diff --git a/plugins/file-preview/frontend/src/index.js b/plugins/file-preview/frontend/src/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35933a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/file-preview/frontend/src/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+/* ===========================================================
+   File Preview Plugin — Verstak v2 Frontend Bundle
+   Contract: window.VerstakPluginRegister(id, { components })
+   =========================================================== */
+
+(function () {
+  'use strict';
+
+  var IMAGE_EXTS = ['png', 'jpg', 'jpeg', 'gif', 'webp', 'svg', 'bmp', 'ico'];
+
+  function injectStyles() {
+    if (document.getElementById('file-preview-style-injected')) return;
+    var style = document.createElement('style');
+    style.id = 'file-preview-style-injected';
+    style.textContent = STYLES;
+    document.head.appendChild(style);
+  }
+
+  var STYLES = [
+    '.fp-root{height:100%;min-height:0;display:flex;flex-direction:column;background:#0d0d1a;color:#d8d8e8;font-family:-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",system-ui,sans-serif}',
+    '.fp-toolbar{display:flex;align-items:center;gap:.5rem;padding:.45rem .75rem;border-bottom:1px solid #16213e;background:#12122a;flex-shrink:0}',
+    '.fp-mode{font-size:.72rem;color:#4ecca3;background:#1a2a3a;border-radius:3px;padding:.14rem .45rem}',
+    '.fp-path{font-size:.75rem;color:#a0a0bb;min-width:0;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap}',
+    '.fp-spacer{flex:1}',
+    '.fp-btn{font-size:.75rem;padding:.28rem .58rem;border:1px solid #333;border-radius:4px;background:#1a1a2e;color:#ccc;cursor:pointer}',
+    '.fp-btn:hover{background:#2a2a4e;border-color:#4ecca3;color:#4ecca3}',
+    '.fp-body{flex:1;min-height:0;overflow:auto;padding:1rem 1.2rem}',
+    '.fp-pre{margin:0;white-space:pre-wrap;font:13px/1.6 "SF Mono","Fira Code","Cascadia Code",Consolas,monospace;color:#d8d8e8}',
+    '.fp-meta{display:grid;grid-template-columns:max-content 1fr;gap:.45rem .8rem;max-width:760px;font-size:.86rem}',
+    '.fp-meta dt{color:#8b8ba8}.fp-meta dd{margin:0;color:#e0e0e0;word-break:break-word}',
+    '.fp-kind{margin:0 0 1rem;color:#f0f0ff;font-size:1.1rem}',
+    '.fp-loading,.fp-error{flex:1;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;color:#777;padding:2rem}.fp-error{color:#e74c3c;flex-direction:column;gap:.5rem}'
+  ].join('\n');
+
+  function el(tag, attrs, children) {
+    var elem = document.createElement(tag);
+    if (attrs) {
+      Object.keys(attrs).forEach(function (k) {
+        if (k === 'className') elem.className = attrs[k];
+        else if (k === 'style' && typeof attrs[k] === 'object') Object.assign(elem.style, attrs[k]);
+        else if (k.slice(0, 2) === 'on') elem.addEventListener(k.slice(2).toLowerCase(), attrs[k]);
+        else if (k === 'innerHTML') elem.innerHTML = attrs[k];
+        else if (k === 'textContent') elem.textContent = attrs[k];
+        else elem.setAttribute(k, attrs[k]);
+      });
+    }
+    if (children) {
+      (Array.isArray(children) ? children : [children]).forEach(function (c) {
+        if (c == null) return;
+        elem.appendChild(typeof c === 'string' ? document.createTextNode(c) : c);
+      });
+    }
+    return elem;
+  }
+
+  function extension(path, explicit) {
+    if (explicit) return String(explicit).replace(/^\./, '').toLowerCase();
+    var name = String(path || '').split('/').pop() || '';
+    var idx = name.lastIndexOf('.');
+    return idx === -1 ? '' : name.slice(idx + 1).toLowerCase();
+  }
+
+  function formatSize(size) {
+    size = Number(size || 0);
+    if (size < 1024) return size + ' B';
+    if (size < 1024 * 1024) return (size / 1024).toFixed(1) + ' KB';
+    return (size / (1024 * 1024)).toFixed(1) + ' MB';
+  }
+
+  function renderMeta(body, path, meta, ext) {
+    body.className = 'fp-body';
+    body.innerHTML = '';
+    body.appendChild(el('h2', { className: 'fp-kind' }, [IMAGE_EXTS.indexOf(ext) !== -1 ? 'Image Preview' : 'File Preview']));
+    var dl = el('dl', { className: 'fp-meta' }, [
+      el('dt', {}, ['Path']), el('dd', {}, [path]),
+      el('dt', {}, ['Type']), el('dd', {}, [meta.type || 'file']),
+      el('dt', {}, ['Extension']), el('dd', {}, [ext || '-']),
