diff --git a/doc/design/engine/engine-services.md b/doc/design/engine/engine-services.md
index aecf5b7358..13f97a075b 100644
--- a/doc/design/engine/engine-services.md
+++ b/doc/design/engine/engine-services.md
@@ -1111,9 +1111,9 @@ null
 
 ##### Errors
 
-- **FileSystemError(errorCode=1000)** This error signals generic file system errors.
-- **ContentRootNotFoundError(errorCode=1001)** The error informs that the requested content root cannot be found.
-- **AccessDeniedError(errorCode=1002)** It signals that a user doesn't have access to a resource.
+- [`FileSystemError`](#filesystemerror) to signal a generic, unrecoverable file-system error. 
+- [`ContentRootNotFoundError`](#contentrootnotfounderror) to signal that the requested content root cannot be found. 
+- [`AccessDeniedError`](#accessdeniederror) to signal that a user doesn't have access to a resource.
 
 #### `file/read`
 This requests that the file manager component reads the contents of a specified
@@ -1142,7 +1142,11 @@ return the contents from the in-memory buffer rather than the file on disk.
 ```
 
 ##### Errors
-TBC
+
+- [`FileSystemError`](#filesystemerror) to signal a generic, unrecoverable file-system error. 
+- [`ContentRootNotFoundError`](#contentrootnotfounderror) to signal that the requested content root cannot be found. 
+- [`AccessDeniedError`](#accessdeniederror) to signal that a user doesn't have access to a resource.
+- [`FileNotFound`](#filenotfound) informs that file cannot be found.
 
 #### `file/create`
 This request asks the file manager to create the specified file system object.
@@ -1692,3 +1696,43 @@ TBC
 ### Errors - Language Server
 The language server component also has its own set of errors. This section is
 not a complete specification and will be updated as new errors are added.
+
+##### `FileSystemError`
+This error signals generic file system errors.
+
+```typescript
+"error" : {
+  "code" : 1000,
+  "message" : "File '/foo/bar' exists but is a directory"
+}
+```
+
+##### `ContentRootNotFoundError`
+The error informs that the requested content root cannot be found.
+
+```typescript
+"error" : {
+  "code" : 1001,
+  "message" : "Content root not found"
+}
+```
+
+##### `AccessDeniedError`
+It signals that a user doesn't have access to a resource.
+
+```typescript
+"error" : {
+  "code" : 1002,
+  "message" : "Access denied"
+}
+```
+
+##### `FileNotFound`
+It signals that requested file doesn't exist.
+
+```typescript
+"error" : {
+  "code" : 1003,
+  "message" : "File not found"
+}
+```
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/ClientController.scala b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/ClientController.scala
index 7ba6ea8d1f..5d6e98d8d4 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/ClientController.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/ClientController.scala
@@ -7,15 +7,10 @@ import akka.pattern.ask
 import akka.util.Timeout
 import org.enso.languageserver.ClientApi._
 import org.enso.languageserver.data.{CapabilityRegistration, Client}
-import org.enso.languageserver.filemanager.FileManagerApi.{
-  FileSystemError,
-  FileWrite,
-  FileWriteParams
-}
+import org.enso.languageserver.filemanager.FileManagerApi.{FileRead, _}
 import org.enso.languageserver.filemanager.FileManagerProtocol.FileWriteResult
 import org.enso.languageserver.filemanager.{
   FileManagerProtocol,
-  FileSystemFailure,
   FileSystemFailureMapper
 }
 import org.enso.languageserver.jsonrpc.Errors.ServiceError
@@ -69,6 +64,7 @@ object ClientApi {
     .registerRequest(AcquireCapability)
     .registerRequest(ReleaseCapability)
     .registerRequest(FileWrite)
+    .registerRequest(FileRead)
     .registerNotification(ForceReleaseCapability)
     .registerNotification(GrantCapability)
 
@@ -123,22 +119,57 @@ class ClientController(
       server ! LanguageProtocol.ReleaseCapability(clientId, params.id)
       sender ! ResponseResult(ReleaseCapability, id, Unused)
 
-    case Request(FileWrite, id, params: FileWriteParams) =>
-      (server ? FileManagerProtocol.FileWrite(params.path, params.content))
-        .onComplete {
-          case Success(FileWriteResult(Right(()))) =>
-            webActor ! ResponseResult(FileWrite, id, Unused)
+    case Request(FileWrite, id, params: FileWrite.Params) =>
+      writeFile(webActor, id, params)
 
-          case Success(FileWriteResult(Left(failure))) =>
-            webActor ! ResponseError(
-              Some(id),
-              FileSystemFailureMapper.mapFailure(failure)
-            )
+    case Request(FileRead, id, params: FileRead.Params) =>
+      readFile(webActor, id, params)
 
-          case Failure(th) =>
-            log.error("An exception occurred during writing to a file", th)
