read
Access and read files from the local filesystem to analyze content, supporting large files with optional line-based control for efficient data retrieval.
Instructions
Reads a file from the local filesystem. You can access any file directly by using this tool. Assume this tool is able to read all files on the machine. If the User provides a path to a file assume that path is valid. It is okay to read a file that does not exist; an error will be returned.
Usage:
The file_path parameter must be an absolute path, not a relative path
By default, it reads up to 2000 lines starting from the beginning of the file
You can optionally specify a line offset and limit (especially handy for long files), but it's recommended to read the whole file by not providing these parameters
Any lines longer than 2000 characters will be truncated
Results are returned using cat -n format, with line numbers starting at 1
For Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb files), use the notebook_read instead
When reading multiple files, you MUST use the batch tool to read them all at once
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| file_path | Yes | The absolute path to the file to read | |
| offset | No | The line number to start reading from. Only provide if the file is too large to read at once | |
| limit | No | The number of lines to read. Only provide if the file is too large to read at once |
Implementation Reference
- Core handler function for the 'read' tool. Validates parameters, checks permissions, reads the file with line numbering (cat -n style), handles large files with offset/limit, truncates long lines, supports UTF-8 and fallback to latin-1 encoding, and provides detailed logging.
async def call( self, ctx: MCPContext, **params: Unpack[ReadToolParams], ) -> str: """Execute the tool with the given parameters. Args: ctx: MCP context **params: Tool parameters Returns: Tool result """ tool_ctx = self.create_tool_context(ctx) self.set_tool_context_info(tool_ctx) # Extract parameters file_path = params.get("file_path") offset = params.get("offset", 0) limit = params.get("limit", self.DEFAULT_LINE_LIMIT) # Validate required parameters for direct calls (not through MCP framework) if not file_path: await tool_ctx.error("Parameter 'file_path' is required but was None") return "Error: Parameter 'file_path' is required but was None" await tool_ctx.info( f"Reading file: {file_path} (offset: {offset}, limit: {limit})" ) # Check if path is allowed if not self.is_path_allowed(file_path): await tool_ctx.error( f"Access denied - path outside allowed directories: {file_path}" ) return ( f"Error: Access denied - path outside allowed directories: {file_path}" ) try: file_path_obj = Path(file_path) if not file_path_obj.exists(): await tool_ctx.error(f"File does not exist: {file_path}") return f"Error: File does not exist: {file_path}" if not file_path_obj.is_file(): await tool_ctx.error(f"Path is not a file: {file_path}") return f"Error: Path is not a file: {file_path}" # Read the file try: # Read and process the file with line numbers and truncation lines = [] current_line = 0 truncated_lines = 0 # Try with utf-8 encoding first try: with open(file_path_obj, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f: for i, line in enumerate(f): # Skip lines before offset if i < offset: continue # Stop after reading 'limit' lines if current_line >= limit: truncated_lines = True break current_line += 1 # Truncate long lines if len(line) > self.MAX_LINE_LENGTH: line = ( line[: self.MAX_LINE_LENGTH] + self.LINE_TRUNCATION_INDICATOR ) # Add line with line number (1-based) lines.append(f"{i + 1:6d} {line.rstrip()}") except UnicodeDecodeError: # Try with latin-1 encoding try: lines = [] current_line = 0 truncated_lines = 0 with open(file_path_obj, "r", encoding="latin-1") as f: for i, line in enumerate(f): # Skip lines before offset if i < offset: continue # Stop after reading 'limit' lines if current_line >= limit: truncated_lines = True break current_line += 1 # Truncate long lines if len(line) > self.MAX_LINE_LENGTH: line = ( line[: self.MAX_LINE_LENGTH] + self.LINE_TRUNCATION_INDICATOR ) # Add line with line number (1-based) lines.append(f"{i + 1:6d} {line.rstrip()}") await tool_ctx.warning( f"File read with latin-1 encoding: {file_path}" ) except Exception: await tool_ctx.error(f"Cannot read binary file: {file_path}") return f"Error: Cannot read binary file: {file_path}" # Format the result result = "\n".join(lines) # Add truncation message if necessary if truncated_lines: result += f"\n... (output truncated, showing {limit} of {limit + truncated_lines}+ lines)" await tool_ctx.info(f"Successfully read file: {file_path}") return result except Exception as e: await tool_ctx.error(f"Error reading file: {str(e)}") return f"Error: {str(e)}" except Exception as e: await tool_ctx.error(f"Error reading file: {str(e)}") return f"Error: {str(e)}" @override - Pydantic schema definitions for input parameters: file_path (absolute path), offset (start line, default 0), limit (max lines, default 2000). Used for validation and type hints in the tool call.
FilePath = Annotated[ str, Field( description="The absolute path to the file to read", ), ] Offset = Annotated[ int, Field( description="The line number to start reading from. Only provide if the file is too large to read at once", default=0, ), ] Limit = Annotated[ int, Field( description="The number of lines to read. Only provide if the file is too large to read at once", default=2000, ), ] class ReadToolParams(TypedDict): """Parameters for the ReadTool. Attributes: file_path: The absolute path to the file to read offset: The line number to start reading from. Only provide if the file is too large to read at once limit: The number of lines to read. Only provide if the file is too large to read at once """ file_path: FilePath offset: Offset limit: Limit - mcp_claude_code/tools/filesystem/read.py:234-256 (registration)The ReadTool's register method creates and decorates a wrapper function named 'read' with @mcp_server.tool, which delegates to the tool's call method. This is invoked by ToolRegistry.
def register(self, mcp_server: FastMCP) -> None: """Register this tool with the MCP server. Creates a wrapper function with explicitly defined parameters that match the tool's parameter schema and registers it with the MCP server. Args: mcp_server: The FastMCP server instance """ tool_self = self @mcp_server.tool(name=self.name, description=self.description) async def read( ctx: MCPContext, file_path: FilePath, offset: Offset, limit: Limit, ) -> str: ctx = get_context() return await tool_self.call( ctx, file_path=file_path, offset=offset, limit=limit ) - mcp_claude_code/tools/filesystem/__init__.py:76-91 (registration)register_filesystem_tools instantiates ReadTool (via get_filesystem_tools) with permission_manager and registers all filesystem tools (including 'read') via ToolRegistry.register_tools.
def register_filesystem_tools( mcp_server: FastMCP, permission_manager: PermissionManager, ) -> list[BaseTool]: """Register all filesystem tools with the MCP server. Args: mcp_server: The FastMCP server instance permission_manager: Permission manager for access control Returns: List of registered tools """ tools = get_filesystem_tools(permission_manager) ToolRegistry.register_tools(mcp_server, tools) return tools - mcp_claude_code/tools/__init__.py:52-55 (registration)As part of register_all_tools (called from server.py), invokes register_filesystem_tools to register the 'read' tool and adds it to the all_tools registry.
# Register all filesystem tools filesystem_tools = register_filesystem_tools(mcp_server, permission_manager) for tool in filesystem_tools: all_tools[tool.name] = tool