a0"
 [compat]
 Downloads = "1"
 HTTP = "1"
-JSON = "0.20, 0.21"
-LibCURL = "0.6"
+JSON = "0.20, 0.21, 1"
+LibCURL = "0.6, 1"
 MIMEs = "0.1, 1"
 MbedTLS = "0.6.8, 0.7, 1"
 TimeZones = "1"
diff --git a/src/OpenAPI.jl b/src/OpenAPI.jl
index 50d9e56..9366a77 100644
--- a/src/OpenAPI.jl
+++ b/src/OpenAPI.jl
@@ -7,6 +7,15 @@ using p7zip_jll
 import Base: getindex, keys, length, iterate, hasproperty
 import JSON: lower
 
+
+const _JSON_PARSE_ISROOT_SUPPORTED = try; JSON.parse("1 "; isroot=false); true; catch; false; end
+
+if _JSON_PARSE_ISROOT_SUPPORTED
+    _json_parse(io_or_str) = JSON.parse(io_or_str; isroot=false)
+else
+    _json_parse(io_or_str) = JSON.parse(io_or_str)
+end
+
 include("commontypes.jl")
 include("datetime.jl")
 include("val.jl")
diff --git a/src/client.jl b/src/client.jl
index b7e90b5..906192b 100644
--- a/src/client.jl
+++ b/src/client.jl
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ using MIMEs
 
 import Base: convert, show, summary, getproperty, setproperty!, iterate
 import ..OpenAPI: APIModel, UnionAPIModel, OneOfAPIModel, AnyOfAPIModel, APIClientImpl, OpenAPIException, InvocationException, to_json, from_json, validate_property, property_type
-import ..OpenAPI: str2zoneddatetime, str2datetime, str2date
+import ..OpenAPI: str2zoneddatetime, str2datetime, str2date, _json_parse
 
 include("client/clienttypes.jl")
 include("client/chunk_readers.jl")
@@ -159,8 +159,8 @@ response(::Type{DateTime}, data) = str2datetime(data)
 response(::Type{Date}, data) = str2date(data)
 
 response(::Type{T}, data) where {T} = convert(T, data)
-response(::Type{T}, data::Dict{String,Any}) where {T} = from_json(T, data)::T
-response(::Type{T}, data::Dict{String,Any}) where {T<:Dict} = convert(T, data)
+response(::Type{T}, data::AbstractDict{String,Any}) where {T} = from_json(T, data)::T
+response(::Type{T}, data::AbstractDict{String,Any}) where {T<:Dict} = convert(T, Dict{String,Any}(data))
 response(::Type{Vector{T}}, data::Vector{V}) where {T,V} = T[response(T, v) for v in data]
 
 noop_pre_request_hook(ctx::Ctx) = ctx
@@ -299,14 +299,14 @@ end
 
 Base.hasproperty(o::T, name::Symbol) where {T<:APIModel} = ((name in propertynames(o)) && (getproperty(o, name) !== nothing))
 
-convert(::Type{T}, json::Dict{String,Any}) where {T<:APIModel} = from_json(T, json)
+convert(::Type{T}, json::AbstractDict{String,Any}) where {T<:APIModel} = from_json(T, json)
 convert(::Type{T}, v::Nothing) where {T<:APIModel} = T()
 convert(::Type{T}, v::T) where {T<:OneOfAPIModel} = v
-convert(::Type{T}, json::Dict{String,Any}) where {T<:OneOfAPIModel} = from_json(T, json)
+convert(::Type{T}, json::AbstractDict{String,Any}) where {T<:OneOfAPIModel} = from_json(T, json)
 convert(::Type{T}, v) where {T<:OneOfAPIModel} = T(v)
 convert(::Type{T}, v::String) where {T<:OneOfAPIModel} = T(v)
 convert(::Type{T}, v::T) where {T<:AnyOfAPIModel} = v
-convert(::Type{T}, json::Dict{String,Any}) where {T<:AnyOfAPIModel} = from_json(T, json)
+convert(::Type{T}, json::AbstractDict{String,Any}) where {T<:AnyOfAPIModel} = from_json(T, json)
 convert(::Type{T}, v) where {T<:AnyOfAPIModel} = T(v)
 convert(::Type{T}, v::String) where {T<:AnyOfAPIModel} = T(v)
 