-            webActor ! ResponseError(Some(id), ServiceError)
-        }
+  }
+
+  private def readFile(
+    webActor: ActorRef,
+    id: Id,
+    params: FileRead.Params
+  ): Unit = {
+    (server ? FileManagerProtocol.FileRead(params.path)).onComplete {
+      case Success(
+          FileManagerProtocol.FileReadResult(Right(content: String))
+          ) =>
+        webActor ! ResponseResult(FileRead, id, FileRead.Result(content))
+
+      case Success(FileManagerProtocol.FileReadResult(Left(failure))) =>
+        webActor ! ResponseError(
+          Some(id),
+          FileSystemFailureMapper.mapFailure(failure)
+        )
+
+      case Failure(th) =>
+        log.error("An exception occurred during reading a file", th)
+        webActor ! ResponseError(Some(id), ServiceError)
+    }
+  }
+
+  private def writeFile(
+    webActor: ActorRef,
+    id: Id,
+    params: FileWrite.Params
+  ): Unit = {
+    (server ? FileManagerProtocol.FileWrite(params.path, params.contents))
+      .onComplete {
+        case Success(FileWriteResult(Right(()))) =>
+          webActor ! ResponseResult(FileWrite, id, Unused)
+
+        case Success(FileWriteResult(Left(failure))) =>
+          webActor ! ResponseError(
+            Some(id),
+            FileSystemFailureMapper.mapFailure(failure)
+          )
+
+        case Failure(th) =>
+          log.error("An exception occurred during writing to a file", th)
+          webActor ! ResponseError(Some(id), ServiceError)
+      }
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/LanguageServer.scala b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/LanguageServer.scala
index 58e49433ba..eac22b861d 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/LanguageServer.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/LanguageServer.scala
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import akka.actor.{Actor, ActorLogging, ActorRef, Stash}
 import cats.effect.IO
 import org.enso.languageserver.data._
 import org.enso.languageserver.filemanager.FileManagerProtocol.{
+  FileRead,
+  FileReadResult,
   FileWrite,
   FileWriteResult
 }
@@ -134,5 +136,19 @@ class LanguageServer(config: Config, fs: FileSystemApi[IO])
         } yield ()
 
       sender ! FileWriteResult(result)
+
+    case FileRead(path) =>
+      val result =
+        for {
+          rootPath <- config.findContentRoot(path.rootId)
+          content  <- fs.read(path.toFile(rootPath)).unsafeRunSync()
+        } yield content
+
+      sender ! FileReadResult(result)
   }
+  /* Note [Usage of unsafe methods]
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+     It invokes side-effecting function, all exceptions are caught and
+     explicitly returned as left side of disjunction.
+ */
 }
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileManagerApi.scala b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileManagerApi.scala
index 17dd191158..aa8340dfe3 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileManagerApi.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileManagerApi.scala
@@ -16,15 +16,30 @@ import org.enso.languageserver.jsonrpc.{
 object FileManagerApi {
 
   case object FileWrite extends Method("file/write") {
+
+    case class Params(path: Path, contents: String)
+
     implicit val hasParams = new HasParams[this.type] {
-      type Params = FileWriteParams
+      type Params = FileWrite.Params
     }
     implicit val hasResult = new HasResult[this.type] {
       type Result = Unused.type
     }
   }
 
-  case class FileWriteParams(path: Path, content: String)
+  case object FileRead extends Method("file/read") {
+
+    case class Params(path: Path)
+
+    case class Result(contents: String)
+
+    implicit val hasParams = new HasParams[this.type] {
+      type Params = FileRead.Params
+    }
+    implicit val hasResult = new HasResult[this.type] {
+      type Result = FileRead.Result
+    }
+  }
 
   case class FileSystemError(override val message: String)
       extends Error(1000, message)
@@ -34,4 +49,6 @@ object FileManagerApi {
 
   case object AccessDeniedError extends Error(1002, "Access denied")
 
+  case object FileNotFoundError extends Error(1003, "File not found")
+
 }
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileManagerProtocol.scala b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileManagerProtocol.scala
index 4dc89f8539..f70146dbba 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileManagerProtocol.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileManagerProtocol.scala
@@ -17,4 +17,18 @@ object FileManagerProtocol {
     */
   case class FileWriteResult(result: Either[FileSystemFailure, Unit])
 
+  /**
+    * Requests the Language Server read a file.
