diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c70781ff..12a7f7d1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON)
 
+# Datalayers is no longer part of the default NeuronEX package. Keep the
+# implementation available for standalone/legacy builds, but avoid pulling in
+# Apache Arrow unless it is explicitly requested.
+option(ENABLE_DATALAYERS "Build the Datalayers northbound plugin" OFF)
+
 if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
   set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Debug")
 endif()
@@ -80,6 +85,9 @@ set(PERSIST_SOURCES
     src/persist/json/persist_json_plugin.c)
 aux_source_directory(src/parser NEURON_SRC_PARSE)
 aux_source_directory(src/otel NEURON_SRC_OTEL)
+if(NOT ENABLE_DATALAYERS)
+  list(FILTER NEURON_SRC_PARSE EXCLUDE REGEX "neu_json_datalayers\\.c$")
+endif()
 set(NEURON_BASE_SOURCES
     src/base/tag.c
     src/base/neu_plugin_common.c
@@ -174,12 +182,15 @@ set(NEURON_SOURCES
     plugins/restful/cid_handle.c
     plugins/restful/ede_handle.c
     plugins/restful/tpy_handle.c
-    plugins/restful/datalayers_handle.c
     plugins/restful/rest.c
     plugins/restful/user.c
     plugins/restful/simulator_handle.c
     simulator/modbus_tcp_simulator.c)
 
+if(ENABLE_DATALAYERS)
+  list(APPEND NEURON_SOURCES plugins/restful/datalayers_handle.c)
+endif()
+
 set(CMAKE_BUILD_RPATH ./)
 add_executable(neuron)
 target_sources(neuron PRIVATE ${NEURON_SOURCES}) 
@@ -187,6 +198,10 @@ target_include_directories(neuron PRIVATE include/neuron src plugins)
 target_link_libraries(neuron dl neuron-base sqlite3 -lm xml2)
 target_link_options(neuron PRIVATE "LINKER:--dynamic-list-data")
 
+if(ENABLE_DATALAYERS)
+  target_compile_definitions(neuron PRIVATE NEU_ENABLE_DATALAYERS)
+endif()
+
 #copy file for run
 file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/zlog.conf DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/config)
 file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/dev.conf DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/config)
@@ -202,7 +217,9 @@ add_subdirectory(plugins/mqtt)
 add_subdirectory(plugins/ekuiper)
 add_subdirectory(plugins/file)
 add_subdirectory(plugins/monitor)
-add_subdirectory(plugins/datalayers)
+if(ENABLE_DATALAYERS)
+  add_subdirectory(plugins/datalayers)
+endif()
 add_subdirectory(plugins/kafka)
 
 add_subdirectory(simulator)
diff --git a/plugins/restful/global_config_handle.c b/plugins/restful/global_config_handle.c
index 9c7c3634..152b7ea8 100644
--- a/plugins/restful/global_config_handle.c
+++ b/plugins/restful/global_config_handle.c
@@ -613,11 +613,16 @@ static int unsub_app(context_t *ctx, neu_resp_subscribe_info_t *info);
 
 static inline bool is_default_app_node(const char *name, const char *plugin)
 {
-    return (0 == strcmp("DataStorage", name) &&
-            0 == strcmp("Datalayers", plugin)) ||
-        (0 == strcmp("DataProcessing", name) &&
-         0 == strcmp("eKuiper", plugin)) ||
+    bool is_default = (0 == strcmp("DataProcessing", name) &&
+                       0 == strcmp("eKuiper", plugin)) ||
         (0 == strcmp("monitor", name) && 0 == strcmp("Monitor", plugin));
+
+#ifdef NEU_ENABLE_DATALAYERS
+    is_default = is_default ||
+        (0 == strcmp("DataStorage", name) && 0 == strcmp("Datalayers", plugin));
+#endif
+
+    return is_default;
 }
 
 static void get_apps_context_next(context_t *ctx, neu_reqresp_type_e type,
diff --git a/plugins/restful/handle.c b/plugins/restful/handle.c
index d73cef5f..5c853631 100644
--- a/plugins/restful/handle.c
+++ b/plugins/restful/handle.c
@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@
 #include "adapter_handle.h"
 #include "cert_handle.h"
 #include "cid_handle.h"
+#ifdef NEU_ENABLE_DATALAYERS
 #include "datalayers_handle.h"
+#endif
 #include "datatag_handle.h"
 #include "ede_handle.h"
 #include "global_config_handle.h"
@@ -152,6 +154,7 @@ static struct neu_http_handler cors_handler[] = {
     {
         .url = "/api/v2/users",
     },
+#ifdef NEU_ENABLE_DATALAYERS
     {
         .url = "/api/v2/datalayers/group",
     },
@@ -161,6 +164,7 @@ static struct neu_http_handler cors_handler[] = {
     {
         .url = "/api/v2/datalayers/tag",
     },
+#endif
     {
         .url = "/api/v2/export/db",
     },
@@ -591,6 +595,7 @@ static struct neu_http_handler rest_handlers[] = {
         .url           = "/api/v2/users",
         .value.handler = handle_delete_user,
     },
+#ifdef NEU_ENABLE_DATALAYERS
     {
         .method        = NEU_HTTP_METHOD_GET,
         .type          = NEU_HTTP_HANDLER_FUNCTION,
@@ -609,6 +614,7 @@ static struct neu_http_handler rest_handlers[] = {
         .url           = "/api/v2/datalayers/tag",
         .value.handler = handle_datalayers_get_tag,
     },
+#endif
     {
         .method        = NEU_HTTP_METHOD_GET,
         .type          = NEU_HTTP_HANDLER_FUNCTION,
diff --git a/plugins/restful/rest.c b/plugins/restful/rest.c
index 0d6dc633..6dcecd83 100644
--- a/plugins/restful/rest.c
+++ b/plugins/restful/rest.c
@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@
 #include "adapter_handle.h"
 #include "argparse.h"
 #include "cert_handle.h"
+#ifdef NEU_ENABLE_DATALAYERS
 #include "datalayers_handle.h"
+#endif
 #include "datatag_handle.h"
 #include "define.h"
 #include "global_config_handle.h"
@@ -300,6 +302,7 @@ static int dashb_plugin_request(neu_plugin_t *      plugin,
             neu_otel_scope_set_status_code2(scope, NEU_OTEL_STATUS_OK, 0);
         }
         break;
+#ifdef NEU_ENABLE_DATALAYERS
     case NEU_RESP_GET_DATALAYERS_GROUPS:
         handle_datalayers_get_groups_resp(
             header->ctx, (neu_resp_get_subscribe_group_t *) data);
@@ -321,6 +324,7 @@ static int dashb_plugin_request(neu_plugin_t *      plugin,
             neu_otel_scope_set_status_code2(scope, NEU_OTEL_STATUS_OK, 0);
         }
         break;
+#endif
     case NEU_RESP_GET_DRIVER_SUBSCRIBE_GROUP:
         handle_grp_get_subscribes_resp(header->ctx,
                                        (neu_resp_get_subscribe_group_t *) data);