diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a04729748..b001535c2 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ vectorcraft-doc = { path = "crates/doc" }
 vectorcraft-pathops = { path = "crates/pathops" }
 vectorcraft-brush = { path = "crates/brush" }
 vectorcraft-trace = { path = "crates/trace" }
-vectorcraft-text = { path = "crates/text" }
+# Without its default `bundled-fonts`: the engine turns them on (its own default feature), so a
+# library crate never forces them on an embedder that supplies its fonts at run time.
+vectorcraft-text = { path = "crates/text", default-features = false }
 vectorcraft-effects = { path = "crates/effects" }
 vectorcraft-three-d = { path = "crates/three-d" }
 vectorcraft-render = { path = "crates/render" }
diff --git a/crates/cad/Cargo.toml b/crates/cad/Cargo.toml
index e8a8ea158..4886d9ea5 100644
--- a/crates/cad/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/cad/Cargo.toml
@@ -21,3 +21,5 @@ image = { workspace = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
+# The tests lay type out in the bundled fonts (the workspace leaves turning them on to the engine).
+vectorcraft-text = { workspace = true, features = ["bundled-fonts"] }
diff --git a/crates/engine/Cargo.toml b/crates/engine/Cargo.toml
index 1adf22155..c51728ef2 100644
--- a/crates/engine/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/engine/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ description = "VectorCraft engine: sessions, history, selection, the command reg
 [lints]
 workspace = true
 
+[features]
+default = ["bundled-fonts"]
+# The fonts vectorcraft-text bundles (see its `bundled-fonts`). Embedders that supply every font at
+# run time (`vectorcraft_text::FontDb::add_font`) build with `default-features = false`.
+bundled-fonts = ["vectorcraft-text/bundled-fonts"]
+
 [dependencies]
 vectorcraft-geom = { workspace = true }
 vectorcraft-color = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/metafile/Cargo.toml b/crates/metafile/Cargo.toml
index 86ade96df..fe54a67f6 100644
--- a/crates/metafile/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/metafile/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,3 +17,7 @@ vectorcraft-brush = { workspace = true }
 vectorcraft-text = { workspace = true }
 kurbo = { workspace = true }
 image = { workspace = true }
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+# The tests lay type out in the bundled fonts (the workspace leaves turning them on to the engine).
+vectorcraft-text = { workspace = true, features = ["bundled-fonts"] }
diff --git a/crates/text/Cargo.toml b/crates/text/Cargo.toml
index 011d0fed6..7f3b52b1d 100644
--- a/crates/text/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/text/Cargo.toml
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ unicode-segmentation = "1.13"
 write-fonts = { version = "0.48", optional = true }
 
 [features]
+default = ["bundled-fonts"]
+# The OFL fonts of `assets/fonts` (Source Sans 3, Source Serif 4, Inter, JetBrains Mono) compiled
+# in: 3.4 MB of the binary. Off, the font database starts without them (craft-fonts and system
+# fonts are unaffected), for an embedder that adds its own with `FontDb::add_font` and would ship
+# these twice. vectorcraft-engine turns it on by default (its `bundled-fonts` feature).
+bundled-fonts = []
 # `vectorcraft_text::test_fonts` for other crates' tests (dev-dependencies only).
 test-fonts = ["dep:write-fonts"]
 
diff --git a/crates/text/src/fontdb.rs b/crates/text/src/fontdb.rs
index bbcdef2bb..bb83f44f0 100644
--- a/crates/text/src/fontdb.rs
+++ b/crates/text/src/fontdb.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ use skrifa::{GlyphId, MetadataProvider, Tag};
 /// The family used when a requested family is unknown (Illustrator's Myriad Pro analogue).
 pub const FALLBACK_FAMILY: &str = "Source Sans 3";
 
