diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 65179ca..914f97c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -169,6 +169,8 @@ docker run -v$PWD/code:/code -v$PWD/reporting:/app/reporting punksecurity/saist
 | `--web` | Launch a local web server |
 | `--disable-tools` | Disable tool use during file analysis to reduce LLM token usage |
 | `--disable-caching` | Disable finding caching during file analysis |
+| `--skip-line-length-check` | Skip checking files for a maximum line length |
+| `--max-line-length` | Maximum allowed line length, files with lines longer than this value will be skipped |
 | `--cache-folder` | Change the default cache folder |
 | `--csv` | Output findings to `findings.csv` |
 | `--pdf` | Output findings to PDF report (`report.pdf`) |
diff --git a/saist/main.py b/saist/main.py
index 92f458c..954e22b 100755
--- a/saist/main.py
+++ b/saist/main.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 from scm import BaseScmAdapter
 from scm.adapters.git import GitAdapter
 from util.git import parse_unified_diff
-from util.filtering import should_process
+from util.filtering import filename_included, file_exceeds_line_length_limit
 from util.prompts import prompts
 from scm.adapters.github import Github
 from scm import Scm
@@ -198,9 +198,19 @@ async def main():
     for f in changed_files:
         filename = f["filename"]
         patch_text = f.get("patch", "")
-        if not patch_text or not should_process(filename):
+        if not patch_text:
+            logging.debug(f"Skipped file {filename} as it contains no patch text")
+            continue 
+
+        if not filename_included(filename):
+            logging.debug(f"Skipped file {filename} as it is not included in rules")
             continue
 
+        if not args.skip_line_length_check:
+            if file_exceeds_line_length_limit(file_content=await scm.read_file_contents(filename), patch_text=patch_text, max_line_length=args.max_line_length):
+                logging.debug(f"Skipped file {filename} as it contains lines that exceed the maximum line length ({args.max_line_length})")
+                continue
+
         line_map, new_lines_text = parse_unified_diff(patch_text)
         file_line_maps[filename] = line_map
         file_new_lines_text[filename] = new_lines_text
diff --git a/saist/util/argparsing.py b/saist/util/argparsing.py
index 9e9d13a..b8c1062 100644
--- a/saist/util/argparsing.py
+++ b/saist/util/argparsing.py
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 from os import linesep, environ, cpu_count
 import sys
 from shutil import which
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 
+load_dotenv(".env")
 
 runtime = environ.get("SAIST_COMMAND", f"{sys.argv[0]}")
 
@@ -223,6 +225,16 @@ def __call__(self, parser, namespace, values, option_string=None):
     envvar="SAIST_PROJECT_NAME", action=EnvDefault, required=False, default=None
     )
 
+parser.add_argument(
+    "--skip-line-length-check", help = "Skip checking files for a maximum line length",
+    action='store_true', required=False
+    )
+
+parser.add_argument(
+    "--max-line-length", type=int, help = "Maximum allowed line length, files with lines longer than this value will be skipped",
+    required=False, default=1000
+    )
+
 parser.add_argument(
     "-v",
     "--verbose",
diff --git a/saist/util/filtering.py b/saist/util/filtering.py
index 5074d9a..58e30ef 100644
--- a/saist/util/filtering.py
+++ b/saist/util/filtering.py
@@ -38,15 +38,34 @@ def pattern_match(filepath, patterns):
     normalized_path = filepath.replace("\\", "/")
     return any(fnmatch.fnmatch(normalized_path, pattern) for pattern in patterns)
 
-def should_process(filepath):
+#             if file_exceeds_line_length_limit(file_content=scm.read_file_contents(), patch_text=patch_text, max_line_length=args.max_line_length):
+
+def file_exceeds_line_length_limit(file_content: str, patch_text: str, max_line_length: int = 1000):
+    """
+    Checks if any line in the file exceeds max_length.
+    Returns True if all lines are within the limit, False otherwise.
+    """
+    for line in file_content.splitlines():
+        if len(line) > max_line_length:
+            return True
+        
+    for line in patch_text.splitlines():
+        if len(line) > max_line_length:
+            return True
+
+    return False
+
+def filename_included(filepath: str):
     """
-    Returns True if the file should be processed (included AND not ignored).
+    Returns True if the file is included in includelist and not explicitly ignored in ignorelist.
     """
+    # Check include/ignore rules
     logger.debug(f"should_process: {filepath}")
     if not pattern_match(filepath, include_patterns):
         return False
     if pattern_match(filepath, ignore_patterns):
         return False
+           
     return True
 
 include_patterns = load_patterns("saist.include")