diff --git a/mobile/lib/features/shell/sftp_session_manager.dart b/mobile/lib/features/shell/sftp_session_manager.dart
index 0b42573..06af482 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/features/shell/sftp_session_manager.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/features/shell/sftp_session_manager.dart
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import 'dart:async';
+import 'dart:convert';
 import 'dart:io';
 
 import 'package:archive/archive.dart';
@@ -346,6 +347,56 @@ class SftpSessionManager extends ChangeNotifier {
     return _readRemoteFile(connection.sftp, remotePath);
   }
 
+  static const int defaultTextFileMaxBytes = 2 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+  Future<Uint8List> readTextFile(
+    String remotePath, {
+    int maxBytes = defaultTextFileMaxBytes,
+  }) async {
+    final state = activeSession;
+    if (state == null) {
+      throw StateError('No active SFTP session');
+    }
+    final connection = _connections[state.server.id];
+    if (connection == null) {
+      throw StateError('No active SFTP connection');
+    }
+    final sftp = connection.sftp;
+    final stat = await sftp.stat(remotePath);
+    final size = stat.size ?? 0;
+    if (size > maxBytes) {
+      throw SftpFileTooLargeException(
+        path: remotePath,
+        size: size,
+        limit: maxBytes,
+      );
+    }
+    final bytes = await _readRemoteFile(sftp, remotePath);
+    final probeLen = bytes.length < 8192 ? bytes.length : 8192;
+    for (var i = 0; i < probeLen; i++) {
+      if (bytes[i] == 0) {
+        throw SftpBinaryFileException(path: remotePath);
+      }
+    }
+    return bytes;
+  }
+
+  Future<void> writeTextFile(String remotePath, String content) async {
+    final state = activeSession;
+    if (state == null) {
+      throw StateError('No active SFTP session');
+    }
+    final connection = _connections[state.server.id];
+    if (connection == null) {
+      throw StateError('No active SFTP connection');
+    }
+    await _writeRemoteFile(
+      connection.sftp,
+      remotePath,
+      Uint8List.fromList(utf8.encode(content)),
+    );
+  }
+
   Future<Uint8List> zipEntries(List<SftpFileEntry> entries) async {
     final state = activeSession;
     if (state == null || entries.isEmpty) return Uint8List(0);
@@ -787,3 +838,37 @@ extension on String {
     return substring(count);
   }
 }
+
+class SftpFileTooLargeException implements Exception {
+  SftpFileTooLargeException({
+    required this.path,
+    required this.size,
+    required this.limit,
+  });
+
+  final String path;
+  final int size;
+  final int limit;
+
+  @override
+  String toString() => 'SftpFileTooLargeException($path, size=$size, limit=$limit)';
+}
+
+class SftpBinaryFileException implements Exception {
+  SftpBinaryFileException({required this.path});
+
+  final String path;
+
+  @override
+  String toString() => 'SftpBinaryFileException($path)';
+}
+
+class SftpTextFileData {
+  const SftpTextFileData({
+    required this.bytes,
+    required this.malformedUtf8,
+  });
+
+  final Uint8List bytes;
+  final bool malformedUtf8;
+}
diff --git a/mobile/test/features/shell/sftp_session_manager_text_test.dart b/mobile/test/features/shell/sftp_session_manager_text_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d9125c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mobile/test/features/shell/sftp_session_manager_text_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:mobile/features/shell/sftp_session_manager.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  group('Sftp text exceptions', () {
+    test('SftpFileTooLargeException carries size info', () {
+      final err = SftpFileTooLargeException(
+        path: '/tmp/big.log',
+        size: 5 * 1024 * 1024,
+        limit: 2 * 1024 * 1024,
+      );
+      expect(err.path, '/tmp/big.log');
+      expect(err.size, 5 * 1024 * 1024);
+      expect(err.limit, 2 * 1024 * 1024);
+      expect(err.toString(), contains('big.log'));
+    });
+
+    test('SftpBinaryFileException carries path', () {
+      final err = SftpBinaryFileException(path: '/usr/bin/ls');
+      expect(err.path, '/usr/bin/ls');
+      expect(err.toString(), contains('ls'));
+    });
+  });
+}