+      el('dt', {}, ['Size']), el('dd', {}, [formatSize(meta.size)]),
+      el('dt', {}, ['Modified']), el('dd', {}, [meta.modifiedAt || '-'])
+    ]);
+    body.appendChild(dl);
+  }
+
+  var FilePreview = {
+    mount: function (containerEl, props, api) {
+      injectStyles();
+      var request = props && props.request || {};
+      var path = request.path || '';
+      var ext = extension(path, request.extension);
+      containerEl.innerHTML = '';
+      containerEl.className = 'fp-root';
+      containerEl.setAttribute('data-plugin-id', 'verstak.file-preview');
+      containerEl.setAttribute('data-preview-path', path);
+
+      var openButton = el('button', {
+        className: 'fp-btn',
+        'data-action': 'open-external',
+        textContent: 'Open External',
+        onClick: function () {
+          if (api.files.openExternal) api.files.openExternal(path).catch(function (err) { console.error('[file-preview] openExternal:', err); });
+        }
+      });
+      containerEl.appendChild(el('div', { className: 'fp-toolbar' }, [
+        el('span', { className: 'fp-mode' }, ['Preview']),
+        el('span', { className: 'fp-path' }, [path]),
+        el('span', { className: 'fp-spacer' }),
+        openButton
+      ]));
+
+      var body = el('div', { className: 'fp-loading' }, ['Loading...']);
+      containerEl.appendChild(body);
+
+      api.files.metadata(path).then(function (meta) {
+        if (IMAGE_EXTS.indexOf(ext) !== -1 || meta.isText === false) {
+          renderMeta(body, path, meta || {}, ext);
+          return;
+        }
+        return api.files.readText(path).then(function (text) {
+          body.className = 'fp-body';
+          body.innerHTML = '';
+          body.appendChild(el('pre', { className: 'fp-pre' }, [text]));
+        });
+      }).catch(function (err) {
+        body.className = 'fp-error';
+        body.textContent = 'Preview error: ' + (err && err.message ? err.message : String(err));
+      });
+    },
+    unmount: function (containerEl) {
+      containerEl.innerHTML = '';
+    }
+  };
+
+  window.VerstakPluginRegister('verstak.file-preview', {
+    components: { FilePreview: FilePreview }
+  });
+})();
diff --git a/plugins/file-preview/plugin.json b/plugins/file-preview/plugin.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55297c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/file-preview/plugin.json
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+{
+  "schemaVersion": 1,
+  "id": "verstak.file-preview",
+  "name": "File Preview",
+  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "apiVersion": "0.1.0",
+  "description": "Read-only preview provider for text-like and image vault files.",
+  "source": "official",
+  "icon": "eye",
+  "provides": [
+    "verstak/file-preview/v1"
+  ],
+  "requires": [
+    "verstak/core/files/v1",
+    "verstak/core/workbench/v1"
+  ],
+  "permissions": [
+    "files.read",
+    "files.openExternal"
+  ],
+  "frontend": {
+    "entry": "frontend/src/index.js"
+  },
+  "contributes": {
+    "openProviders": [
+      {
+        "id": "verstak.file-preview.text",
+        "title": "File Preview",
+        "priority": 80,
+        "component": "FilePreview",
+        "supports": [
+          {
+            "kind": "vault-file",
+            "extensions": [".txt", ".log", ".conf", ".ini", ".toml", ".yaml", ".yml", ".json", ".csv", ".xml", ".html", ".css", ".js", ".ts"],
+            "contexts": ["generic-text"],
+            "modes": ["view"]
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      {
+        "id": "verstak.file-preview.image",
+        "title": "Image File Preview",
+        "priority": 80,
+        "component": "FilePreview",
+        "supports": [
+          {
+            "kind": "vault-file",
+            "extensions": [".png", ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".gif", ".webp", ".svg", ".bmp", ".ico"],
+            "modes": ["view"]
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/scripts/check.sh b/scripts/check.sh
index ee0656a..fc735bd 100755
--- a/scripts/check.sh
+++ b/scripts/check.sh
@@ -215,6 +215,8 @@ if command -v node &>/dev/null; then
   report "notes frontend behavior" $?
   node "$ROOT/scripts/smoke-markdown-preview-plugin.js"
   report "markdown-preview frontend behavior" $?
