SMC Reader

Save My Context Reader — keep large tool outputs out of your agent's context window.

A big Bash or WebFetch output does not have to land in the model's context. SMC Reader's hook catches it before the model sees it, spills it to disk and hands the model a short pointer. The model then pulls only what it needs — exact lines, or an answer to a question.

Quick start

In Claude Code (Node.js ≥ 20 on PATH):

/plugin marketplace add bulatko/SMCReader
/plugin install smcreader@smcreader

That's it — no settings.json or --mcp-config edits. Run something noisy and the model gets this instead of 3000 lines:

[READER ctx_b4c9b23c] Bash output intercepted: 13893 bytes, 3001 lines (>2048 chars).
1
2
...
... (2989 lines omitted — in the reader) ...
2999
3000
Full output is in reader ctx_b4c9b23c: mcp__plugin_smcreader_smcreader__reader_ask(id, question) to analyze, mcp__plugin_smcreader_smcreader__reader_peek(id, start_line, end_line) for exact lines, mcp__plugin_smcreader_smcreader__reader_close(id) when done.

Related MCP server: LETHE

Why

Agents run commands whose output is mostly noise for the task at hand: test logs, build output, grep -r, git log, fetched pages. Every byte of it stays in the context for the rest of the session, pushes out what matters and makes every following turn more expensive. Truncating is not a fix — the one line the agent needs may be in the middle.

Measured on our own agent transcripts over 5 days (19–23 Oct 2026): 472 interceptions, 2.88 MB of tool output.

54% of the intercepted bytes (1.55 MB) never entered the context. On outputs of 16 KB and more the saving is about 21 KB per interception.

How it works

The main model (Opus, Fable) runs a command as usual — but the output never reaches it. SMC Reader's hook catches it on the way, saves it to disk and gives the model a short note instead: what was caught and how to read it. When the model needs something, it asks a cheap model (Haiku) with reader_ask; Haiku reads the whole output and returns only the lines that answer the question, verbatim. Exact lines by number (reader_peek) come straight from disk, with no model at all.

Under the hood:

1. Claude Code runs a tool and passes the result to the PostToolUse command hook.

2. If the output is large (≥ 2048 chars by default), the hook writes it to ~/.cache/smcreader/ctx_<id>.txt and replaces it with a pointer in the same shape as the original output — the engine silently ignores a replacement of a different shape.

3. The model sees the pointer: id, size, head and tail of the output.

4. It pulls what it needs through the smcreader MCP server:

The hook and the MCP server are separate processes sharing one directory; the directory is the source of truth (open-document limit, LRU eviction, 48 h expiry since last use).

Install

As a plugin (recommended) — see Quick start; the repository is its own plugin marketplace. The hook has no dependencies and runs from the plugin directory. The MCP server is started with npx -y --omit=optional --package=smcreader@<plugin version> smcreader-mcp: the first start downloads the npm package once (~40 MB with dependencies, ~60 MB on disk). --omit=optional skips the Agent SDK's bundled Claude Code binaries (~280 MB per platform variant); reader_ask runs your own claude from PATH instead (or READER_CLAUDE_EXECUTABLE). Loaded as a plugin, the tools are named mcp__plugin_smcreader_smcreader__reader_*, and the hook writes these names into the pointer.

For a one-off session from a checkout: git clone https://github.com/bulatko/SMCReader ~/smcreader and claude --plugin-dir ~/smcreader.

npm install -g smcreader        # or: git clone … && npm install --omit=dev

1. Hook — add to ~/.claude/settings.json (or a project's .claude/settings.json):

{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [
      { "matcher": "Bash|WebFetch",
        "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "READER_TOOL_PREFIX=mcp__smcreader__ smcreader-hook" }] }
    ]
  }
}

2. MCP server:

claude mcp add smcreader -- smcreader-mcp

With a git checkout instead of a global install use node /ABSOLUTE/PATH/bin/smcreader-hook and node /ABSOLUTE/PATH/bin/smcreader-mcp. The old binary names reader-hook / reader-mcp remain as aliases.

Both processes read the same environment; if you set READER_DIR, set it for both (claude mcp add smcreader -e READER_DIR=/path -- smcreader-mcp).

