diff --git a/weed/storage/needle/needle_read_options.go b/weed/storage/needle/needle_read_options.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ddc2d88e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/weed/storage/needle/needle_read_options.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package needle
+
+import (
+	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/storage/backend"
+	. "github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/storage/types"
+)
+
+// NeedleReadOptions specifies which parts of the Needle to read.
+type NeedleReadOptions struct {
+	ReadHeader bool // always true for any read
+	ReadData   bool // read the Data field
+	ReadMeta   bool // read metadata fields (Name, Mime, LastModified, Ttl, Pairs, etc.)
+}
+
+// ReadFromFile reads the Needle from the backend file according to the specified options.
+// For now, this is equivalent to ReadData (reads everything).
+func (n *Needle) ReadFromFile(r backend.BackendStorageFile, offset int64, size Size, version Version, opts NeedleReadOptions) error {
+	// Always read header and body for now (full read)
+	bytes, err := ReadNeedleBlob(r, offset, size, version)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return n.ReadBytes(bytes, offset, size, version)
+}
diff --git a/weed/storage/needle/needle_read_options_test.go b/weed/storage/needle/needle_read_options_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e50b77b59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/weed/storage/needle/needle_read_options_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+package needle
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"io"
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	. "github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/storage/types"
+)
+
+type mockBackend struct {
+	data []byte
+}
+
+func (m *mockBackend) ReadAt(p []byte, off int64) (n int, err error) {
+	if int(off) >= len(m.data) {
+		return 0, io.EOF
+	}
+	n = copy(p, m.data[off:])
+	if n < len(p) {
+		return n, io.EOF
+	}
+	return n, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockBackend) GetStat() (int64, time.Time, error) {
+	return int64(len(m.data)), time.Time{}, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockBackend) Name() string {
+	return "mock"
+}
+
+func (m *mockBackend) Close() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockBackend) Sync() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockBackend) Truncate(size int64) error {
+	m.data = m.data[:size]
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockBackend) WriteAt(p []byte, off int64) (n int, err error) {
+	return 0, nil
+}
+
+func TestReadFromFile_EquivalenceWithReadData(t *testing.T) {
+	n := &Needle{
+		Cookie:       0x12345678,
+		Id:           0x1122334455667788,
+		Data:         []byte("hello world"),
+		Flags:        0xFF,
+		Name:         []byte("filename.txt"),
+		Mime:         []byte("text/plain"),
+		LastModified: 0x1234567890,
+		Ttl:          nil,
+		Pairs:        []byte("key=value"),
+		PairsSize:    9,
+		Checksum:     0xCAFEBABE,
+		AppendAtNs:   0xDEADBEEF,
+	}
+	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	_, _, err := writeNeedleV2(n, 0, buf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("writeNeedleV2 failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	backend := &mockBackend{data: buf.Bytes()}
+	size := Size(len(buf.Bytes()) - NeedleHeaderSize - NeedleChecksumSize - int(PaddingLength(Size(len(buf.Bytes())-NeedleHeaderSize-NeedleChecksumSize), Version2)))
+
+	// Old method
+	nOld := &Needle{}
+	errOld := nOld.ReadData(backend, 0, size, Version2)
+
+	// New method
+	nNew := &Needle{}
+	opts := NeedleReadOptions{ReadHeader: true, ReadData: true, ReadMeta: true}
+	errNew := nNew.ReadFromFile(backend, 0, size, Version2, opts)
+
+	if (errOld != nil) != (errNew != nil) || (errOld != nil && errOld.Error() != errNew.Error()) {
+		t.Errorf("error mismatch: old=%v new=%v", errOld, errNew)
+	}
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(nOld, nNew) {
+		t.Errorf("needle mismatch: old=%+v new=%+v", nOld, nNew)
+	}
+}