diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c59f541..b869f69 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@
   "main": "dist/src/index.js",
   "types": "dist/src/index.d.ts",
   "files": [
-    "dist/",
-    "proto/"
+    "dist/"
   ],
   "scripts": {
     "build": "tsc",
@@ -19,9 +18,7 @@
     "test": "vitest run"
   },
   "license": "AGPL-3.0-or-later",
-  "dependencies": {
-    "protobufjs": "^7.5.0"
-  },
+  "dependencies": {},
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/node": "^22.0.0",
     "eslint": "^9.0.0",
diff --git a/proto/fila/v1/admin.proto b/proto/fila/v1/admin.proto
deleted file mode 100644
index 886e58d..0000000
--- a/proto/fila/v1/admin.proto
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,197 +0,0 @@
-syntax = "proto3";
-package fila.v1;
-
-// Admin RPCs for operators and the CLI.
-service FilaAdmin {
-  rpc CreateQueue(CreateQueueRequest) returns (CreateQueueResponse);
-  rpc DeleteQueue(DeleteQueueRequest) returns (DeleteQueueResponse);
-  rpc SetConfig(SetConfigRequest) returns (SetConfigResponse);
-  rpc GetConfig(GetConfigRequest) returns (GetConfigResponse);
-  rpc ListConfig(ListConfigRequest) returns (ListConfigResponse);
-  rpc GetStats(GetStatsRequest) returns (GetStatsResponse);
-  rpc Redrive(RedriveRequest) returns (RedriveResponse);
-  rpc ListQueues(ListQueuesRequest) returns (ListQueuesResponse);
-
-  // API key management. CreateApiKey bypasses auth (bootstrap); others require a valid key.
-  rpc CreateApiKey(CreateApiKeyRequest) returns (CreateApiKeyResponse);
-  rpc RevokeApiKey(RevokeApiKeyRequest) returns (RevokeApiKeyResponse);
-  rpc ListApiKeys(ListApiKeysRequest) returns (ListApiKeysResponse);
-
-  // Per-key ACL management.
-  rpc SetAcl(SetAclRequest) returns (SetAclResponse);
-  rpc GetAcl(GetAclRequest) returns (GetAclResponse);
-}
-
-message CreateQueueRequest {
-  string name = 1;
-  QueueConfig config = 2;
-}
-
-message QueueConfig {
-  string on_enqueue_script = 1;
-  string on_failure_script = 2;
-  uint64 visibility_timeout_ms = 3;
-}
-
-message CreateQueueResponse {
-  string queue_id = 1;
-}
-
-message DeleteQueueRequest {
-  string queue = 1;
-}
-
-message DeleteQueueResponse {}
-
-message SetConfigRequest {
-  string key = 1;
-  string value = 2;
-}
-
-message SetConfigResponse {}
-
-message GetConfigRequest {
-  string key = 1;
-}
-
-message GetConfigResponse {
-  string value = 1;
-}
-
-message ConfigEntry {
-  string key = 1;
-  string value = 2;
-}
-
-message ListConfigRequest {
-  string prefix = 1;
-}
-
-message ListConfigResponse {
-  repeated ConfigEntry entries = 1;
-  uint32 total_count = 2;
-}
-
-message GetStatsRequest {
-  string queue = 1;
-}
-
-message PerFairnessKeyStats {
-  string key = 1;
-  uint64 pending_count = 2;
-  int64 current_deficit = 3;
-  uint32 weight = 4;
-}
-
-message PerThrottleKeyStats {
-  string key = 1;
-  double tokens = 2;
-  double rate_per_second = 3;
-  double burst = 4;
-}
-
-message GetStatsResponse {
-  uint64 depth = 1;
-  uint64 in_flight = 2;
-  uint64 active_fairness_keys = 3;
-  uint32 active_consumers = 4;
-  uint32 quantum = 5;
-  repeated PerFairnessKeyStats per_key_stats = 6;
-  repeated PerThrottleKeyStats per_throttle_stats = 7;
