diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 9704b0730..d4ee8c34f 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -28,16 +28,16 @@ async-trait = "0.1.60"
 as_variant = "1.2.0"
 base64 = "0.21.0"
 byteorder = "1.4.3"
-eyeball = { version = "0.8.7", features = ["tracing"] }
-eyeball-im = { version = "0.4.1", features = ["tracing"] }
-eyeball-im-util = "0.5.1"
+eyeball = { path="../eyeball/eyeball", features = ["tracing"] }
+eyeball-im = { path="../eyeball/eyeball-im", features = ["tracing"] }
+eyeball-im-util = { path="../eyeball/eyeball-im-util" }
 futures-core = "0.3.28"
 futures-executor = "0.3.21"
 futures-util = { version = "0.3.26", default-features = false, features = ["alloc"] }
 http = "0.2.6"
 itertools = "0.12.0"
-ruma = { git = "https://github.com/ruma/ruma", rev = "68c9bb0930f2195fa8672fbef9633ef62737df5d", features = ["client-api-c", "compat-upload-signatures", "compat-user-id", "compat-arbitrary-length-ids", "unstable-msc3401"] }
-ruma-common = { git = "https://github.com/ruma/ruma", rev = "68c9bb0930f2195fa8672fbef9633ef62737df5d" }
+ruma = { path="../ruma/crates/ruma", features = ["client-api-c", "compat-upload-signatures", "compat-user-id", "compat-arbitrary-length-ids", "unstable-msc3401"] }
+ruma-common = { path="../ruma/crates/ruma-common" }
 once_cell = "1.16.0"
 rand = "0.8.5"
 serde = "1.0.151"
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/Cargo.toml b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/Cargo.toml
index f18b6edb5..41f2aa379 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ native-tls = ["matrix-sdk/native-tls"]
 rustls-tls = ["matrix-sdk/rustls-tls"]
 
 uniffi = ["dep:uniffi"]
+serde = []
 
 [dependencies]
 as_variant = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/content/message.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/content/message.rs
index 708edabb9..0ec1a83ba 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/content/message.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/content/message.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ use ruma::{
     OwnedEventId, OwnedUserId, RoomVersionId, UserId,
 };
 use tracing::error;
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 use super::TimelineItemContent;
 use crate::{
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ use crate::{
 
 /// An `m.room.message` event or extensible event, including edits.
 #[derive(Clone)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct Message {
     pub(in crate::timeline) msgtype: MessageType,
     pub(in crate::timeline) in_reply_to: Option<InReplyToDetails>,
@@ -208,6 +210,7 @@ impl fmt::Debug for Message {
 
 /// Details about an event being replied to.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct InReplyToDetails {
     /// The ID of the event.
     pub event_id: OwnedEventId,
@@ -238,6 +241,7 @@ impl InReplyToDetails {
 
 /// An event that is replied to.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct RepliedToEvent {
     pub(in crate::timeline) content: TimelineItemContent,
     pub(in crate::timeline) sender: OwnedUserId,
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/content/mod.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/content/mod.rs
index 90de9430e..23d0b73c1 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/content/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/content/mod.rs
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ use ruma::{
     OwnedDeviceId, OwnedMxcUri, OwnedUserId, RoomVersionId, UserId,
 };
 use tracing::warn;
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 use crate::timeline::{polls::PollState, TimelineItem};
 
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ pub use self::message::{InReplyToDetails, Message, RepliedToEvent};
 
 /// The content of an [`EventTimelineItem`][super::EventTimelineItem].
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum TimelineItemContent {
     /// An `m.room.message` event or extensible event, including edits.
     Message(Message),
@@ -89,6 +91,7 @@ pub enum TimelineItemContent {
         event_type: MessageLikeEventType,
 
         /// The deserialization error.
+        #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(skip_serializing))]
         error: Arc<serde_json::Error>,
     },
 
@@ -101,6 +104,7 @@ pub enum TimelineItemContent {
         state_key: String,
 
         /// The deserialization error.
+        #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(skip_serializing))]
         error: Arc<serde_json::Error>,
     },
 
@@ -317,6 +321,7 @@ impl TimelineItemContent {
 
 /// Metadata about an `m.room.encrypted` event that could not be decrypted.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum EncryptedMessage {
     /// Metadata about an event using the `m.olm.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2`
     /// algorithm.
@@ -361,6 +366,7 @@ impl From<RoomEncryptedEventContent> for EncryptedMessage {
 
 /// An `m.sticker` event.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct Sticker {
     pub(in crate::timeline) content: StickerEventContent,
 }
@@ -374,6 +380,7 @@ impl Sticker {
 
