diff --git a/api/server/utils/sendEmail.js b/api/server/utils/sendEmail.js
index ee64b209f..432a571ff 100644
--- a/api/server/utils/sendEmail.js
+++ b/api/server/utils/sendEmail.js
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const axios = require('axios');
 const FormData = require('form-data');
 const nodemailer = require('nodemailer');
 const handlebars = require('handlebars');
 const { logger } = require('@librechat/data-schemas');
-const { logAxiosError, isEnabled } = require('@librechat/api');
+const { logAxiosError, isEnabled, readFileAsString } = require('@librechat/api');
 
 /**
  * Sends an email using Mailgun API.
@@ -93,8 +92,7 @@ const sendEmailViaSMTP = async ({ transporterOptions, mailOptions }) => {
  */
 const sendEmail = async ({ email, subject, payload, template, throwError = true }) => {
   try {
-    // Read and compile the email template
-    const source = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'emails', template), 'utf8');
+    const { content: source } = await readFileAsString(path.join(__dirname, 'emails', template));
     const compiledTemplate = handlebars.compile(source);
     const html = compiledTemplate(payload);
 
diff --git a/packages/api/src/files/mistral/crud.ts b/packages/api/src/files/mistral/crud.ts
index dda29216f..e0ef69ab3 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/files/mistral/crud.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/files/mistral/crud.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import type {
   OCRImage,
 } from '~/types';
 import { logAxiosError, createAxiosInstance } from '~/utils/axios';
+import { readFileAsBuffer } from '~/utils/files';
 import { loadServiceKey } from '~/utils/key';
 
 const axios = createAxiosInstance();
@@ -464,7 +465,9 @@ export const uploadAzureMistralOCR = async (
     const { apiKey, baseURL } = await loadAuthConfig(context);
     const model = getModelConfig(context.req.config?.ocr);
 
-    const buffer = fs.readFileSync(context.file.path);
+    const { content: buffer } = await readFileAsBuffer(context.file.path, {
+      fileSize: context.file.size,
+    });
     const base64 = buffer.toString('base64');
     /** Uses actual mimetype of the file, 'image/jpeg' as fallback since it seems to be accepted regardless of mismatch */
     const base64Prefix = `data:${context.file.mimetype || 'image/jpeg'};base64,`;
@@ -691,7 +694,9 @@ export const uploadGoogleVertexMistralOCR = async (
     const { serviceAccount, accessToken } = await loadGoogleAuthConfig();
     const model = getModelConfig(context.req.config?.ocr);
 
-    const buffer = fs.readFileSync(context.file.path);
+    const { content: buffer } = await readFileAsBuffer(context.file.path, {
+      fileSize: context.file.size,
+    });
     const base64 = buffer.toString('base64');
     const base64Prefix = `data:${context.file.mimetype || 'application/pdf'};base64,`;
 
diff --git a/packages/api/src/files/text.ts b/packages/api/src/files/text.ts
index 3635beaa0..06e781bb5 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/files/text.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/files/text.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 import axios from 'axios';
 import FormData from 'form-data';
 import { createReadStream } from 'fs';
-import { stat, readFile } from 'fs/promises';
 import { logger } from '@librechat/data-schemas';
 import { FileSources } from 'librechat-data-provider';
 import type { Request as ServerRequest } from 'express';
+import { logAxiosError, readFileAsString } from '~/utils';
 import { generateShortLivedToken } from '~/crypto/jwt';
-import { logAxiosError } from '~/utils';
 
 /**
  * Attempts to parse text using RAG API, falls back to native text parsing
@@ -103,26 +102,10 @@ export async function parseTextNative(file: Express.Multer.File): Promise<{
   bytes: number;
   source: string;
 }> {
-  const bytes = file.size || (await stat(file.path)).size;
-  if (bytes > 10 * 1024 * 1024) {
-    const chunks: string[] = [];
-    const stream = createReadStream(file.path, {
-      encoding: 'utf8',
-      highWaterMark: 64 * 1024,
-    });
+  const { content: text, bytes } = await readFileAsString(file.path, {
+    fileSize: file.size,
+  });
 
-    for await (const chunk of stream) {
-      chunks.push(chunk);
-    }
-
-    return {
-      text: chunks.join(''),
-      bytes,
-      source: FileSources.text,
-    };
-  }
-
-  const text = await readFile(file.path, 'utf8');
   return {
     text,
     bytes,
diff --git a/packages/api/src/utils/files.ts b/packages/api/src/utils/files.ts
index 0d8f111a2..2fa3b62ab 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/utils/files.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/utils/files.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import path from 'path';
 import crypto from 'node:crypto';
+import { createReadStream } from 'fs';
+import { readFile, stat } from 'fs/promises';
 
