obsidian_get_file_contents

Read complete contents of Obsidian vault files to analyze Zettelkasten notes, understand their structure, and identify connections for creating new atomic notes.

Instructions

Read the complete contents of a single file from the vault.

Use this to read existing Zettelkasten notes, understand their structure,
and find connections for creating new atomic notes.

Args:
    params (GetFileInput): Contains:
        - filepath (str): Path to file relative to vault root

Returns:
    str: File contents including frontmatter and body
    
Example:
    For filepath="Zettelkasten/202411061234.md", returns the full note content.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`params`	Yes

Implementation Reference

src/custom_obsidian_mcp/server.py:473-513 (handler)

The decorated handler function implementing the core logic of obsidian_get_file_contents tool: reads file via client, formats output with header, truncates long content, handles API errors.

@mcp.tool(
    name="obsidian_get_file_contents",
    annotations={
        "title": "Get File Contents",
        "readOnlyHint": True,
        "destructiveHint": False,
        "idempotentHint": True,
        "openWorldHint": False
    }
)
async def get_file_contents(params: GetFileInput) -> str:
    """Read the complete contents of a single file from the vault.
    
    Use this to read existing Zettelkasten notes, understand their structure,
    and find connections for creating new atomic notes.
    
    Args:
        params (GetFileInput): Contains:
            - filepath (str): Path to file relative to vault root
    
    Returns:
        str: File contents including frontmatter and body
        
    Example:
        For filepath="Zettelkasten/202411061234.md", returns the full note content.
    """
    try:
        content = await obsidian_client.read_file(params.filepath)
        
        # Add filepath header for context
        output = f"# File: {params.filepath}\n\n{content}"
        
        return truncate_response(output, f"file {params.filepath}")
        
    except ObsidianAPIError as e:
        return json.dumps({
            "error": str(e),
            "filepath": params.filepath,
            "success": False
        }, indent=2)

src/custom_obsidian_mcp/server.py:59-67 (schema)

Pydantic model defining the input schema for the tool, specifying the required filepath parameter with validation.

class GetFileInput(BaseModel):
    """Input for getting file contents."""
    model_config = ConfigDict(str_strip_whitespace=True, extra='forbid')
    
    filepath: str = Field(
        description="Path to the file relative to vault root (e.g., 'Notes/zettelkasten/202411061234.md')",
        min_length=1,
        max_length=500
    )

src/custom_obsidian_mcp/server.py:301-308 (helper)

Helper function used by the tool handler to truncate responses exceeding 25000 characters.

def truncate_response(content: str, description: str = "response") -> str:
    """Truncate content if it exceeds CHARACTER_LIMIT."""
    if len(content) <= CHARACTER_LIMIT:
        return content
    
    truncated = content[:CHARACTER_LIMIT]
    message = f"\n\n[Response truncated at {CHARACTER_LIMIT} characters. Original {description} was {len(content)} characters. Use filters or pagination to reduce results.]"
    return truncated + message

src/custom_obsidian_mcp/obsidian_client.py:157-161 (helper)
Supporting method in ObsidianClient that performs the actual API GET request to retrieve file contents, called by the tool handler.
```
async def read_file(self, filepath: str) -> str:
    """Read file content from the vault."""
    result = await self.get(f"/vault/{filepath}")
    return result.get("content", "")
```

src/custom_obsidian_mcp/server.py:473-482 (registration)

The @mcp.tool decorator registering the function as an MCP tool with name and annotations.

@mcp.tool(
    name="obsidian_get_file_contents",
    annotations={
        "title": "Get File Contents",
        "readOnlyHint": True,
        "destructiveHint": False,
        "idempotentHint": True,
        "openWorldHint": False
    }
)

Obsidian MCP Server