diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 8c7cb45..8bc5370 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ license = "GPL-3.0-or-later"
 description = "Rust SDK for the TinyHumans backend"
 repository = "https://github.com/tinyhumansai/sdk"
 
+[features]
+default = ["socket"]
+socket = ["dep:rust_socketio"]
+
 [dependencies]
 base64 = "0.22"
 # `stream` is for the SSE session stream in `src/sse.rs`; every other route
@@ -21,7 +25,7 @@ percent-encoding = "2"
 # what earns these two their place in an otherwise dependency-light crate.
 futures = "0.3"
 # Socket.IO is a distinct framed protocol over Engine.IO, not a raw WebSocket.
-rust_socketio = { version = "0.6", features = ["async"] }
+rust_socketio = { version = "0.6", features = ["async"], optional = true }
 tokio = { version = "1", features = ["sync", "time"] }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index d494ef2..143bc75 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use url::Url;
 pub mod api;
 pub mod generated_public_routes;
 pub mod jwt;
+#[cfg(feature = "socket")]
 pub mod socket;
 pub mod sse;
 
@@ -50,14 +51,19 @@ pub enum Error {
     Header(#[from] reqwest::header::InvalidHeaderValue),
     #[error("response decoding failed: {0}")]
     Decode(#[from] serde_json::Error),
+    #[cfg(feature = "socket")]
     #[error("socket.io transport failed: {0}")]
     Socket(Box<rust_socketio::Error>),
+    #[cfg(feature = "socket")]
     #[error("a bearer token is required for socket.io connections")]
     MissingSocketToken,
+    #[cfg(feature = "socket")]
     #[error("socket event {0} did not carry a JSON payload")]
     UnexpectedSocketPayload(String),
+    #[cfg(feature = "socket")]
     #[error("socket acknowledgement timed out")]
     SocketAckTimeout,
+    #[cfg(feature = "socket")]
     #[error("socket acknowledgement channel closed")]
     SocketAckClosed,
     #[error("route is intentionally not exposed by the SDK: {0} {1}")]
@@ -75,6 +81,7 @@ pub enum Error {
     },
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "socket")]
 impl From<rust_socketio::Error> for Error {
     fn from(error: rust_socketio::Error) -> Self {
         Self::Socket(Box::new(error))
@@ -208,6 +215,7 @@ impl TinyHumansClient {
     /// The returned connection receives every public socket event through one
     /// generic stream and also exposes typed helpers for the Medulla harness
     /// and workflow protocol.
+    #[cfg(feature = "socket")]
     pub async fn connect_socket(&self) -> Result<socket::SocketConnection, Error> {
         let token = self.http.token.clone().ok_or(Error::MissingSocketToken)?;
         socket::SocketConnection::connect(self.http.base_url.clone(), token).await
diff --git a/tests/socket.rs b/tests/socket.rs
index a92917f..d7ced44 100644
--- a/tests/socket.rs
+++ b/tests/socket.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+#![cfg(feature = "socket")]
+
 use serde_json::json;
 use tinyhumans_sdk::socket::medulla::{
     CapabilitiesRequest, RegisterWorkflows, TaskRun, WorkflowRequest, WorkflowRequestOp,