diff --git a/.changeset/stream-ws-capability-gate.md b/.changeset/stream-ws-capability-gate.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4e05d6a9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/stream-ws-capability-gate.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@workflow/world-vercel': patch
+---
+
+Add the default-off stream WebSocket capability gate.
diff --git a/docs/content/docs/v5/configuration/worlds.mdx b/docs/content/docs/v5/configuration/worlds.mdx
index ed49ee51f..60d2c8736 100644
--- a/docs/content/docs/v5/configuration/worlds.mdx
+++ b/docs/content/docs/v5/configuration/worlds.mdx
@@ -281,6 +281,14 @@ Platform-provided values such as `VERCEL_DEPLOYMENT_ID`, `VERCEL_PROJECT_ID`, an
 - Default: `1000`
 - Maximum stream chunks written in one Vercel World request. Larger batches are split.
 
+### `WORKFLOW_STREAMS_TRANSPORT`
+
+- Factory option: none
+- CLI flag: none
+- Default: `http`
+- Experimental stream-write transport capability. Set to exactly `ws` to advertise support for `workflow-stream-ws/v1` when it becomes available. The server authoritatively accepts or declines an upgrade; a decline uses HTTP directly. Stream reads remain HTTP and demand-driven.
+- This is not tenant rollout policy or a package-version check. HTTP remains the compatibility path. `/websockets/v1` is independent of REST v2/v4 and persisted workflow `specVersion` values.
+
 ### `WORKFLOW_DISABLE_ANALYTICS_READS`
 
 - Factory option: none
diff --git a/docs/content/worlds/v5/vercel.mdx b/docs/content/worlds/v5/vercel.mdx
index 29c0ec026..65c85f665 100644
--- a/docs/content/worlds/v5/vercel.mdx
+++ b/docs/content/worlds/v5/vercel.mdx
@@ -200,6 +200,12 @@ Below the floor the deadline starts canceling requests that would have succeeded
 
 Maximum stream chunks written in one Vercel World request. Larger batches are split across multiple requests. Default: `1000`. Minimum: `1`.
 
+### `WORKFLOW_STREAMS_TRANSPORT`
+
+Experimental stream-write transport capability. Default: `http`. Set `WORKFLOW_STREAMS_TRANSPORT=ws` to advertise support for `workflow-stream-ws/v1` when it becomes available. The server authoritatively accepts or declines every upgrade; a decline goes directly to HTTP. Reads remain HTTP and demand-driven.
+
+This setting does not own tenant rollout policy and does not infer server support from package versions. HTTP remains the compatibility path. The protocol route (`/websockets/v1`) is versioned independently from REST v2/v4 and persisted workflow `specVersion` values. Drain/de-opt control semantics are a rollout prerequisite and are intentionally not part of this capability gate.
+
 ### `WORKFLOW_EVENTS_TRANSPORT`
 
 Workflow run events ship to the Vercel World over a WebSocket instead of one HTTP request each. Default: `ws`.
diff --git a/packages/world-vercel/src/ws-streams-transport-enabled.test.ts b/packages/world-vercel/src/ws-streams-transport-enabled.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..18952f797
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/world-vercel/src/ws-streams-transport-enabled.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { isWsStreamsTransportEnabled } from './ws-transport-enabled.js';
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  delete process.env.WORKFLOW_STREAMS_TRANSPORT;
+});
+
+describe('isWsStreamsTransportEnabled', () => {
+  it.each([
+    [undefined, false],
+    ['', false],
+    ['http', false],
+    ['HTTP', false],
+    ['ws ', false],
+    ['WS', false],
+    ['ws', true],
+  ])('advertises v1 only for the exact ws value: %j', (value, expected) => {
+    if (value === undefined) {
+      delete process.env.WORKFLOW_STREAMS_TRANSPORT;
+    } else {
+      process.env.WORKFLOW_STREAMS_TRANSPORT = value;
+    }
+
+    expect(isWsStreamsTransportEnabled()).toBe(expected);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/world-vercel/src/ws-transport-enabled.ts b/packages/world-vercel/src/ws-transport-enabled.ts
index 40ac9d4d2..d3dad89b6 100644
--- a/packages/world-vercel/src/ws-transport-enabled.ts
+++ b/packages/world-vercel/src/ws-transport-enabled.ts
@@ -53,3 +53,20 @@ export function isWsEventsTransportStrict(): boolean {
   const raw = process.env.WORKFLOW_INTERNAL_EVENTS_TRANSPORT_STRICT;
   return raw === '1' || raw === 'true';
 }
+
+/**
+ * Advertise the experimental v1 stream-write protocol only when explicitly
+ * requested. This is a client capability signal, not an entitlement: the
+ * server authoritatively accepts or declines every upgrade, and a decline
+ * falls back directly to the HTTP stream writer.
+ *
+ * HTTP is the compatibility path and the default. Unlike the default-on events
+ * gate above, this opt-in is exact-match: a typo must fail toward HTTP rather
+ * than unexpectedly enabling an experimental transport. This deliberately has
+ * no package-version or tenant-policy heuristic; rollout policy belongs to the
+ * server. v1 is `/websockets/v1`, independently versioned from REST v2/v4 and
+ * persisted workflow spec versions.
+ */
+export function isWsStreamsTransportEnabled(): boolean {
+  return process.env.WORKFLOW_STREAMS_TRANSPORT === 'ws';
+}