diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 96fac2f0d1..f5f557e022 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+> ⚠️ **This project is deprecated.** rest.li is no longer actively maintained and the repository will be archived (read-only) on July 22, 2026. LinkedIn has moved to gRPC internally; gRPC is not a drop-in replacement. Existing `com.linkedin.pegasus:*` artifacts on Maven Central remain available. See [#1178](https://github.com/linkedin/rest.li/issues/1178) for details.
+
 <p style="color:red;"><b>At LinkedIn, we are focusing our efforts on advanced automation to enable a seamless, LinkedIn-wide migration from Rest.li to <a href="https://grpc.io/">gRPC</a>. gRPC will offer better performance, support for more programming languages, streaming, and a robust open source community. There is no active development at LinkedIn on new features for Rest.li. The repository will also be deprecated soon once we have migrated services to use gRPC. Refer to <a href="https://engineering.linkedin.com/blog/2023/linkedin-integrates-protocol-buffers-with-rest-li-for-improved-m">this blog</a> for more details on why we are moving to gRPC.</b></p>
 
 <p align="center">