 /**
  * Sanitize a filename by removing any directory components, replacing non-alphanumeric characters
@@ -31,3 +33,122 @@ export function sanitizeFilename(inputName: string): string {
 
   return name;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Options for reading files
+ */
+export interface ReadFileOptions {
+  encoding?: BufferEncoding;
+  /** Size threshold in bytes. Files larger than this will be streamed. Default: 10MB */
+  streamThreshold?: number;
+  /** Size of chunks when streaming. Default: 64KB */
+  highWaterMark?: number;
+  /** File size in bytes if known (e.g. from multer). Avoids extra stat() call. */
+  fileSize?: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Result from reading a file
+ */
+export interface ReadFileResult<T> {
+  content: T;
+  bytes: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Reads a file asynchronously. Uses streaming for large files to avoid memory issues.
+ *
+ * @param filePath - Path to the file to read
+ * @param options - Options for reading the file
+ * @returns Promise resolving to the file contents and size
+ * @throws Error if the file cannot be read
+ */
+export async function readFileAsString(
+  filePath: string,
+  options: ReadFileOptions = {},
+): Promise<ReadFileResult<string>> {
+  const {
+    encoding = 'utf8',
+    streamThreshold = 10 * 1024 * 1024, // 10MB
+    highWaterMark = 64 * 1024, // 64KB
+    fileSize,
+  } = options;
+
+  // Get file size if not provided
+  const bytes = fileSize ?? (await stat(filePath)).size;
+
+  // For large files, use streaming to avoid memory issues
+  if (bytes > streamThreshold) {
+    const chunks: string[] = [];
+    const stream = createReadStream(filePath, {
+      encoding,
+      highWaterMark,
+    });
+
+    for await (const chunk of stream) {
+      chunks.push(chunk as string);
+    }
+
+    return { content: chunks.join(''), bytes };
+  }
+
+  // For smaller files, read directly
+  const content = await readFile(filePath, encoding);
+  return { content, bytes };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Reads a file as a Buffer asynchronously. Uses streaming for large files.
+ *
+ * @param filePath - Path to the file to read
+ * @param options - Options for reading the file
+ * @returns Promise resolving to the file contents and size
+ * @throws Error if the file cannot be read
+ */
+export async function readFileAsBuffer(
+  filePath: string,
+  options: Omit<ReadFileOptions, 'encoding'> = {},
+): Promise<ReadFileResult<Buffer>> {
+  const {
+    streamThreshold = 10 * 1024 * 1024, // 10MB
+    highWaterMark = 64 * 1024, // 64KB
+    fileSize,
+  } = options;
+
+  // Get file size if not provided
+  const bytes = fileSize ?? (await stat(filePath)).size;
+
+  // For large files, use streaming to avoid memory issues
+  if (bytes > streamThreshold) {
+    const chunks: Buffer[] = [];
+    const stream = createReadStream(filePath, {
+      highWaterMark,
+    });
+
+    for await (const chunk of stream) {
+      chunks.push(chunk as Buffer);
+    }
+
+    return { content: Buffer.concat(chunks), bytes };
+  }
+
+  // For smaller files, read directly
+  const content = await readFile(filePath);
+  return { content, bytes };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Reads a JSON file asynchronously
+ *
+ * @param filePath - Path to the JSON file to read
+ * @param options - Options for reading the file
+ * @returns Promise resolving to the parsed JSON object
+ * @throws Error if the file cannot be read or parsed
+ */
+export async function readJsonFile<T = unknown>(
+  filePath: string,
+  options: Omit<ReadFileOptions, 'encoding'> = {},
+): Promise<T> {
+  const { content } = await readFileAsString(filePath, { ...options, encoding: 'utf8' });
+  return JSON.parse(content);
+}
diff --git a/packages/api/src/utils/key.ts b/packages/api/src/utils/key.ts
index 086e74c06..13dabeaf5 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/utils/key.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/utils/key.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import axios from 'axios';
 import { logger } from '@librechat/data-schemas';
+import { readFileAsString } from './files';
 
 export interface GoogleServiceKey {
   type?: string;
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export async function loadServiceKey(keyPath: string): Promise<GoogleServiceKey
     // It's a file path
     try {
       const absolutePath = path.isAbsolute(keyPath) ? keyPath : path.resolve(keyPath);
-      const fileContent = fs.readFileSync(absolutePath, 'utf8');
+      const { content: fileContent } = await readFileAsString(absolutePath);
       serviceKey = JSON.parse(fileContent);
     } catch (error) {
       logger.error(`Failed to load service key from file: ${keyPath}`, error);