 /// An event changing a room membership.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct RoomMembershipChange {
     pub(in crate::timeline) user_id: OwnedUserId,
     pub(in crate::timeline) content: FullStateEventContent<RoomMemberEventContent>,
@@ -413,6 +420,7 @@ impl RoomMembershipChange {
 
 /// An enum over all the possible room membership changes.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum MembershipChange {
     /// No change.
     None,
@@ -471,6 +479,7 @@ pub enum MembershipChange {
 /// Note that profile changes only occur in the timeline when the user's
 /// membership is already `join`.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct MemberProfileChange {
     pub(in crate::timeline) user_id: OwnedUserId,
     pub(in crate::timeline) displayname_change: Option<Change<Option<String>>>,
@@ -509,6 +518,7 @@ impl MemberProfileChange {
 /// An enum over all the full state event contents that don't have their own
 /// `TimelineItemContent` variant.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum AnyOtherFullStateEventContent {
     /// m.policy.rule.room
     PolicyRuleRoom(FullStateEventContent<PolicyRuleRoomEventContent>),
@@ -705,6 +715,7 @@ impl AnyOtherFullStateEventContent {
 
 /// A state event that doesn't have its own variant.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct OtherState {
     pub(in crate::timeline) state_key: String,
     pub(in crate::timeline) content: AnyOtherFullStateEventContent,
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/local.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/local.rs
index 1ef2f8af0..86873ff6f 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/local.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/local.rs
@@ -18,9 +18,12 @@ use as_variant::as_variant;
 use matrix_sdk::Error;
 use ruma::{EventId, OwnedEventId, OwnedTransactionId};
 
+use serde::Serialize;
+
 /// An item for an event that was created locally and not yet echoed back by
 /// the homeserver.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub(in crate::timeline) struct LocalEventTimelineItem {
     /// The send state of this local event.
     pub send_state: EventSendState,
@@ -45,6 +48,7 @@ impl LocalEventTimelineItem {
 
 /// This type represents the "send state" of a local event timeline item.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum EventSendState {
     /// The local event has not been sent yet.
     NotSentYet,
@@ -52,6 +56,7 @@ pub enum EventSendState {
     /// sending has failed.
     SendingFailed {
         /// Details about how sending the event failed.
+        #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(skip_serializing))]
         error: Arc<Error>,
     },
     /// Sending has been cancelled because an earlier event in the
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/mod.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/mod.rs
index 3e52d3fe6..ddf569665 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/mod.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ use ruma::{
     OwnedUserId, RoomId, RoomVersionId, TransactionId, UserId,
 };
 use tracing::warn;
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 mod content;
 mod local;
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ pub(super) use self::{
 /// identity but in many cases, additional events like reactions and edits are
 /// also part of the item.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct EventTimelineItem {
     /// The sender of the event.
     pub(super) sender: OwnedUserId,
@@ -65,6 +67,7 @@ pub struct EventTimelineItem {
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub(super) enum EventTimelineItemKind {
     /// A local event, not yet echoed back by the server.
     Local(LocalEventTimelineItem),
@@ -74,6 +77,7 @@ pub(super) enum EventTimelineItemKind {
 
 /// A wrapper that can contain either a transaction id, or an event id.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, Hash, PartialEq)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum EventItemIdentifier {
     TransactionId(OwnedTransactionId),
     EventId(OwnedEventId),
@@ -442,6 +446,7 @@ impl From<RemoteEventTimelineItem> for EventTimelineItemKind {
 
 /// The display name and avatar URL of a room member.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct Profile {
     /// The display name, if set.
     pub display_name: Option<String>,
@@ -459,6 +464,7 @@ pub struct Profile {
 /// other than just the regular
 /// [`sync_events`][ruma::api::client::sync::sync_events].
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum TimelineDetails<T> {
     /// The details are not available yet, and have not been request from the
     /// server.
@@ -471,6 +477,7 @@ pub enum TimelineDetails<T> {
     Ready(T),
 
     /// An error occurred when fetching the details.
+    #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(skip_serializing))]
     Error(Arc<Error>),
 }
 