diff --git a/src/client/chunk_readers.jl b/src/client/chunk_readers.jl
index 10d9ccf..a4b6a09 100644
--- a/src/client/chunk_readers.jl
+++ b/src/client/chunk_readers.jl
@@ -20,6 +20,71 @@ struct JSONChunkReader <: AbstractChunkReader
     buffered_input::Base.BufferStream
 end
 
+function _read_json_chunk(io::IO)
+    out = IOBuffer()
+    first_byte = peek(io, UInt8)
+
+    if first_byte == UInt8('{') || first_byte == UInt8('[')
+        close_byte = first_byte == UInt8('{') ? UInt8('}') : UInt8(']')
+        depth = 0
+        in_string = false
+        escaped = false
+
+        while !eof(io)
+            byte = read(io, UInt8)
+            write(out, byte)
+
+            if escaped
+                escaped = false
+                continue
+            end
+
+            if in_string
+                if byte == UInt8('\\')
+                    escaped = true
+                elseif byte == UInt8('"')
+                    in_string = false
+                end
+            else
+                if byte == UInt8('"')
+                    in_string = true
+                elseif byte == first_byte
+                    depth += 1
+                elseif byte == close_byte
+                    depth -= 1
+                    depth == 0 && break
+                end
+            end
+        end
+    elseif first_byte == UInt8('"')
+        escaped = false
+        read(io, UInt8)  # consume opening quote
+        write(out, UInt8('"'))
+        while !eof(io)
+            byte = read(io, UInt8)
+            write(out, byte)
+            if escaped
+                escaped = false
+            elseif byte == UInt8('\\')
+                escaped = true
+            elseif byte == UInt8('"')
+                break
+            end
+        end
+    else
+        # number / true / false / null: read until delimiter
+        while !eof(io)
+            byte = peek(io, UInt8)
+            if isspace(Char(byte)) || byte == UInt8(',') || byte == UInt8(']') || byte == UInt8('}')
+                break
+            end
+            write(out, read(io, UInt8))
+        end
+    end
+
+    take!(out)
+end
+
 function Base.iterate(iter::JSONChunkReader, _state=nothing)
     if eof(iter.buffered_input)
         return nothing
@@ -34,7 +99,9 @@ function Base.iterate(iter::JSONChunkReader, _state=nothing)
             end
         end
         eof(iter.buffered_input) && return nothing
-        valid_json = JSON.parse(iter.buffered_input)
+        chunk_bytes = _read_json_chunk(iter.buffered_input)
+        isempty(chunk_bytes) && return nothing
+        valid_json = _json_parse(String(chunk_bytes))
         bytes = convert(Vector{UInt8}, codeunits(JSON.json(valid_json)))
         return (bytes, iter)
     end
diff --git a/src/json.jl b/src/json.jl
index b9add9c..db8a5dd 100644
--- a/src/json.jl
+++ b/src/json.jl
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ end
 
 is_deep_explode(sctx::StyleCtx) = sctx.name == "deepObject" && sctx.is_explode
 
-function deep_object_to_array(src::Dict)
+function deep_object_to_array(src::AbstractDict)
     keys_are_int = all(key -> occursin(r"^\d+$", key), keys(src))
     if keys_are_int
         sorted_keys = sort(collect(keys(src)), by=x->parse(Int, x))
@@ -58,14 +58,14 @@ end
 
 to_json(o) = JSON.json(o)
 
