read_file
Read file contents from a specified path with configurable text encoding options for processing and automation workflows.
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| path | Yes | ||
| encoding | No | utf8 |
Implementation Reference
- src/tools/file-tools.ts:32-50 (handler)The execution handler for the 'read_file' MCP tool. Validates the file path existence, reads the file contents asynchronously using Node.js fs.promises.readFile, retrieves file statistics, and returns a structured response containing the text content and metadata including path, size, and encoding.async ({ path: filePath, encoding }) => { return wrapToolExecution(async () => { const validatedPath = await validatePathExists(filePath); const content = await fs.readFile(validatedPath, { encoding: encoding as FileEncoding }); const stats = await fs.stat(validatedPath); return { content: [{ type: "text" as const, text: content }], metadata: { path: validatedPath, size: stats.size, encoding } }; }, { errorCode: ERROR_CODES.FILE_OPERATION, context: "Failed to read file" }); }
- src/tools/file-tools.ts:28-31 (schema)Zod input schema definition for the 'read_file' tool: 'path' is a required non-empty string, 'encoding' is an optional enum (utf8, utf-16le, latin1) defaulting to the configured default.{ path: z.string().min(1, "Path is required"), encoding: z.enum(["utf8", "utf-16le", "latin1"]).optional().default(DEFAULTS.FILE_ENCODING) },
- src/tools/file-tools.ts:26-52 (registration)The registerReadFile function registers the 'read_file' tool on the MCP server instance using server.tool(), providing the name, Zod schema, and handler function.function registerReadFile(server: McpServer): void { server.tool("read_file", { path: z.string().min(1, "Path is required"), encoding: z.enum(["utf8", "utf-16le", "latin1"]).optional().default(DEFAULTS.FILE_ENCODING) }, async ({ path: filePath, encoding }) => { return wrapToolExecution(async () => { const validatedPath = await validatePathExists(filePath); const content = await fs.readFile(validatedPath, { encoding: encoding as FileEncoding }); const stats = await fs.stat(validatedPath); return { content: [{ type: "text" as const, text: content }], metadata: { path: validatedPath, size: stats.size, encoding } }; }, { errorCode: ERROR_CODES.FILE_OPERATION, context: "Failed to read file" }); } ); }
- src/index.ts:65-65 (registration)Higher-level registration call to registerFileTools(server), which internally calls registerReadFile to add the 'read_file' tool among file-related tools.registerFileTools(server);