+    *
+    * @param path a path to a file
+    */
+  case class FileRead(path: Path)
+
+  /**
+    * Returns a result of reading a file.
+    *
+    * @param result either file system failure or content of a file
+    */
+  case class FileReadResult(result: Either[FileSystemFailure, String])
+
 }
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystem.scala b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystem.scala
index fa6acb4fe0..1c91cfca01 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystem.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystem.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package org.enso.languageserver.filemanager
 
-import java.io.{File, IOException}
+import java.io.{File, FileNotFoundException, IOException}
 import java.nio.file._
 
 import cats.effect.Sync
@@ -25,20 +25,33 @@ class FileSystem[F[_]: Sync] extends FileSystemApi[F] {
     file: File,
     content: String
   ): F[Either[FileSystemFailure, Unit]] =
-    Sync[F].delay { writeStringToFile(file, content) }
+    Sync[F].delay {
+      Either
+        .catchOnly[IOException] {
+          FileUtils.write(file, content, "UTF-8")
+        }
+        .leftMap(errorHandling)
+    }
 
-  private def writeStringToFile(
-    file: File,
-    content: String
-  ): Either[FileSystemFailure, Unit] =
-    Either
-      .catchOnly[IOException](
-        FileUtils.write(file, content, "UTF-8")
-      )
-      .leftMap {
-        case _: AccessDeniedException => AccessDenied
-        case ex                       => GenericFileSystemFailure(ex.getMessage)
-      }
-      .map(_ => ())
+  /**
+    * Reads the contents of a textual file.
+    *
+    * @param file path to the file
+    * @return either [[FileSystemFailure]] or the content of a file as a String
+    */
+  override def read(file: File): F[Either[FileSystemFailure, String]] =
+    Sync[F].delay {
+      Either
+        .catchOnly[IOException] {
+          FileUtils.readFileToString(file, "UTF-8")
+        }
+        .leftMap(errorHandling)
+    }
+
+  private val errorHandling: IOException => FileSystemFailure = {
+    case _: FileNotFoundException => FileNotFound
+    case _: AccessDeniedException => AccessDenied
+    case ex                       => GenericFileSystemFailure(ex.getMessage)
+  }
 
 }
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemApi.scala b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemApi.scala
index 1d884aa41f..51b4650667 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemApi.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemApi.scala
@@ -14,11 +14,19 @@ trait FileSystemApi[F[_]] {
     *
     * @param file path to the file
     * @param content a textual content of the file
-    * @return either FileSystemFailure or Unit
+    * @return either [[FileSystemFailure]] or Unit
     */
   def write(
     file: File,
     content: String
   ): F[Either[FileSystemFailure, Unit]]
 
+  /**
+    * Reads the contents of a textual file.
+    *
+    * @param file path to the file
+    * @return either [[FileSystemFailure]] or the content of a file as a String
+    */
+  def read(file: File): F[Either[FileSystemFailure, String]]
+
 }
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemFailure.scala b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemFailure.scala
index eeaecc2a01..1506ba14f0 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemFailure.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemFailure.scala
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ case object ContentRootNotFound extends FileSystemFailure
   */
 case object AccessDenied extends FileSystemFailure
 
+/**
+  * Signals that the file cannot be found.
+  */
+case object FileNotFound extends FileSystemFailure
+
 /**
   * Signals file system specific errors.
   *
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemFailureMapper.scala b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemFailureMapper.scala
index 7384d5a2eb..abbaeb01be 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemFailureMapper.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/main/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemFailureMapper.scala
@@ -3,16 +3,24 @@ package org.enso.languageserver.filemanager
 import org.enso.languageserver.filemanager.FileManagerApi.{
   AccessDeniedError,
   ContentRootNotFoundError,
+  FileNotFoundError,
   FileSystemError
 }
 import org.enso.languageserver.jsonrpc.Error
 
 object FileSystemFailureMapper {
 
+  /**
+    * Maps [[FileSystemFailure]] into JSON RPC error.
