diff --git a/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/__init__.py b/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/__init__.py
index eaedcd3..e78b9c0 100644
--- a/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/__init__.py
+++ b/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/__init__.py
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@
 try:
     __version__ = metadata_version("tangle-cli")
 except PackageNotFoundError:
-    __version__ = "0.1.29"
+    __version__ = "0.1.30"
 
 __all__ = ["TangleDynamicDiscoveryClient", "__version__"]
diff --git a/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/pipeline_dehydrator.py b/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/pipeline_dehydrator.py
index 1d74d6b..ba9b5b4 100644
--- a/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/pipeline_dehydrator.py
+++ b/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/pipeline_dehydrator.py
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ def __init__(
         *,
         base_url: str | None = None,
         client_factory: Callable[[], Any] | None = None,
+        extract_subgraphs: bool = True,
         uri_readers: Mapping[str, UriReader] | None = None,
         uri_writers: Mapping[str, UriWriter] | None = None,
     ) -> None:
@@ -148,6 +149,7 @@ def __init__(
             base_url=base_url or DEFAULT_API_URL,
         )
         self.remembered_choices = dict(remembered_choices or {})
+        self.extract_subgraphs = extract_subgraphs
         self.output_file = output_file
         self.component_extension = component_extension or ".yaml"
 
@@ -756,7 +758,14 @@ def dehydrate(self, data: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
         # Every choice that promises a dehydrated document must replace nested
         # graph boundaries too; otherwise they keep their inline spec. A nested
         # graph has no canonical URL of its own, so URL extracts it to a file.
-        if default_choice in (DehydrateChoice.AUTO, DehydrateChoice.FILE, DehydrateChoice.URL):
+        #
+        # ``extract_subgraphs=False`` keeps every boundary inline and dehydrates
+        # only the leaf components inside it, in place. It is for callers that
+        # represent nested graphs themselves (the decompiler turns each into
+        # Python), so the output is deliberately not a fully dehydrated document.
+        if not self.extract_subgraphs:
+            pass
+        elif default_choice in (DehydrateChoice.AUTO, DehydrateChoice.FILE, DehydrateChoice.URL):
             self._extract_subgraphs_to_files(working)
         elif default_choice in (DehydrateChoice.DIGEST, DehydrateChoice.NAME):
             self._extract_subgraphs_portable(working, default_choice)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 8a7eb43..3a6b0ed 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "tangle-cli"
-version = "0.1.29"
+version = "0.1.30"
 description = "CLI for Tangle, the open-source ML pipeline orchestration platform"
 readme = "README.md"
 authors = [
diff --git a/tests/test_dehydrator_portable_refs.py b/tests/test_dehydrator_portable_refs.py
index 71e63ba..85325ac 100644
--- a/tests/test_dehydrator_portable_refs.py
+++ b/tests/test_dehydrator_portable_refs.py
@@ -416,3 +416,22 @@ def test_errors_still_propagate_outside_the_generated_fallback_contract(
 
     with pytest.raises(ConnectionError):
         PipelineHydrator(client=Library(error=ConnectionError("down"))).hydrate_file(pipeline)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("choice", [DehydrateChoice.DIGEST, DehydrateChoice.FILE, DehydrateChoice.AUTO])
+def test_extract_subgraphs_false_dehydrates_only_the_leaves_in_place(tmp_path: Path, choice: str) -> None:
+    """A caller that represents nested graphs itself keeps every boundary
+    inline; only the leaf components inside it are dehydrated, in place, with
+    no subgraph file written."""
+    document = _pipeline({"spec": INNER}, task="sub")
+
+    result = PipelineDehydrator(
+        {"": choice}, output_file=tmp_path / "out.yaml", client=Library({}), extract_subgraphs=False
+    ).dehydrate(document)
+
+    boundary = result["implementation"]["graph"]["tasks"]["sub"]["componentRef"]
+    assert boundary["spec"]["name"] == "Inner", "the graph boundary stays inline"
+    leaf = boundary["spec"]["implementation"]["graph"]["tasks"]["leaf"]["componentRef"]
+    assert "spec" not in leaf and set(leaf) == {"url"}, "the leaf inside it is dehydrated"
+    assert not (tmp_path / "subgraphs").exists()
+    assert not [p for p in tmp_path.rglob("*.yaml") if "inner" in p.name.lower()]
diff --git a/tests/test_packaging.py b/tests/test_packaging.py
index 3f41ed4..75c5369 100644
--- a/tests/test_packaging.py
+++ b/tests/test_packaging.py
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ def test_tangle_cli_wheel_supports_expert_no_deps_import_path_without_tangle_api
     requires_dist = [line for line in metadata.splitlines() if line.startswith("Requires-Dist: ")]
     assert not any(name.startswith("tangle_api/") for name in names)
     assert "tangle_cli/openapi/openapi.json" not in names
-    assert "Version: 0.1.29" in metadata
+    assert "Version: 0.1.30" in metadata
     assert "Requires-Dist: tangle-api==0.1.1" in requires_dist
     assert not any("extra == 'native'" in line for line in requires_dist)
     assert "Provides-Extra: native" in metadata
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 296015c..2b8f7ad 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -2083,7 +2083,7 @@ requires-dist = [{ name = "pydantic", specifier = ">=2.0" }]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tangle-cli"
-version = "0.1.29"
+version = "0.1.30"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "cloud-pipelines" },