-from_json(::Type{Union{Nothing,T}}, json::Dict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T} = from_json(T, json; stylectx)
-from_json(::Type{T}, json::Dict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T} = from_json(T(), json; stylectx)
-from_json(::Type{T}, json::Dict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T <: Dict} = convert(T, json)
-from_json(::Type{T}, j::Dict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T <: String} = to_json(j)
-from_json(::Type{Any}, j::Dict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) = j
+from_json(::Type{Union{Nothing,T}}, json::AbstractDict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T} = from_json(T, json; stylectx)
+from_json(::Type{T}, json::AbstractDict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T} = from_json(T(), json; stylectx)
+from_json(::Type{T}, json::AbstractDict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T <: Dict} = convert(T, Dict{String,Any}(json))
+from_json(::Type{T}, j::AbstractDict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T <: String} = to_json(j)
+from_json(::Type{Any}, j::AbstractDict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) = j
 from_json(::Type{Vector{T}}, j::Vector{Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T} = j
 
-function from_json(::Type{Vector{T}}, json::Dict{String, Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T}
+function from_json(::Type{Vector{T}}, json::AbstractDict{String, Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T}
     if !isnothing(stylectx) && is_deep_explode(stylectx)
         cvt = deep_object_to_array(json)
         if isa(cvt, Vector)
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ function from_json(::Type{Vector{T}}, json::Dict{String, Any}; stylectx=nothing)
     end
 end
 
-function from_json(o::T, json::Dict{String,Any};stylectx=nothing) where {T <: UnionAPIModel}
+function from_json(o::T, json::AbstractDict{String,Any};stylectx=nothing) where {T <: UnionAPIModel}
     return from_json(o, :value, json;stylectx)
 end
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ function from_json(o::T, val::Union{String,Real};stylectx=nothing) where {T <: U
     return o
 end
 
-function from_json(o::T, json::Dict{String,Any};stylectx=nothing) where {T <: APIModel}
+function from_json(o::T, json::AbstractDict{String,Any};stylectx=nothing) where {T <: APIModel}
     jsonkeys = [Symbol(k) for k in keys(json)]
     for name in intersect(propertynames(o), jsonkeys)
         from_json(o, name, json[String(name)];stylectx)
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ function from_json(o::T, json::Dict{String,Any};stylectx=nothing) where {T <: AP
     return o
 end
 
-function from_json(o::T, name::Symbol, json::Dict{String,Any};stylectx=nothing) where {T <: APIModel}
-    ftype = (T <: UnionAPIModel) ? property_type(T, name, json) : property_type(T, name)
+function from_json(o::T, name::Symbol, json::AbstractDict{String,Any};stylectx=nothing) where {T <: APIModel}
+    ftype = (T <: UnionAPIModel) ? property_type(T, name, Dict{String,Any}(json)) : property_type(T, name)
     fval = from_json(ftype, json; stylectx)
     setfield!(o, name, convert(ftype, fval))
     return o
diff --git a/src/server.jl b/src/server.jl
index ba4e388..d7d1a74 100644
--- a/src/server.jl
+++ b/src/server.jl
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ to_param_type(::Type{Vector{UInt8}}, val::String; stylectx=nothing) = convert(Ve
 to_param_type(::Type{Vector{T}}, val::Vector{T}, _collection_format::Union{String,Nothing}; stylectx=nothing) where {T} = val
 to_param_type(::Type{Vector{T}}, json::Vector{Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T} = [to_param_type(T, x; stylectx) for x in json]
 
-function to_param_type(::Type{Vector{T}}, json::Dict{String, Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T}
+function to_param_type(::Type{Vector{T}}, json::AbstractDict{String, Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T}
     if !isnothing(stylectx) && is_deep_explode(stylectx)
         cvt = deep_object_to_array(json)
         if isa(cvt, Vector)
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ function to_param_type(::Type{T}, strval::String; stylectx=nothing) where {T <:
     from_json(T, JSON.parse(strval); stylectx)
 end
 