+  node "$ROOT/scripts/smoke-file-preview-plugin.js"
+  report "file-preview frontend behavior" $?
   node "$ROOT/scripts/smoke-files-plugin.js"
   report "files frontend behavior" $?
   node "$ROOT/scripts/smoke-browser-inbox-plugin.js"
diff --git a/scripts/smoke-file-preview-plugin.js b/scripts/smoke-file-preview-plugin.js
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..bdf6616
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/smoke-file-preview-plugin.js
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+const vm = require('vm');
+
+const root = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
+const sourcePath = path.join(root, 'plugins', 'file-preview', 'frontend', 'src', 'index.js');
+const source = fs.readFileSync(sourcePath, 'utf8');
+
+class FakeNode {
+  constructor(tagName) {
+    this.tagName = String(tagName || '').toUpperCase();
+    this.children = [];
+    this.attributes = {};
+    this.listeners = {};
+    this.style = {};
+    this.className = '';
+    this.id = '';
+    this.parentNode = null;
+    this._innerHTML = '';
+    this._textContent = '';
+  }
+
+  appendChild(node) {
+    if (!(node instanceof FakeNode)) throw new TypeError('appendChild expects FakeNode');
+    this.children.push(node);
+    node.parentNode = this;
+    return node;
+  }
+
+  setAttribute(name, value) {
+    this.attributes[name] = String(value);
+    if (name === 'id') this.id = String(value);
+  }
+
+  getAttribute(name) {
+    return this.attributes[name];
+  }
+
+  addEventListener(type, handler) {
+    this.listeners[type] = this.listeners[type] || [];
+    this.listeners[type].push(handler);
+  }
+
+  dispatchEvent(type, event = {}) {
+    (this.listeners[type] || []).forEach((handler) => handler({ stopPropagation() {}, ...event }));
+  }
+
+  click() {
+    this.dispatchEvent('click');
+  }
+
+  set innerHTML(value) {
+    this._innerHTML = String(value || '');
+    this.children = [];
+  }
+
+  get innerHTML() {
+    return this._innerHTML + this.children.map((child) => child.innerHTML).join('');
+  }
+
+  set textContent(value) {
+    this._textContent = String(value || '');
+    this.children = [];
+  }
+
+  get textContent() {
+    if (this.tagName === '#TEXT') return this._textContent;
+    return this._textContent + this.children.map((child) => child.textContent).join('');
+  }
+}
+
+function walk(node, fn) {
+  if (fn(node)) return node;
+  for (const child of node.children) {
+    const found = walk(child, fn);
+    if (found) return found;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+function makeDocument() {
+  return {
+    body: new FakeNode('body'),
+    head: new FakeNode('head'),
+    createElement(tagName) {
+      return new FakeNode(tagName);
+    },
+    createTextNode(text) {
+      const node = new FakeNode('#text');
+      node.textContent = text;
+      return node;
+    },
+    getElementById() {
+      return null;
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+function loadComponent(document) {
+  const registry = {};
+  vm.runInNewContext(source, {
+    console,
+    document,
+    window: {
+      VerstakPluginRegister(pluginId, bundle) {
+        registry[pluginId] = bundle.components || {};
+      },
+    },
+  }, { filename: sourcePath });
+  const component = registry['verstak.file-preview'] && registry['verstak.file-preview'].FilePreview;
+  if (!component) throw new Error('FilePreview was not registered');
+  return component;
+}
+
+async function flush() {
+  for (let i = 0; i < 8; i++) await Promise.resolve();
+}
+
+(async () => {
+  const document = makeDocument();
+  const component = loadComponent(document);
+
+  const textContainer = new FakeNode('div');
+  const readPaths = [];
+  component.mount(textContainer, {
+    request: { path: 'Docs/app.log', extension: '.log', mode: 'view' },
+  }, {
+    files: {
+      metadata: async () => ({ type: 'file', size: 11, isText: true, modifiedAt: '2026-06-27T00:00:00Z' }),
+      readText: async (relativePath) => {
+        readPaths.push(relativePath);
+        return 'hello log';
+      },
+      openExternal: async () => undefined,
+    },
+  });
+  await flush();
+  if (readPaths[0] !== 'Docs/app.log') throw new Error('text preview did not read text file');
+  if (!textContainer.textContent.includes('hello log')) throw new Error('text preview did not render file text');
+
+  const imageContainer = new FakeNode('div');
+  const opened = [];
+  component.mount(imageContainer, {
+    request: { path: 'Images/logo.png', extension: '.png', mode: 'view' },
+  }, {
+    files: {
+      metadata: async () => ({ type: 'file', size: 2048, isText: false, modifiedAt: '2026-06-27T00:00:00Z' }),
+      readText: async () => { throw new Error('image preview should not read bytes through readText'); },
+      openExternal: async (relativePath) => { opened.push(relativePath); },
+    },
+  });
+  await flush();
+  if (!imageContainer.textContent.includes('Image Preview')) throw new Error('image preview metadata was not rendered');
+  const openButton = walk(imageContainer, (node) => node.getAttribute && node.getAttribute('data-action') === 'open-external');
+  if (!openButton) throw new Error('open external button not found');
+  openButton.click();
+  await flush();
+  if (opened[0] !== 'Images/logo.png') throw new Error(`expected external open path Images/logo.png, got ${opened[0] || '<none>'}`);
+
+  console.log('file-preview smoke passed');
+})().catch((err) => {
+  console.error(err);
+  process.exit(1);
+});