diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b34bee992c..18866fc969 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ dependencies = [
     # remove this once rerun is optional in core
     "rerun-sdk>=0.20.0",
     "toolz>=1.1.0",
+    "protobuf>=6.33.5,<7",
 ]
 
 
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index aa32378bd0..57d0a7f978 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -1754,6 +1754,7 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "pin" },
     { name = "plotext" },
     { name = "plum-dispatch" },
+    { name = "protobuf" },
     { name = "pydantic" },
     { name = "pydantic-settings" },
     { name = "python-dotenv" },
@@ -2109,6 +2110,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "plum-dispatch", marker = "extra == 'docker'", specifier = "==2.5.7" },
     { name = "portal", marker = "extra == 'misc'" },
     { name = "pre-commit", marker = "extra == 'dev'", specifier = "==4.2.0" },
+    { name = "protobuf", specifier = ">=6.33.5,<7" },
     { name = "psycopg2-binary", marker = "extra == 'psql'", specifier = ">=2.9.11" },
     { name = "py-spy", marker = "extra == 'dev'" },
     { name = "pydantic" },