diff --git a/src/__tests__/api-clients.test.ts b/src/__tests__/api-clients.test.ts
index 7b040ef..52c283d 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/api-clients.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/api-clients.test.ts
@@ -791,6 +791,100 @@ describe('Auxiliary API clients', () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it('ConversationClient.getConversations omits include_skills by default', async () => {
+    // Default call must not send the param at all, so older
+    // agent-servers that don't know about it behave exactly as
+    // before this PR. The trim is purely opt-in.
+    global.fetch = jest.fn().mockImplementation(() =>
+      Promise.resolve(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify([]), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+        })
+      )
+    ) as typeof fetch;
+
+    const client = new ConversationClient({ host: 'http://example.com' });
+    await client.getConversations(['c1', 'c2']);
+
+    const [url] = (global.fetch as jest.Mock).mock.calls[0];
+    expect(url).toBe('http://example.com/api/conversations?ids=c1&ids=c2');
+    expect(url).not.toContain('include_skills');
+  });
+
+  it('ConversationClient.getConversations sends include_skills=false when opted in', async () => {
+    global.fetch = jest.fn().mockImplementation(() =>
+      Promise.resolve(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify([]), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+        })
+      )
+    ) as typeof fetch;
+
+    const client = new ConversationClient({ host: 'http://example.com' });
+    await client.getConversations(['c1'], { includeSkills: false });
+
+    const [url] = (global.fetch as jest.Mock).mock.calls[0];
+    expect(url).toBe('http://example.com/api/conversations?ids=c1&include_skills=false');
+  });
+
+  it('ConversationClient.getConversation sends include_skills on the single-id endpoint', async () => {
+    global.fetch = jest.fn().mockImplementation(() =>
+      Promise.resolve(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify({ id: 'c1' }), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+        })
+      )
+    ) as typeof fetch;
+
+    const client = new ConversationClient({ host: 'http://example.com' });
+    await client.getConversation('c1', { includeSkills: false });
+
+    const [url] = (global.fetch as jest.Mock).mock.calls[0];
+    expect(url).toBe('http://example.com/api/conversations/c1?include_skills=false');
+  });
+
+  it('ConversationClient.searchConversations merges include_skills with other search params', async () => {
+    global.fetch = jest.fn().mockImplementation(() =>
+      Promise.resolve(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify({ items: [], next_page_id: null }), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+        })
+      )
+    ) as typeof fetch;
+
+    const client = new ConversationClient({ host: 'http://example.com' });
+    await client.searchConversations({ limit: 5, includeSkills: false });
+
+    const [url] = (global.fetch as jest.Mock).mock.calls[0];
+    expect(url).toContain('limit=5');
+    expect(url).toContain('include_skills=false');
+    // ``includeSkills`` is the camelCase TS shape; we explicitly do
+    // NOT leak it onto the wire as-is (server expects snake_case).
+    expect(url).not.toContain('includeSkills');
+  });
+
+  it('ConversationClient.createConversation forwards include_skills as a query param', async () => {
+    global.fetch = jest.fn().mockImplementation(() =>
+      Promise.resolve(
+        new Response(JSON.stringify({ id: 'c1' }), {
+          status: 200,
+          headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+        })
+      )
+    ) as typeof fetch;
+
+    const client = new ConversationClient({ host: 'http://example.com' });
+    await client.createConversation({ agent: {} }, { includeSkills: false });
+
+    const [url, init] = (global.fetch as jest.Mock).mock.calls[0];
+    expect(url).toBe('http://example.com/api/conversations?include_skills=false');
+    expect(init.method).toBe('POST');
+  });
+
   it('Security ApiKeys Session and Shared clients wrap app endpoints', async () => {
     const responses = [
       { policy: 'default' },
diff --git a/src/client/conversation-client.ts b/src/client/conversation-client.ts
index 98ebfcb..3a6ec06 100644
--- a/src/client/conversation-client.ts
+++ b/src/client/conversation-client.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,41 @@ export interface SendConversationEventOptions {
   run?: boolean;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Read-side options the agent-server's conversation routes accept as
+ * query parameters. Keep field names camelCase here; the client maps
+ * them to the snake_case wire form (``include_skills``) when emitting.
+ */
+export interface ConversationReadOptions {
+  /**
+   * When ``false``, the server drops ``agent.agent_context.skills`` from
+   * the response payload. Default is ``true`` (full response), which
+   * preserves the existing public-API shape — ``RemoteConversation``
+   * and any other consumer that round-trips the agent config continue
+   * to work without changes. Opt in when the caller doesn't read
+   * skill bodies and wants to avoid the ~260 KB of inlined skill
+   * content that ``load_user_skills=true`` / ``load_public_skills=true``
+   * agents accumulate.
+   */
+  includeSkills?: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Translate {@link ConversationReadOptions} into the query-param dict
+ * the agent-server expects. Omitted / undefined fields aren't sent,
+ * so the server applies its own default (currently ``include_skills=true``).
+ */
+function buildConversationReadParams(
+  options: ConversationReadOptions | undefined
+): Record<string, unknown> {
+  if (!options) return {};
+  const params: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+  if (options.includeSkills !== undefined) {
+    params.include_skills = options.includeSkills;
+  }
+  return params;
+}
+
 export class ConversationClient {
   public readonly host: string;
   public readonly apiKey?: string;
@@ -37,37 +72,51 @@ export class ConversationClient {
   }
 
   async createConversation<TConversation = ConversationInfo>(
-    payload: CreateConversationPayload
+    payload: CreateConversationPayload,
+    options?: ConversationReadOptions
   ): Promise<TConversation> {
-    const response = await this.client.post<TConversation>('/api/conversations', payload);
+    const response = await this.client.post<TConversation>(
+      '/api/conversations',
+      payload,
+      { params: buildConversationReadParams(options) }
+    );
     return response.data;
   }
 
   async searchConversations(
-    options: ConversationSearchRequest = {}
+    options: ConversationSearchRequest & ConversationReadOptions = {}
   ): Promise<ConversationSearchResponse> {
+    const { includeSkills, ...searchOptions } = options;
     const response = await this.client.get<ConversationSearchResponse>(
       '/api/conversations/search',
       {
-        params: options as Record<string, unknown>,
+        params: {
+          ...(searchOptions as Record<string, unknown>),
+          ...buildConversationReadParams({ includeSkills }),
+        },
       }
     );
     return response.data;
   }
 
   async getConversations<TConversation = ConversationInfo>(
-    conversationIds: string[]
+    conversationIds: string[],
+    options?: ConversationReadOptions
   ): Promise<Array<TConversation | null>> {
     const response = await this.client.get<Array<TConversation | null>>('/api/conversations', {
-      params: { ids: conversationIds },
+      params: { ids: conversationIds, ...buildConversationReadParams(options) },
     });
     return response.data;
   }
 
   async getConversation<TConversation = ConversationInfo>(
-    conversationId: string
+    conversationId: string,
+    options?: ConversationReadOptions
   ): Promise<TConversation> {
-    const response = await this.client.get<TConversation>(`/api/conversations/${conversationId}`);
+    const response = await this.client.get<TConversation>(
+      `/api/conversations/${conversationId}`,
+      { params: buildConversationReadParams(options) }
+    );
     return response.data;
   }