-  // Cluster fields (0 when not in cluster mode).
-  uint64 leader_node_id = 8;
-  uint32 replication_count = 9;
-}
-
-message RedriveRequest {
-  string dlq_queue = 1;
-  uint64 count = 2;
-}
-
-message RedriveResponse {
-  uint64 redriven = 1;
-}
-
-message ListQueuesRequest {}
-
-message QueueInfo {
-  string name = 1;
-  uint64 depth = 2;
-  uint64 in_flight = 3;
-  uint32 active_consumers = 4;
-  uint64 leader_node_id = 5;
-}
-
-message ListQueuesResponse {
-  repeated QueueInfo queues = 1;
-  uint32 cluster_node_count = 2;
-}
-
-// --- API Key Management ---
-
-message CreateApiKeyRequest {
-  /// Human-readable label for the key.
-  string name = 1;
-  /// Optional Unix timestamp (milliseconds) after which the key expires.
-  /// 0 means no expiration.
-  uint64 expires_at_ms = 2;
-  /// When true, the key bypasses all ACL checks (superadmin).
-  bool is_superadmin = 3;
-}
-
-message CreateApiKeyResponse {
-  /// Opaque key ID for management operations (revoke, list, set-acl).
-  string key_id = 1;
-  /// Plaintext API key. Returned once — store it securely.
-  string key = 2;
-  /// Whether this key has superadmin privileges.
-  bool is_superadmin = 3;
-}
-
-message RevokeApiKeyRequest {
-  string key_id = 1;
-}
-
-message RevokeApiKeyResponse {}
-
-message ListApiKeysRequest {}
-
-message ApiKeyInfo {
-  string key_id = 1;
-  string name = 2;
-  uint64 created_at_ms = 3;
-  /// 0 means no expiration.
-  uint64 expires_at_ms = 4;
-  bool is_superadmin = 5;
-}
-
-message ListApiKeysResponse {
-  repeated ApiKeyInfo keys = 1;
-}
-
-// --- ACL Management ---
-
-/// A single permission grant: kind (produce/consume/admin) + queue pattern.
-message AclPermission {
-  /// One of: "produce", "consume", "admin".
-  string kind = 1;
-  /// Queue name or wildcard ("*" or "orders.*").
-  string pattern = 2;
-}
-
-message SetAclRequest {
-  string key_id = 1;
-  repeated AclPermission permissions = 2;
-}
-
-message SetAclResponse {}
-
-message GetAclRequest {
-  string key_id = 1;
-}
-
-message GetAclResponse {
-  string key_id = 1;
-  repeated AclPermission permissions = 2;
-  bool is_superadmin = 3;
-}
diff --git a/proto/fila/v1/messages.proto b/proto/fila/v1/messages.proto
deleted file mode 100644
index a0709cf..0000000
--- a/proto/fila/v1/messages.proto
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-syntax = "proto3";
-package fila.v1;
-
-import "google/protobuf/timestamp.proto";
-
-// Core message envelope persisted in the broker.
-message Message {
-  string id = 1;
-  map<string, string> headers = 2;
-  bytes payload = 3;
-  MessageMetadata metadata = 4;
-  MessageTimestamps timestamps = 5;
-}
-
-// Broker-assigned scheduling metadata.
-message MessageMetadata {
-  string fairness_key = 1;
-  uint32 weight = 2;
-  repeated string throttle_keys = 3;
-  uint32 attempt_count = 4;
-  string queue_id = 5;
-}
-
-// Lifecycle timestamps attached to every message.
-message MessageTimestamps {
-  google.protobuf.Timestamp enqueued_at = 1;
-  google.protobuf.Timestamp leased_at = 2;
-}
diff --git a/proto/fila/v1/service.proto b/proto/fila/v1/service.proto
deleted file mode 100644
index 7d1db79..0000000
--- a/proto/fila/v1/service.proto