-function  to_param_type(::Type{T}, json::Dict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T <: APIModel}
+function  to_param_type(::Type{T}, json::AbstractDict{String,Any}; stylectx=nothing) where {T <: APIModel}
     from_json(T, json; stylectx)
 end
 
diff --git a/test/chunkreader_tests.jl b/test/chunkreader_tests.jl
index 3b10d7f..bf02a83 100644
--- a/test/chunkreader_tests.jl
+++ b/test/chunkreader_tests.jl
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ module ChunkReaderTests
 using Test
 using JSON
 using OpenAPI
-using OpenAPI.Clients: AbstractChunkReader, JSONChunkReader, LineChunkReader, RFC7464ChunkReader
+using OpenAPI.Clients: AbstractChunkReader, JSONChunkReader, LineChunkReader, RFC7464ChunkReader, _read_json_chunk
 
 function linechunk1()
     buff = Base.BufferStream()
@@ -182,6 +182,102 @@ function rfc7464chunk2()
     @test length(results) == 2
 end
 
+function read_json_chunk_object()
+    io = IOBuffer("{\"key\": \"value\"}")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "{\"key\": \"value\"}"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_nested_object()
+    io = IOBuffer("{\"a\": {\"b\": 1}}")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "{\"a\": {\"b\": 1}}"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_array()
+    io = IOBuffer("[1, 2, 3]")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "[1, 2, 3]"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_nested_array()
+    io = IOBuffer("[[1,2],[3,4]]")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "[[1,2],[3,4]]"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_string()
+    io = IOBuffer("\"hello\"")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "\"hello\""
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_string_escaped_quote()
+    # embedded escaped quote: "say \"hi\""
+    io = IOBuffer("\"say \\\"hi\\\"\"")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "\"say \\\"hi\\\"\""
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_string_escaped_backslash()
+    # embedded escaped backslash: "path\\file"
+    io = IOBuffer("\"path\\\\file\"")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "\"path\\\\file\""
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_integer()
+    io = IOBuffer("42")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "42"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_float()
+    io = IOBuffer("3.14")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "3.14"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_true()
+    io = IOBuffer("true")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "true"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_false()
+    io = IOBuffer("false")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "false"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_null()
+    io = IOBuffer("null")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "null"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_stops_at_boundary()
+    # reads exactly one chunk and leaves the stream positioned at the next value
+    io = IOBuffer("{\"a\":1}{\"b\":2}")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "{\"a\":1}"
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "{\"b\":2}"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_braces_in_string()
+    # braces inside a string value must not affect depth tracking
+    io = IOBuffer("{\"key\": \"value{nested}\"}")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "{\"key\": \"value{nested}\"}"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
+function read_json_chunk_brackets_in_string()
+    # brackets inside a string value must not affect depth tracking
+    io = IOBuffer("{\"key\": \"[not an array]\"}")
+    @test String(_read_json_chunk(io)) == "{\"key\": \"[not an array]\"}"
+    @test eof(io)
+end
+
 function runtests()
     linechunk1()
     linechunk2()
@@ -192,6 +288,21 @@ function runtests()
     jsonchunk4()
     rfc7464chunk1()
     rfc7464chunk2()
+    read_json_chunk_object()
+    read_json_chunk_nested_object()
+    read_json_chunk_array()
+    read_json_chunk_nested_array()
+    read_json_chunk_string()
+    read_json_chunk_string_escaped_quote()
+    read_json_chunk_string_escaped_backslash()
+    read_json_chunk_integer()
+    read_json_chunk_float()
+    read_json_chunk_true()
+    read_json_chunk_false()
+    read_json_chunk_null()
+    read_json_chunk_stops_at_boundary()
+    read_json_chunk_braces_in_string()
+    read_json_chunk_brackets_in_string()
 end
 
 end # module ChunkReaderTests
\ No newline at end of file