+/// The fonts every database starts with (feature `bundled-fonts`, on by default).
+#[cfg(feature = "bundled-fonts")]
 static BUNDLED: &[&[u8]] = &[
     include_bytes!("../../../assets/fonts/SourceSans3-Regular.ttf"),
     include_bytes!("../../../assets/fonts/SourceSans3-Semibold.ttf"),
@@ -27,6 +29,10 @@ static BUNDLED: &[&[u8]] = &[
     include_bytes!("../../../assets/fonts/Inter-SemiBold.ttf"),
     include_bytes!("../../../assets/fonts/JetBrainsMono-Regular.ttf"),
 ];
+/// Without `bundled-fonts` a database starts with none: the embedder adds its fonts
+/// ([`FontDb::add_font`]); until then text has no glyphs.
+#[cfg(not(feature = "bundled-fonts"))]
+static BUNDLED: &[&[u8]] = &[];
 
 /// An axis setting of a variable font: the axis tag (`wght`) and its value in user units (700).
 pub type Variation = ([u8; 4], f32);
@@ -1919,8 +1925,8 @@ impl FontDb {
 
     /// Resolve a family + style to a face, falling back to the closest style of the family, then to
     /// Source Sans 3 Regular. Installed system fonts are found by name whatever ran before. `None`
-    /// only if no font at all is loaded (the bundled fonts failed to parse), in which case text has
-    /// no glyphs.
+    /// only if no font at all is loaded (the bundled fonts failed to parse, or were left out with
+    /// the `bundled-fonts` feature and none was added), in which case text has no glyphs.
     pub fn face(&self, family: &str, style: &str) -> Option<Arc<FontFace>> {
         let (family, style) = self.canonical(family, style);
         let (family, style) = (family.as_str(), style.as_str());
diff --git a/crates/text/src/lib.rs b/crates/text/src/lib.rs
index fb241f1d5..e65c1f79f 100644
--- a/crates/text/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/text/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 //! VectorCraft text: font database, shaping, layout, glyph outlines.
 //!
 //! API contract used by `vectorcraft-render`, `vectorcraft-tools` and the UI:
-//! - [`FontDb::global`]: process-wide database preloaded with the bundled OFL fonts.
+//! - [`FontDb::global`]: process-wide database preloaded with the bundled OFL fonts (feature
+//!   `bundled-fonts`, on by default; without it the embedder adds fonts with [`FontDb::add_font`]).
 //! - [`layout`]: lays out a [`TextObject`] into glyph outlines in *text space* (apply `t.xf` to
 //!   get document coordinates), plus line and caret information.
 //! - [`caret_position`] / [`hit_byte`]: caret geometry and hit testing for the Type tool.
diff --git a/crates/text/tests/without_bundled_fonts.rs b/crates/text/tests/without_bundled_fonts.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1fe58035f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/text/tests/without_bundled_fonts.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+//! The `bundled-fonts` feature turned off, as by an embedder that supplies its own fonts at run
+//! time: a database starts without the bundled fonts, text in no font lays out with no glyphs
+//! instead of failing, and the fonts added later are used. Run with
+//! `cargo test -p vectorcraft-text --no-default-features --test without_bundled_fonts`.
+#![cfg(not(feature = "bundled-fonts"))]
+// Integration tests: unwrapping and panicking on failure is fine here, unlike in shipped code (AGENTS.md › Robustness).
+#![allow(clippy::unwrap_used, clippy::expect_used, clippy::panic)]
+
+use kurbo::Point;
+use vectorcraft_doc::CharStyle;
+use vectorcraft_text::{CRAFT_FONTS, FALLBACK_FAMILY, FontDb, TextObject, layout};
+
+#[test]
+fn fonts_come_from_the_embedder() {
+    // No system fonts, as on the web.
+    let db = FontDb::with_font_dirs(vec![]);
+    db.set_system_fallback(false);
+    let families = db.families();
+    for bundled in ["Source Sans 3", "Source Serif 4", "Inter", "JetBrains Mono"] {
+        assert!(!families.iter().any(|f| f == bundled), "{bundled} is bundled: {families:?}");
+    }
+    let t = TextObject::point(Point::ZERO, "Hello", CharStyle { size: 24.0, ..CharStyle::default() });
+    if CRAFT_FONTS.is_empty() {
+        assert!(families.is_empty(), "{families:?}");
+        assert!(db.face(FALLBACK_FAMILY, "Regular").is_none());
+        assert!(layout(&db, &t).glyphs.is_empty(), "no font, no glyphs");
+    }
+    // The embedder adds its fonts: text lays out in them, and a family the database lacks (the
+    // default style's Source Sans 3 too) falls back to them.
+    let font = |file: &str| std::fs::read(format!("{}/../../assets/fonts/{file}", env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"))).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(db.add_font(font("Inter-Regular.ttf")), 1);
+    assert!(db.families().iter().any(|f| f == "Inter"));
+    if CRAFT_FONTS.is_empty() {
+        assert_eq!(db.face("No Such Font", "Regular").unwrap().family, "Inter");
+    }
+    let l = layout(&db, &t);
+    assert_eq!(l.glyphs.len(), 5);
+    assert!(l.glyphs.iter().all(|g| g.advance > 0.0));
+    // With Source Sans 3 added, the usual fallback is back.
+    assert_eq!(db.add_font(font("SourceSans3-Regular.ttf")), 1);
+    assert_eq!(db.face("No Such Font", "Regular").unwrap().family, FALLBACK_FAMILY);
+}
diff --git a/crates/tools/Cargo.toml b/crates/tools/Cargo.toml
index 4731d2c95..b835974a4 100644
--- a/crates/tools/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/tools/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,4 +20,5 @@ serde_json = { workspace = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 image = { workspace = true }
-vectorcraft-text = { workspace = true, features = ["test-fonts"] }
+# The tests lay type out in the bundled fonts (the workspace leaves turning them on to the engine).
+vectorcraft-text = { workspace = true, features = ["test-fonts", "bundled-fonts"] }
diff --git a/docs/development.md b/docs/development.md
index 522f465be..0265d2306 100644
--- a/docs/development.md
+++ b/docs/development.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Development
 