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,142 +0,0 @@
-syntax = "proto3";
-package fila.v1;
-
-import "fila/v1/messages.proto";
-
-// Hot-path RPCs for producers and consumers.
-service FilaService {
-  rpc Enqueue(EnqueueRequest) returns (EnqueueResponse);
-  rpc StreamEnqueue(stream StreamEnqueueRequest) returns (stream StreamEnqueueResponse);
-  rpc Consume(ConsumeRequest) returns (stream ConsumeResponse);
-  rpc Ack(AckRequest) returns (AckResponse);
-  rpc Nack(NackRequest) returns (NackResponse);
-}
-
-// Individual message to enqueue.
-message EnqueueMessage {
-  string queue = 1;
-  map<string, string> headers = 2;
-  bytes payload = 3;
-}
-
-// Enqueue one or more messages.
-message EnqueueRequest {
-  repeated EnqueueMessage messages = 1;
-}
-
-// Per-message enqueue result.
-message EnqueueResult {
-  oneof result {
-    string message_id = 1;
-    EnqueueError error = 2;
-  }
-}
-
-// Typed enqueue error with structured error code.
-message EnqueueError {
-  EnqueueErrorCode code = 1;
-  string message = 2;
-}
-
-enum EnqueueErrorCode {
-  ENQUEUE_ERROR_CODE_UNSPECIFIED = 0;
-  ENQUEUE_ERROR_CODE_QUEUE_NOT_FOUND = 1;
-  ENQUEUE_ERROR_CODE_STORAGE = 2;
-  ENQUEUE_ERROR_CODE_LUA = 3;
-  ENQUEUE_ERROR_CODE_PERMISSION_DENIED = 4;
-}
-
-// One result per input message.
-message EnqueueResponse {
-  repeated EnqueueResult results = 1;
-}
-
-message ConsumeRequest {
-  string queue = 1;
-}
-
-message ConsumeResponse {
-  repeated Message messages = 1;
-}
-
-// Individual ack item.
-message AckMessage {
-  string queue = 1;
-  string message_id = 2;
-}
-
-message AckRequest {
-  repeated AckMessage messages = 1;
-}
-
-message AckResult {
-  oneof result {
-    AckSuccess success = 1;
-    AckError error = 2;
-  }
-}
-
-message AckSuccess {}
-
-message AckError {
-  AckErrorCode code = 1;
-  string message = 2;
-}
-
-enum AckErrorCode {
-  ACK_ERROR_CODE_UNSPECIFIED = 0;
-  ACK_ERROR_CODE_MESSAGE_NOT_FOUND = 1;
-  ACK_ERROR_CODE_STORAGE = 2;
-  ACK_ERROR_CODE_PERMISSION_DENIED = 3;
-}
-
-message AckResponse {
-  repeated AckResult results = 1;
-}
-
-// Individual nack item.
-message NackMessage {
-  string queue = 1;
-  string message_id = 2;
-  string error = 3;
-}
-
-message NackRequest {
-  repeated NackMessage messages = 1;
-}
-
-message NackResult {
-  oneof result {
-    NackSuccess success = 1;
-    NackError error = 2;
-  }
-}
-
-message NackSuccess {}
-
-message NackError {
-  NackErrorCode code = 1;
-  string message = 2;
-}
-
-enum NackErrorCode {
-  NACK_ERROR_CODE_UNSPECIFIED = 0;
-  NACK_ERROR_CODE_MESSAGE_NOT_FOUND = 1;
-  NACK_ERROR_CODE_STORAGE = 2;
-  NACK_ERROR_CODE_PERMISSION_DENIED = 3;
-}
-
-message NackResponse {
-  repeated NackResult results = 1;
-}
-
-// Stream enqueue — per-write batch with sequence tracking.
-message StreamEnqueueRequest {
-  repeated EnqueueMessage messages = 1;
-  uint64 sequence_number = 2;
-}
-
-message StreamEnqueueResponse {
-  uint64 sequence_number = 1;
-  repeated EnqueueResult results = 2;
-}
diff --git a/src/transport.ts b/src/transport.ts
index b4ace50..3688fb1 100644
--- a/src/transport.ts
+++ b/src/transport.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export const Op = {
   ACK:          0x03,
   NACK:         0x04,
 