@@ -494,6 +501,7 @@ impl<T> TimelineDetails<T> {
 /// Where this event came.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "uniffi", derive(uniffi::Enum))]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum EventItemOrigin {
     /// The event was created locally.
     Local,
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/reactions.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/reactions.rs
index 747651ab7..55d8cdfb2 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/reactions.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/reactions.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ use std::ops::Deref;
 use indexmap::IndexMap;
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use ruma::{OwnedEventId, OwnedTransactionId, UserId};
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 use super::EventItemIdentifier;
 use crate::timeline::ReactionSenderData;
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ pub type BundledReactions = IndexMap<String, ReactionGroup>;
 /// This is a map of the event ID or transaction ID of the reactions to the ID
 /// of the sender of the reaction.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Default)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct ReactionGroup(pub(in crate::timeline) IndexMap<EventItemIdentifier, ReactionSenderData>);
 
 impl ReactionGroup {
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/remote.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/remote.rs
index 6445abc5c..397ccd87f 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/remote.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/event_item/remote.rs
@@ -21,15 +21,19 @@ use ruma::{
     serde::Raw,
     OwnedEventId, OwnedUserId,
 };
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 use super::BundledReactions;
 
 /// An item for an event that was received from the homeserver.
 #[derive(Clone)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub(in crate::timeline) struct RemoteEventTimelineItem {
     /// The event ID.
     pub event_id: OwnedEventId,
     /// All bundled reactions about the event.
+    /// FIXME: Can't serialise ReactionGroup yet as its key is an enum
+    #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(skip_serializing))]
     pub reactions: BundledReactions,
     /// All read receipts for the event.
     ///
@@ -81,6 +85,7 @@ impl RemoteEventTimelineItem {
 
 /// Where we got an event from.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub(in crate::timeline) enum RemoteEventOrigin {
     /// The event came from a cache.
     Cache,
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/item.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/item.rs
index 4f693fa06..2037edd51 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/item.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/item.rs
@@ -15,10 +15,12 @@
 use std::{ops::Deref, sync::Arc};
 
 use as_variant::as_variant;
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 use super::{EventTimelineItem, VirtualTimelineItem};
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 #[allow(clippy::large_enum_variant)]
 pub enum TimelineItemKind {
     /// An event or aggregation of multiple events.
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ pub enum TimelineItemKind {
 
 /// A single entry in timeline.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct TimelineItem {
     pub(crate) kind: TimelineItemKind,
     pub(crate) internal_id: u64,
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/polls.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/polls.rs
index 15ac975cf..fad4256ca 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/polls.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/polls.rs
@@ -16,12 +16,15 @@ use ruma::{
     EventId, MilliSecondsSinceUnixEpoch, OwnedEventId, OwnedUserId, UserId,
 };
 
+use serde::Serialize;
+
 /// Holds the state of a poll.
 ///
 /// This struct should be created for each poll start event handled and then
 /// updated whenever handling any poll response or poll end event that relates
 /// to the same poll start event.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct PollState {
     pub(super) start_event_content: NewUnstablePollStartEventContent,
     pub(super) response_data: Vec<ResponseData>,
@@ -30,6 +33,7 @@ pub struct PollState {
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub(super) struct ResponseData {
     pub(super) sender: OwnedUserId,
     pub(super) timestamp: MilliSecondsSinceUnixEpoch,
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/reactions.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/reactions.rs
index a0b3c893c..1d6106787 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/reactions.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/reactions.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ use ruma::{
     events::relation::Annotation, MilliSecondsSinceUnixEpoch, OwnedEventId, OwnedTransactionId,
     OwnedUserId,
 };
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 use super::event_item::EventItemIdentifier;
 
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ use super::event_item::EventItemIdentifier;
 /// a details UI component for a reaction with both sender
 /// names and the date at which they sent a reaction.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub struct ReactionSenderData {
     /// Sender identifier.
     pub sender_id: OwnedUserId,
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/virtual_item.rs b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/virtual_item.rs
index 650bc38b6..df3d44e85 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/virtual_item.rs
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk-ui/src/timeline/virtual_item.rs
@@ -13,9 +13,11 @@
 // limitations under the License.
 
 use ruma::MilliSecondsSinceUnixEpoch;
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 /// A [`TimelineItem`](super::TimelineItem) that doesn't correspond to an event.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize))]
 pub enum VirtualTimelineItem {
     /// A divider between messages of two days.
     ///
diff --git a/crates/matrix-sdk/Cargo.toml b/crates/matrix-sdk/Cargo.toml
index fa16af25b..662b72458 100644
--- a/crates/matrix-sdk/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/matrix-sdk/Cargo.toml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ sso-login = ["dep:hyper", "dep:rand", "dep:tower"]
 image-proc = ["dep:image"]
 image-rayon = ["image-proc", "image?/jpeg_rayon"]
 
+serde = []
 uniffi = ["dep:uniffi"]
 
 experimental-oidc = [