notion_retrieve_block
Retrieve content from Notion blocks in JSON or Markdown format for reading, writing, or modifying workspace data.
Instructions
Retrieve a block from Notion
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| block_id | Yes | The ID of the block to retrieve.It should be a 32-character string (excluding hyphens) formatted as 8-4-4-4-12 with hyphens (-). | |
| format | No | Specify the response format. 'json' returns the original data structure, 'markdown' returns a more readable format. Use 'markdown' when the user only needs to read the page and isn't planning to write or modify it. Use 'json' when the user needs to read the page with the intention of writing to or modifying it. | markdown |
Implementation Reference
- src/client/index.ts:51-58 (handler)Core implementation of the notion_retrieve_block tool: fetches the Notion block by ID using the API.
async retrieveBlock(block_id: string): Promise<BlockResponse> { const response = await fetch(`${this.baseUrl}/blocks/${block_id}`, { method: "GET", headers: this.headers, }); return response.json(); } - src/server/index.ts:66-74 (handler)Server-side handler for notion_retrieve_block: validates arguments and delegates to NotionClientWrapper.retrieveBlock.
case "notion_retrieve_block": { const args = request.params .arguments as unknown as args.RetrieveBlockArgs; if (!args.block_id) { throw new Error("Missing required argument: block_id"); } response = await notionClient.retrieveBlock(args.block_id); break; } - src/types/schemas.ts:43-57 (schema)Tool schema definition including name, description, and input schema for notion_retrieve_block.
export const retrieveBlockTool: Tool = { name: "notion_retrieve_block", description: "Retrieve a block from Notion", inputSchema: { type: "object", properties: { block_id: { type: "string", description: "The ID of the block to retrieve." + commonIdDescription, }, format: formatParameter, }, required: ["block_id"], }, }; - src/server/index.ts:302-326 (registration)Registers the notion_retrieve_block tool (via schemas.retrieveBlockTool) in the MCP server's listTools handler.
server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => { const allTools = [ schemas.appendBlockChildrenTool, schemas.retrieveBlockTool, schemas.retrieveBlockChildrenTool, schemas.deleteBlockTool, schemas.updateBlockTool, schemas.retrievePageTool, schemas.updatePagePropertiesTool, schemas.listAllUsersTool, schemas.retrieveUserTool, schemas.retrieveBotUserTool, schemas.createDatabaseTool, schemas.queryDatabaseTool, schemas.retrieveDatabaseTool, schemas.updateDatabaseTool, schemas.createDatabaseItemTool, schemas.createCommentTool, schemas.retrieveCommentsTool, schemas.searchTool, ]; return { tools: filterTools(allTools, enabledToolsSet), }; });