diff --git a/mers/Cargo.toml b/mers/Cargo.toml
index 2653b8d..e0de380 100644
--- a/mers/Cargo.toml
+++ b/mers/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "mers"
-version = "0.9.19"
+version = "0.9.20"
 edition = "2021"
 license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
 description = "dynamically typed but type-checked programming language"
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ default = ["colored-output"]
 colored-output = ["mers_lib/ecolor-term", "mers_lib/pretty-print", "dep:colored"]
 
 [dependencies]
-mers_lib = "0.9.19"
+mers_lib = "0.9.20"
 # mers_lib = { path = "../mers_lib" }
 clap = { version = "4.3.19", features = ["derive"] }
 colored = { version = "2.1.0", optional = true }
diff --git a/mers_lib/Cargo.toml b/mers_lib/Cargo.toml
index 2f16e29..9f8040f 100755
--- a/mers_lib/Cargo.toml
+++ b/mers_lib/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "mers_lib"
-version = "0.9.19"
+version = "0.9.20"
 edition = "2021"
 license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
 description = "library to use the mers language in other projects"
diff --git a/mers_lib/src/program/configs/mod.rs b/mers_lib/src/program/configs/mod.rs
index b5b225c..7f52878 100755
--- a/mers_lib/src/program/configs/mod.rs
+++ b/mers_lib/src/program/configs/mod.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ pub mod gen;
 pub mod util;
 pub mod with_base;
 pub mod with_command_running;
+pub mod with_fs;
 pub mod with_get;
 pub mod with_iters;
 pub mod with_list;
@@ -41,8 +42,10 @@ impl Config {
     /// - `with_stdio()`
     /// - `with_command_running()`
     /// - `with_multithreading()`
+    /// - `with_fs()`
     pub fn bundle_std(self) -> Self {
-        self.with_multithreading()
+        self.with_fs()
+            .with_multithreading()
             .with_command_running()
             .with_stdio()
             .bundle_pure()
diff --git a/mers_lib/src/program/configs/with_fs.rs b/mers_lib/src/program/configs/with_fs.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14443d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mers_lib/src/program/configs/with_fs.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use crate::data::{
+    self,
+    function::Function,
+    object::{Object, ObjectFieldsMap, ObjectT},
+    string::StringT,
+    tuple::{Tuple, TupleT},
+    Data, Type,
+};
+
+use super::Config;
+
+impl Config {
+    pub fn with_fs(self) -> Self {
+        self.add_var(
+            "fs_read_text",
+            Function::new_generic(
+                |a, i| {
+                    if a.is_included_in_single(&StringT) {
+                        Ok(Type::newm(vec![
+                            Arc::new(StringT),
+                            Arc::new(ObjectT::new(vec![(
+                                i.global.object_fields.get_or_add_field("fs_read_error"),
+                                Type::new(data::string::StringT),
+                            )])),
+                        ]))
+                    } else {
+                        Err(format!(
+                            "Called fs_read_text with argument type {}, but expected String",
+                            a.with_info(i)
+                        ))?
+                    }
+                },
+                |a, i| {
+                    let a = a.get();
+                    let a = a
+                        .as_any()
+                        .downcast_ref::<data::string::String>()
+                        .expect("got non-string argument to fs_read_text");
+                    Ok(match std::fs::read_to_string(&a.0) {
+                        Ok(contents) => Data::new(data::string::String(contents)),
+                        Err(e) => Data::new(Object::new(vec![(
+                            i.global.object_fields.get_or_add_field("fs_read_error"),
+                            Data::new(data::string::String(e.to_string())),
+                        )])),
+                    })
+                },
+            ),
+        )
+        .add_var(
+            "fs_write",
+            Function::new_generic(
+                |a, i| {
+                    if a.is_included_in_single(&TupleT(vec![
+                        Type::new(StringT),
+                        Type::new(StringT),
+                    ])) {
+                        Ok(Type::newm(vec![
+                            Arc::new(TupleT(vec![])),
+                            Arc::new(ObjectT::new(vec![(
+                                i.global.object_fields.get_or_add_field("fs_write_error"),
+                                Type::new(data::string::StringT),
+                            )])),
+                        ]))
+                    } else {
+                        Err(format!(
+                            "Called fs_write with argument type {}, but expected (String, String)",
+                            a.with_info(i)
+                        ))?
+                    }
+                },
+                |a, i| {
+                    let a = a.get();
+                    let a = a
+                        .as_any()
+                        .downcast_ref::<Tuple>()
+                        .expect("got non-tuple argument to fs_read_text");
+                    let (a, b) = (a.0[0].get(), a.0[1].get());
+                    let a = a
+                        .as_any()
+                        .downcast_ref::<data::string::String>()
+                        .expect("file path was not a string in fs_write");
+                    let b = b
+                        .as_any()
+                        .downcast_ref::<data::string::String>()
+                        .expect("file content was not a string in fs_write");
+                    Ok(match std::fs::write(&a.0, &b.0) {
+                        Ok(()) => Data::empty_tuple(),
+                        Err(e) => Data::new(Object::new(vec![(
+                            i.global.object_fields.get_or_add_field("fs_write_error"),
+                            Data::new(data::string::String(e.to_string())),
+                        )])),
+                    })
+                },
+            ),
+        )
+    }
+}