diff --git a/packages/data-designer-engine/pyproject.toml b/packages/data-designer-engine/pyproject.toml
index 87f19785b..c017797d9 100644
--- a/packages/data-designer-engine/pyproject.toml
+++ b/packages/data-designer-engine/pyproject.toml
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "mcp>=1.26.0,<2",
     "networkx>=3.0,<4",
     "numpy>=1.23.5,<3",
+    "pandas>=2.3.3,<3",
     "python-multipart>=0.0.27,<1", # 0.0.27 fixes security advisory pulled in by mcp
     "ruff>=0.14.10,<1",
     "scipy>=1.11.0,<2",