+> **Last updated:** 2026-10-14 · **Change:** leaving out the bundled fonts (`bundled-fonts` feature).
 > **Last updated:** 2026-10-14 · **Change:** document-font registration for all explicitly supplied faces.
 
 ## Web build
@@ -148,6 +149,22 @@ CRAFT_FONTS_DIR="$PWD/../craft-fonts" cargo xtask ci   # also runs the Japanese-
   CI job and every release job (`release.yml`) check craft-fonts out at a pinned commit; release
   packages carry each embedded font's `OFL-<family>.txt`.
 
+### Leaving out the bundled fonts (embedders)
+
+The Latin fonts in `assets/fonts/` are compiled into `vectorcraft-text` by its `bundled-fonts`
+feature (3.4 MB of the binary). It is on by default, and `vectorcraft-engine`'s default
+`bundled-fonts` feature turns it on, so the apps and anything built on the engine have them. An
+embedder that brings every font itself at run time (`FontDb::add_font`, say a web app serving its
+own font catalogue) depends on the engine with `default-features = false` and doesn't ship them
+twice. Its font database starts without them: on the web and without craft-fonts it starts empty,
+and text has no glyphs until a font is added.
+
+- The workspace declares `vectorcraft-text` without default features, so no library crate turns the
+  fonts back on; a crate whose tests lay type out asks for `bundled-fonts` in its
+  dev-dependencies (or gets it through `vectorcraft-testkit`, which uses the engine).
+- `cargo test -p vectorcraft-text --no-default-features --test without_bundled_fonts` checks the
+  configuration without them.
+
 ### Arabic fonts and the web build
 
 Desktop builds load craft-fonts' Arabic families into the document font database (Noto Sans
@@ -346,5 +363,6 @@ do not replace expected hashes automatically in response to a download mismatch.
 
 | Date | Change | Summary |
 |---|---|---|
+| 2026-10-14 | minor | Document the `bundled-fonts` feature of vectorcraft-text and vectorcraft-engine (Fonts › Leaving out the bundled fonts). |
 | 2026-10-14 | minor | Document registration of every explicitly supplied craft-fonts face after the existing script-specific prefix; empty input and web selection remain unchanged. |
 | 2026-10-13 | minor | Document pinned PngSuite files, integrity checks and download budgets (#1729). |