+    *
+    * @param fileSystemFailure file system specific failure
+    * @return JSON RPC error
+    */
   def mapFailure(fileSystemFailure: FileSystemFailure): Error =
     fileSystemFailure match {
       case ContentRootNotFound              => ContentRootNotFoundError
       case AccessDenied                     => AccessDeniedError
+      case FileNotFound                     => FileNotFoundError
       case GenericFileSystemFailure(reason) => FileSystemError(reason)
     }
 
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/test/scala/org/enso/languageserver/WebSocketServerTest.scala b/engine/language-server/src/test/scala/org/enso/languageserver/WebSocketServerTest.scala
index 20536de508..c45e33d9d2 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/test/scala/org/enso/languageserver/WebSocketServerTest.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/test/scala/org/enso/languageserver/WebSocketServerTest.scala
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ class WebSocketServerTest
                 "rootId": $testContentRootId,
                 "segments": [ "foo", "bar", "baz.txt" ]
               },
-              "content": "123456789"
+              "contents": "123456789"
             }
           }
           """)
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ class WebSocketServerTest
                 "rootId": ${UUID.randomUUID()},
                 "segments": [ "foo", "bar", "baz.txt" ]
               },
-              "content": "123456789"
+              "contents": "123456789"
             }
           }
           """)
@@ -283,6 +283,74 @@ class WebSocketServerTest
       client.expectNoMessage()
     }
 
+    "read a file content" in {
+      val client = new WsTestClient(address)
+
+      client.send(json"""
+          { "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+            "method": "file/write",
+            "id": 4,
+            "params": {
+              "path": {
+                "rootId": $testContentRootId,
+                "segments": [ "foo.txt" ]
+              },
+              "contents": "123456789"
+            }
+          }
+          """)
+      client.expectJson(json"""
+          { "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+            "id": 4,
+            "result": null
+          }
+          """)
+      client.send(json"""
+          { "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+            "method": "file/read",
+            "id": 5,
+            "params": {
+              "path": {
+                "rootId": $testContentRootId,
+                "segments": [ "foo.txt" ]
+              }
+            }
+          }
+          """)
+      client.expectJson(json"""
+          { "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+            "id": 5,
+            "result": { "contents": "123456789" }
+          }
+          """)
+    }
+
+    "return FileNotFoundError if a file doesn't exist" in {
+      val client = new WsTestClient(address)
+
+      client.send(json"""
+          { "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+            "method": "file/read",
+            "id": 6,
+            "params": {
+              "path": {
+                "rootId": $testContentRootId,
+                "segments": [ "bar.txt" ]
+              }
+            }
+          }
+          """)
+      client.expectJson(json"""
+          { "jsonrpc": "2.0",
+            "id": 6,
+            "error" : {
+              "code" : 1003,
+              "message" : "File not found"
+            }
+          }
+          """)
+    }
+
   }
 
   class WsTestClient(address: String) {
diff --git a/engine/language-server/src/test/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemSpec.scala b/engine/language-server/src/test/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemSpec.scala
index 03ebc778df..416608324c 100644
--- a/engine/language-server/src/test/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemSpec.scala
+++ b/engine/language-server/src/test/scala/org/enso/languageserver/filemanager/FileSystemSpec.scala
@@ -48,6 +48,26 @@ class FileSystemSpec extends AnyFlatSpec with Matchers {
     readTxtFile(path) shouldBe content
   }
 
+  it should "return FileNotFound failure if the file doesn't exist" in new TestCtx {
+    //given
+    val path = Paths.get(testDirPath.toString, "foo.txt")
+    //when
+    val result = objectUnderTest.read(path.toFile).unsafeRunSync()
+    //then
+    result shouldBe Left(FileNotFound)
+  }
+
+  it should "read a file content" in new TestCtx {
+    //given
+    val path    = Paths.get(testDirPath.toString, "foo.txt")
+    val content = "123456789"
+    objectUnderTest.write(path.toFile, content).unsafeRunSync()
+    //when
+    val result = objectUnderTest.read(path.toFile).unsafeRunSync()
+    //then
+    result shouldBe Right(content)
+  }
+
   def readTxtFile(path: Path): String = {
     val buffer  = Source.fromFile(path.toFile)
     val content = buffer.getLines().mkString