read_note
Retrieve markdown notes by title or permalink from your local knowledge base to access stored information and continue conversations with context.
Instructions
Read a markdown note by title or permalink.
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| identifier | Yes | ||
| project | No | ||
| page | No | ||
| page_size | No |
Implementation Reference
- Core handler implementation for the 'read_note' MCP tool. Resolves project, validates identifier, fetches note content via REST API using entity ID, with fallbacks to title and text search, and returns helpful guidance if no exact match.
@mcp.tool( description="Read a markdown note by title or permalink.", ) async def read_note( identifier: str, project: Optional[str] = None, page: int = 1, page_size: int = 10, context: Context | None = None, ) -> str: """Return the raw markdown for a note, or guidance text if no match is found. Finds and retrieves a note by its title, permalink, or content search, returning the raw markdown content including observations, relations, and metadata. Project Resolution: Server resolves projects in this order: Single Project Mode → project parameter → default project. If project unknown, use list_memory_projects() or recent_activity() first. This tool will try multiple lookup strategies to find the most relevant note: 1. Direct permalink lookup 2. Title search fallback 3. Text search as last resort Args: project: Project name to read from. Optional - server will resolve using the hierarchy above. If unknown, use list_memory_projects() to discover available projects. identifier: The title or permalink of the note to read Can be a full memory:// URL, a permalink, a title, or search text page: Page number for paginated results (default: 1) page_size: Number of items per page (default: 10) context: Optional FastMCP context for performance caching. Returns: The full markdown content of the note if found, or helpful guidance if not found. Content includes frontmatter, observations, relations, and all markdown formatting. Examples: # Read by permalink read_note("my-research", "specs/search-spec") # Read by title read_note("work-project", "Search Specification") # Read with memory URL read_note("my-research", "memory://specs/search-spec") # Read with pagination read_note("work-project", "Project Updates", page=2, page_size=5) # Read recent meeting notes read_note("team-docs", "Weekly Standup") Raises: HTTPError: If project doesn't exist or is inaccessible SecurityError: If identifier attempts path traversal Note: If the exact note isn't found, this tool provides helpful suggestions including related notes, search commands, and note creation templates. """ track_mcp_tool("read_note") async with get_client() as client: # Get and validate the project active_project = await get_active_project(client, project, context) # Validate identifier to prevent path traversal attacks # We need to check both the raw identifier and the processed path processed_path = memory_url_path(identifier) project_path = active_project.home if not validate_project_path(identifier, project_path) or not validate_project_path( processed_path, project_path ): logger.warning( "Attempted path traversal attack blocked", identifier=identifier, processed_path=processed_path, project=active_project.name, ) return f"# Error\n\nIdentifier '{identifier}' is not allowed - paths must stay within project boundaries" # Get the file via REST API - first try direct identifier resolution entity_path = memory_url_path(identifier) logger.info( f"Attempting to read note from Project: {active_project.name} identifier: {entity_path}" ) try: # Try to resolve identifier to entity ID entity_id = await resolve_entity_id(client, active_project.external_id, entity_path) # Fetch content using entity ID response = await call_get( client, f"/v2/projects/{active_project.external_id}/resource/{entity_id}", params={"page": page, "page_size": page_size}, ) # If successful, return the content if response.status_code == 200: logger.info("Returning read_note result from resource: {path}", path=entity_path) return response.text except Exception as e: # pragma: no cover logger.info(f"Direct lookup failed for '{entity_path}': {e}") # Continue to fallback methods # Fallback 1: Try title search via API logger.info(f"Search title for: {identifier}") title_results = await search_notes.fn( query=identifier, search_type="title", project=project, context=context ) # Handle both SearchResponse object and error strings if title_results and hasattr(title_results, "results") and title_results.results: result = title_results.results[0] # Get the first/best match if result.permalink: try: # Resolve the permalink to entity ID entity_id = await resolve_entity_id(client, active_project.external_id, result.permalink) # Fetch content using the entity ID response = await call_get( client, f"/v2/projects/{active_project.external_id}/resource/{entity_id}", params={"page": page, "page_size": page_size}, ) if response.status_code == 200: logger.info(f"Found note by title search: {result.permalink}") return response.text except Exception as e: # pragma: no cover logger.info( f"Failed to fetch content for found title match {result.permalink}: {e}" ) else: logger.info( f"No results in title search for: {identifier} in project {active_project.name}" ) # Fallback 2: Text search as a last resort logger.info(f"Title search failed, trying text search for: {identifier}") text_results = await search_notes.fn( query=identifier, search_type="text", project=project, context=context ) # We didn't find a direct match, construct a helpful error message # Handle both SearchResponse object and error strings if not text_results or not hasattr(text_results, "results") or not text_results.results: # No results at all return format_not_found_message(active_project.name, identifier) else: # We found some related results return format_related_results(active_project.name, identifier, text_results.results[:5]) - src/basic_memory/mcp/tools/__init__.py:13-13 (registration)Explicit import of read_note function in tools __init__.py, which triggers registration via the @mcp.tool decorator when the tools module is imported by the MCP server.
from basic_memory.mcp.tools.read_note import read_note - Input schema defined by the function signature with type annotations and defaults. Returns str (markdown content or guidance). Detailed usage in docstring.
async def read_note( identifier: str, project: Optional[str] = None, page: int = 1, page_size: int = 10, context: Context | None = None, ) -> str: - Helper functions used by the handler to generate user-friendly markdown responses when notes are not found or related results are available.
def format_not_found_message(project: str | None, identifier: str) -> str: """Format a helpful message when no note was found.""" return dedent(f""" # Note Not Found in {project}: "{identifier}" I couldn't find any notes matching "{identifier}". Here are some suggestions: ## Check Identifier Type - If you provided a title, try using the exact permalink instead - If you provided a permalink, check for typos or try a broader search ## Search Instead Try searching for related content: ``` search_notes(project="{project}", query="{identifier}") ``` ## Recent Activity Check recently modified notes: ``` recent_activity(timeframe="7d") ``` ## Create New Note This might be a good opportunity to create a new note on this topic: ``` write_note( project="{project}", title="{identifier.capitalize()}", content=''' # {identifier.capitalize()} ## Overview [Your content here] ## Observations - [category] [Observation about {identifier}] ## Relations - relates_to [[Related Topic]] ''', folder="notes" ) ``` """) - src/basic_memory/mcp/tools/read_note.py:19-21 (registration)The @mcp.tool decorator that registers the read_note function with the FastMCP server instance.
@mcp.tool( description="Read a markdown note by title or permalink.", )