Intercepting an MCP tool. Add it to the hook's matcher and to READER_ALLOWLIST, e.g. matcher Bash|WebFetch|mcp__mesh__execute and command READER_ALLOWLIST=Bash,WebFetch,mcp__mesh__execute smcreader-hook. Never allowlist SMC Reader's own tools.

Read guard (optional). PreToolUse, matcher Read, same command with READER_READ_GUARD=32768: a full Read of a file above the threshold is denied with working alternatives (Read with offset/limit, Grep, reader_open, sed/head/tail). The plugin does not enable it.

Owners. The hook stamps each document with the session_id from its input (a subagent's document gets <session>/agent:<agent_id>). The open-document limit (10) and LRU eviction are per owner; reader_close refuses another owner's document when the server has READER_OWNER; reading by id is never restricted.

npm test                                         # unit + cross-process (spawns the real bin/ scripts)
sh e2e/claude-code.sh                            # real Claude Code: hook via --settings, server via --mcp-config
READER_E2E_NO_HOOK=1 sh e2e/claude-code.sh       # negative control: no hook — must fail
sh e2e/plugin.sh                                 # real Claude Code, everything from the plugin
READER_E2E_NO_PLUGIN=1 sh e2e/plugin.sh          # negative control: no --plugin-dir — must fail
READER_E2E_PACKAGE=registry sh e2e/plugin.sh     # the published npm version instead of `npm pack`

e2e/plugin.sh loads a copy of the tracked files without node_modules (what a marketplace install gets) and points its .mcp.json at npm pack of the working tree.

Releasing. A marketplace install takes the plugin from the default branch, and its .mcp.json pins smcreader@<version> — so the version must be on npm before the bump reaches that branch. Bump the version in package.json, .claude-plugin/plugin.json and .mcp.json (npm test checks they agree), commit, push only the tag v<version>; the Release workflow publishes to npm (trusted publishing, with provenance). Then push the branch.

The e2e verdict comes from --output-format stream-json, i.e. from what the model actually received, not from what it said: (1) the Bash tool_result contains [READER ctx_ and not 1500 (from seq 1 3000); (2) a reader tool call with that id returned 2999. One run takes ~10–20 s and ~$0.03 on Haiku. CI runs only npm test: e2e needs a logged-in Claude Code.

What it runs and sends

• The hook (bin/smcreader-hook, no dependencies, no network) reads the tool output that Claude Code passes to it. If the output is large, the hook writes it to READER_DIR (default ~/.cache/smcreader) and returns the pointer in its place.

• The MCP server comes from the npm registry: the plugin starts it with npx (smcreader@<version> and its dependencies), and later starts run from npm's cache.

• reader_ask sends the document and your question to Claude Haiku through your own Claude Code (claude, your credentials), like a subagent would. Those Haiku sessions keep their transcripts under READER_WORK_DIR. reader_open, reader_peek, reader_list and reader_close run locally.

• Documents expire 48 h after their last use. There is no telemetry, and nothing else leaves your machine.

Limitations

• Needs a Claude Code version that applies hookSpecificOutput.updatedToolOutput from command hooks (verified on 2.1.282 and 2.1.310). Older versions call the hook but keep the original output.

• Claude Code itself saves a Bash output above BASH_MAX_OUTPUT_LENGTH (30 000 characters by default) to a file and shows the model a preview with the path. SMC Reader leaves such outputs alone, so it covers outputs between READER_THRESHOLD and that limit.

• A failed command (non-zero exit) is not intercepted: Claude Code reports it through PostToolUseFailure, which cannot replace the output (Claude Code shortens it itself).

• Supported output shapes: string, {stdout,…} (Bash), {content:[…]} (MCP), {output}, {file:{content}} (Read), arrays of content blocks. Unknown shape → passed through untouched.

• Read is not intercepted by default — Edit needs exact bytes. Use the read guard instead.

• reader_ask needs Claude Code credentials and a claude binary (Agent SDK, model Haiku); reader_open / reader_peek / reader_list work without them. Documents above 700 KB can only be peeked; above 5 MB reader_open refuses them.

• The plugin's hook sets an environment variable inline (VAR=… node …), which needs a POSIX shell; Windows is not tested.

• The server does not know the Claude Code session by itself (it outlives /clear and resumes); set READER_OWNER if you need per-session isolation in a shared READER_DIR.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.