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Read a whiteboard

read_whiteboard
Read-only

Read what is currently written on a whiteboard: the text of its sticky notes and shapes, grouped by frame, as a plain-text outline. This is the CURRENT contents of a live collaborative canvas that people may still be editing -- not a finished document, and not a history of what the board used to say. Only text comes through: drawings, arrows, and images have nothing to extract, so a busy-looking board can honestly come back sparse. When note_count is 0, say the board has no readable text rather than guessing at what is drawn on it. Find a board's id with list_whiteboards. Very large boards are cut off; truncated tells you when.

Tool call template

Replace each placeholder with a value matching the input schema. Only required parameters are included; add optional parameters as needed.

{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "arguments": {
      "whiteboard_id": "<whiteboard_id>"
    },
    "name": "read_whiteboard"
  }
}

Input Schema

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
whiteboard_idYesFrom list_whiteboards

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. First observed

TDQS

A4.5/5.0
Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already cover the safety profile (readOnly, non-destructive, closed-world), so the description is free to add substantive behavior: live/editable canvas semantics, text-only extraction with drawings/arrows/images silently dropped, possible sparse results on busy boards, and truncation on very large boards. Those are exactly the non-obvious traits an agent would otherwise misread.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Front-loaded with what comes back before any caveats, and every sentence adds a distinct fact: return shape, liveness, text-only limitation, empty-case handling, id sourcing, truncation. No filler or restatement of the title.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

There is no output schema, yet the description specifies the return structure (plain-text outline grouped by frame), the presence of note_count and truncated fields, and how to interpret empty results. For a one-parameter read tool, nothing needed to invoke or interpret it is missing.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Single parameter with 100% schema coverage and its own description ('From list_whiteboards'), so the schema carries the semantics. The description only reinforces where to obtain the id and adds nothing about format beyond the UUID already implied by the schema — baseline 3 is appropriate.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific verb and resource ('Read what is currently written on a whiteboard') plus the exact shape of the result: sticky-note/shape text grouped by frame as a plain-text outline. It also draws a clean line against the sibling list_whiteboards by framing this as content retrieval rather than enumeration, and against a hypothetical history/document view.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines4/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Explicitly routes the agent to list_whiteboards for id lookup and tells it how to handle a zero-result case ('say the board has no readable text rather than guessing'). It does not name any alternative for historical reads beyond asserting this is not one, so the guidance is clear but not a full when/when-not matrix.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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