diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 80d3508..82f5b27 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -86,6 +86,27 @@ FetchContent_MakeAvailable(llhttp)
 
 include_directories(src)
 
+# Check for VLA (Variable Length Array) support
+include(CheckCXXSourceCompiles)
+check_cxx_source_compiles(
+  "
+int main() {
+  int n = 10;
+  char arr[n];
+  return 0;
+}
+"
+  HAVE_VLA_SUPPORT)
+
+if(NOT HAVE_VLA_SUPPORT)
+  message(
+    FATAL_ERROR
+      "Compiler must support Variable Length Arrays (VLA). Please use GCC or Clang."
+  )
+endif()
+
+message(STATUS "Compiler supports Variable Length Arrays")
+
 find_package(weaseljson REQUIRED)
 
 # Generate JSON token hash table using gperf
diff --git a/src/config.cpp b/src/config.cpp
index 713c98e..cae6893 100644
--- a/src/config.cpp
+++ b/src/config.cpp
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ void ConfigParser::parse_server_config(const auto &toml_data,
     parse_field(srv, "network_threads", config.network_threads);
     parse_field(srv, "event_batch_size", config.event_batch_size);
     parse_field(srv, "max_connections", config.max_connections);
+    parse_field(srv, "read_buffer_size", config.read_buffer_size);
   });
 }
 
@@ -165,6 +166,14 @@ bool ConfigParser::validate_config(const Config &config) {
     valid = false;
   }
 
+  if (config.server.read_buffer_size < 1024 ||
+      config.server.read_buffer_size > 1024 * 1024) { // 1KB to 1MB
+    std::cerr << "Configuration error: server.read_buffer_size must be between "
+                 "1024 and 1048576 bytes, got "
+              << config.server.read_buffer_size << std::endl;
+    valid = false;
+  }
+
   // Validate commit configuration
   if (config.commit.min_request_id_length < 8 ||
       config.commit.min_request_id_length > 256) {
diff --git a/src/config.hpp b/src/config.hpp
index da1210a..8e3f43f 100644
--- a/src/config.hpp
+++ b/src/config.hpp
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ struct ServerConfig {
   int event_batch_size = 32;
   /// Maximum number of concurrent connections (0 = unlimited)
   int max_connections = 1000;
+  /// Buffer size for reading from socket connections (default: 16KB)
+  size_t read_buffer_size = 16 * 1024;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 687cb1f..1be207c 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -161,13 +161,12 @@ struct Connection {
   // response
   bool closeConnection{false};
 
-  bool readBytes(size_t max_request_size) {
-    // Use smaller buffer size but respect max request size
-    // TODO revisit
-    size_t buf_size = std::min(size_t(4096), max_request_size);
-    std::vector<char> buf(buf_size);
+  bool readBytes(size_t max_request_size, size_t buffer_size) {
+    // Use Variable Length Array for optimal stack allocation
+    char buf[buffer_size];
+
     for (;;) {
-      int r = read(fd, buf.data(), buf.size());
+      int r = read(fd, buf, buffer_size);
       if (r == -1) {
         if (errno == EINTR) {
           continue;
@@ -183,7 +182,7 @@ struct Connection {
       }
       // "pump parser"
       // TODO revisit
-      appendMessage({buf.data(), size_t(r)});
+      appendMessage({buf, size_t(r)});
     }
   }
 
@@ -261,11 +260,53 @@ struct Connection {
 #endif
 };
 
+void print_help(const char *program_name) {
+  std::cout << "WeaselDB - High-performance write-side database component\n\n";
+  std::cout << "Usage: " << program_name << " [OPTIONS]\n\n";
+  std::cout << "Options:\n";
+  std::cout << "  --config <file>    Path to TOML configuration file (default: "
+               "config.toml)\n";
+  std::cout << "  --help             Show this help message and exit\n";
+  std::cout << "  -h                 Show this help message and exit\n\n";
+  std::cout << "Examples:\n";
+  std::cout << "  " << program_name
+            << "                    # Use default config.toml\n";
+  std::cout << "  " << program_name
+            << " --config my.toml   # Use custom config file\n";
+  std::cout << "  " << program_name
+            << " --help             # Show this help\n\n";
+  std::cout << "For configuration documentation, see config.md\n";
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
   std::string config_file = "config.toml";
 
-  if (argc > 1) {
-    config_file = argv[1];
+  // Parse command line arguments
+  for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
+    std::string arg = argv[i];
+
+    if (arg == "--help" || arg == "-h") {
+      print_help(argv[0]);
+      return 0;
+    } else if (arg == "--config") {
+      if (i + 1 >= argc) {
+        std::cerr << "Error: --config requires a filename argument\n";
+        print_help(argv[0]);
+        return 1;
+      }
+      config_file = argv[++i];
+    } else if (arg.starts_with("--config=")) {
+      config_file = arg.substr(9);
+    } else {
+      // For backward compatibility, treat lone argument as config file
+      if (argc == 2) {
+        config_file = arg;
+      } else {
+        std::cerr << "Error: Unknown argument '" << arg << "'\n";
+        print_help(argv[0]);
+        return 1;
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   auto config = weaseldb::ConfigParser::load_from_file(config_file);
@@ -289,6 +330,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
             << std::endl;
   std::cout << "Max connections: " << config->server.max_connections
             << std::endl;
+  std::cout << "Read buffer size: " << config->server.read_buffer_size
+            << " bytes" << std::endl;
   std::cout << "Min request ID length: " << config->commit.min_request_id_length
             << std::endl;
   std::cout << "Request ID retention: "
@@ -345,6 +388,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     threads.emplace_back(
         [network_epollfd, networkThreadId,
          max_request_size = config->server.max_request_size_bytes,
+         read_buffer_size = config->server.read_buffer_size,
          event_batch_size = config->server.event_batch_size]() {
           pthread_setname_np(
               pthread_self(),
@@ -388,7 +432,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                        (events[i].events & EPOLLOUT)));
 
               if (events[i].events & EPOLLIN) {
-                bool done = conn->readBytes(max_request_size);
+                bool done = conn->readBytes(max_request_size, read_buffer_size);
                 if (done) {
                   continue;
                 }