diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 928ea25..75030b4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -159,4 +159,8 @@ config.json
 
 .envrc
 .cache/
-.claude/
\ No newline at end of file
+.claude/
+# Former submodule checkouts (dependencies are now fetched by CMake)
+/third_party/zlib/
+/third_party/googletest/
+/third_party/clickhouse-cpp/
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
deleted file mode 100644
index 77f1d55..0000000
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "third_party/zlib"]
-	path = third_party/zlib
-	url = https://github.com/madler/zlib.git
-[submodule "third_party/googletest"]
-	path = third_party/googletest
-	url = https://github.com/google/googletest.git
-[submodule "third_party/clickhouse-cpp"]
-	path = third_party/clickhouse-cpp
-	url = https://github.com/ClickHouse/clickhouse-cpp.git
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1849e29..bad5064 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ option(BUILD_TESTS "Build tests" OFF)
 option(BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build example applications" ON)
 option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build shared libraries" OFF)
 
-# Add third party directory with submodules
+# Add third party directory (vendored and CMake-fetched dependencies)
 add_subdirectory(third_party)
 
 # Find system OpenSSL
diff --git a/DEVELOPMENT.md b/DEVELOPMENT.md
index 4367a20..4e798f5 100644
--- a/DEVELOPMENT.md
+++ b/DEVELOPMENT.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ This document provides comprehensive information about developing, building, and
 ### 1. Clone the Repository
 
 ```bash
-git clone --recursive https://github.com/ClickHouse/ai-sdk-cpp.git
+git clone https://github.com/ClickHouse/ai-sdk-cpp.git
 cd ai-sdk-cpp
 ```
 
diff --git a/scripts/build.py b/scripts/build.py
index dc6e854..da37866 100755
--- a/scripts/build.py
+++ b/scripts/build.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     uv run scripts/build.py --mode debug --tests --clean --export-compile-commands
 
 This script handles:
-- CMake configuration with git submodule dependencies
+- CMake configuration with vendored and CMake-fetched dependencies
 - Building in Debug or Release mode
 - Optional test building
 - Clean builds
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ def main(mode: str, tests: bool, clean: bool, verbose: bool, export_compile_comm
     # Create build directory
     build_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
     
-    console.print("[green]✓[/green] Dependencies configured via git submodules")
+    console.print("[green]✓[/green] Dependencies vendored in-tree or fetched by CMake")
     console.print()
     
     # Configure CMake
diff --git a/third_party/clickhouse-cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/clickhouse-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 1b42e06..cd818fe 100644
--- a/third_party/clickhouse-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/clickhouse-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,13 +1,22 @@
 # ClickHouse C++ Client CMake wrapper
-# This wrapper provides a consistent interface for the ClickHouse C++ client library
+# Fetches clickhouse-cpp, pinned to the revision this repository previously
+# tracked as a git submodule.
 
 # Only build ClickHouse client for tests
 if(NOT BUILD_TESTS)
     return()
 endif()
 
-# Add ClickHouse client as subdirectory
-add_subdirectory(../clickhouse-cpp clickhouse-cpp EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+include(FetchContent)
+
+FetchContent_Declare(clickhouse-cpp
+    URL https://github.com/ClickHouse/clickhouse-cpp/archive/cae657a672ff09b715d7127b13eb25d63bea01d4.tar.gz
+)
+FetchContent_GetProperties(clickhouse-cpp)
+if(NOT clickhouse-cpp_POPULATED)
+    FetchContent_Populate(clickhouse-cpp)
+    add_subdirectory(${clickhouse-cpp_SOURCE_DIR} ${clickhouse-cpp_BINARY_DIR} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+endif()
 
 # Create an interface target that properly exposes ClickHouse client
 add_library(clickhouse-cpp-client INTERFACE)
@@ -32,4 +41,4 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 # Create alias for consistent naming
-add_library(ClickHouse::Client ALIAS clickhouse-cpp-client)
\ No newline at end of file
+add_library(ClickHouse::Client ALIAS clickhouse-cpp-client)
diff --git a/third_party/clickhouse-cpp b/third_party/clickhouse-cpp
deleted file mode 160000
index cae657a..0000000
--- a/third_party/clickhouse-cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit cae657a672ff09b715d7127b13eb25d63bea01d4
diff --git a/third_party/googletest b/third_party/googletest
deleted file mode 160000
index 3983f67..0000000
--- a/third_party/googletest
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 3983f67e32fb3e9294487b9d4f9586efa6e5d088
diff --git a/third_party/googletest-cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/googletest-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 609c288..0cf8545 100644
--- a/third_party/googletest-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/googletest-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
+# Fetch GoogleTest, pinned to the revision this repository previously tracked
+# as a git submodule.
+include(FetchContent)
+
 # Configure GoogleTest build options
 set(INSTALL_GTEST OFF CACHE INTERNAL "Disable GoogleTest installation")
 set(gtest_force_shared_crt ON CACHE INTERNAL "Use shared CRT on Windows")
 
-# Add GoogleTest as subdirectory
-add_subdirectory(
-    ${AI_SDK_THIRD_PARTY_DIR}/googletest
-    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/googletest
-    EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
+FetchContent_Declare(googletest
+    URL https://github.com/google/googletest/archive/3983f67e32fb3e9294487b9d4f9586efa6e5d088.tar.gz
 )
+FetchContent_GetProperties(googletest)
+if(NOT googletest_POPULATED)
+    FetchContent_Populate(googletest)
+    add_subdirectory(${googletest_SOURCE_DIR} ${googletest_BINARY_DIR} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+endif()
diff --git a/third_party/zlib b/third_party/zlib
deleted file mode 160000
index 5a82f71..0000000
--- a/third_party/zlib
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 5a82f71ed1dfc0bec044d9702463dbdf84ea3b71
diff --git a/third_party/zlib-cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/zlib-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index c2ecb1f..1c3e1d6 100644
--- a/third_party/zlib-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/zlib-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
+# Fetch zlib (needed by httplib compression), pinned to the revision this
+# repository previously tracked as a git submodule.
+include(FetchContent)
+
 # Configure zlib build options
 set(ZLIB_BUILD_EXAMPLES OFF CACHE INTERNAL "Disable zlib examples")
 
-# Add zlib as subdirectory
-add_subdirectory(
-    ${AI_SDK_THIRD_PARTY_DIR}/zlib 
-    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/zlib
-    EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
+FetchContent_Declare(zlib
+    URL https://github.com/madler/zlib/archive/5a82f71ed1dfc0bec044d9702463dbdf84ea3b71.tar.gz
 )
+FetchContent_GetProperties(zlib)
+if(NOT zlib_POPULATED)
+    FetchContent_Populate(zlib)
+    add_subdirectory(${zlib_SOURCE_DIR} ${zlib_BINARY_DIR} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+endif()
 
 # Create ZLIB::ZLIB alias if it doesn't exist
 if(TARGET zlibstatic AND NOT TARGET ZLIB::ZLIB)