-  // Admin
+  // Admin (binary body)
   CREATE_QUEUE: 0x10,
   DELETE_QUEUE: 0x11,
   QUEUE_STATS:  0x12,
diff --git a/test/helpers.ts b/test/helpers.ts
index d1923de..8b94ade 100644
--- a/test/helpers.ts
+++ b/test/helpers.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
-import { spawn, execFileSync } from "child_process";
+import { spawn } from "child_process";
 import * as fs from "fs";
+import { execFileSync } from "child_process";
 import * as net from "net";
 import * as os from "os";
 import * as path from "path";
-import * as protobuf from "protobufjs";
 import {
   FibpConnection,
   Op,
+  encodeFrame,
+  nextCorrId,
 } from "../src/transport";
 
-const PROTO_DIR = path.join(__dirname, "..", "proto");
-
 function findServerBinary(): string {
   if (process.env.FILA_SERVER_BIN) {
     return process.env.FILA_SERVER_BIN;
@@ -56,41 +56,34 @@ export interface TestServerOptions {
 export const FILA_SERVER_BIN = findServerBinary();
 export const FILA_SERVER_AVAILABLE = fs.existsSync(FILA_SERVER_BIN);
 
-// ---- Protobuf loading -------------------------------------------------------
-
-let _adminRoot: protobuf.Root | null = null;
-
-function getAdminRoot(): protobuf.Root {
-  if (_adminRoot) return _adminRoot;
-  _adminRoot = new protobuf.Root();
-  _adminRoot.resolvePath = (_origin, target) => {
-    // If the target is already an absolute path (e.g. the initial loadSync
-    // call), return it unchanged — prepending PROTO_DIR would double the path.
-    if (path.isAbsolute(target)) return target;
-    // Resolve google/protobuf includes from the protobufjs built-ins.
-    if (target.startsWith("google/")) {
-      return path.join(__dirname, "..", "node_modules", "protobufjs", target);
-    }
-    return path.join(PROTO_DIR, target);
-  };
-  _adminRoot.loadSync(path.join(PROTO_DIR, "fila", "v1", "admin.proto"));
-  _adminRoot.loadSync(path.join(PROTO_DIR, "fila", "v1", "messages.proto"));
-  return _adminRoot;
+// ---- Binary admin encoding ---------------------------------------------------
+
+/**
+ * Encode a CreateQueue request using the binary wire format.
+ *
+ * Wire format:
+ *   queue_len:u16 + queue:utf8
+ *   + on_enqueue_len:u16 + on_enqueue:utf8
+ *   + on_failure_len:u16 + on_failure:utf8
+ *   + visibility_timeout_ms:u32
+ */
+function encodeCreateQueuePayload(name: string): Buffer {
+  const nameBuf = Buffer.from(name, "utf8");
+  const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2 + nameBuf.length + 2 + 2 + 4);
+  let off = 0;
+  buf.writeUInt16BE(nameBuf.length, off); off += 2;
+  nameBuf.copy(buf, off); off += nameBuf.length;
+  buf.writeUInt16BE(0, off); off += 2; // on_enqueue: empty
+  buf.writeUInt16BE(0, off); off += 2; // on_failure: empty
+  buf.writeUInt32BE(0, off); // visibility_timeout_ms: 0
+  return buf;
 }
 
-function encodeAdminMsg(typeName: string, fields: Record<string, unknown>): Buffer {
-  const root = getAdminRoot();
-  const MsgType = root.lookupType(typeName);
-  const err = MsgType.verify(fields);
-  if (err) throw new Error(`protobuf verify failed: ${err}`);
-  const msg = MsgType.create(fields);
-  return Buffer.from(MsgType.encode(msg).finish());
-}
-
-function decodeAdminMsg<T extends object>(typeName: string, buf: Buffer): T {
-  const root = getAdminRoot();
-  const MsgType = root.lookupType(typeName);
-  return MsgType.decode(buf) as unknown as T;
+/**
+ * Encode a ListQueues request (empty payload).
+ */
+function encodeListQueuesPayload(): Buffer {
+  return Buffer.alloc(0);
 }
 
 // ---- Admin FIBP helpers -----------------------------------------------------
@@ -113,15 +106,12 @@ async function connectAdmin(addr: string, opts: TestServerOptions): Promise<Fibp
 }
 
 async function callListQueues(conn: FibpConnection): Promise<void> {
-  const payload = encodeAdminMsg("fila.v1.ListQueuesRequest", {});
+  const payload = encodeListQueuesPayload();
   await conn.request(Op.LIST_QUEUES, payload);
 }
 
 async function callCreateQueue(conn: FibpConnection, name: string): Promise<void> {
-  const payload = encodeAdminMsg("fila.v1.CreateQueueRequest", {
-    name,
-    config: {},
-  });
+  const payload = encodeCreateQueuePayload(name);
   await conn.request(Op.CREATE_QUEUE, payload);
 }
 
@@ -304,6 +294,3 @@ export function generateTestCerts(outputDir: string): {
     clientKey: fs.readFileSync(clientKeyPath),
   };
 }
-
-// Re-export for tests that decode admin responses.
-export { decodeAdminMsg, encodeAdminMsg };