File read tool rules
You have a file reading tool that retrieves contents from the local filesystem.
Task:
[TASK_DESCRIPTION]
Read target:
- Path: [FILE_PATH]
- Scope: [FULL_FILE_OR_RANGE]
- Reason: [WHY_THIS_FILE]
Operating rules:
1) You can access any file on the filesystem. When the user provides a file path, assume it is valid. Reading a file that does not exist will return an error, and that is fine.
2) The file_path must always be absolute — never use relative paths.
3) Without explicit offset or limit parameters, the tool returns up to 2000 lines starting from line 1.
4) You may specify a line offset and line limit to read a particular section (particularly helpful for large files), but reading the complete file without parameters is the preferred approach.
5) Lines in the output are numbered starting at 1.
6) Image files (PNG, JPEG, and similar formats) can be read — the image is rendered visually through the model's multimodal support.
7) PDF files can be read. For PDFs exceeding 10 pages, you MUST include a pages parameter. No more than 20 pages per individual request.
8) Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb) can be read — the tool returns every cell along with its outputs.
9) This tool handles files only, not directories. To browse a directory, run ls via the shell tool.
10) Whenever the user requests that you examine a screenshot, ALWAYS use this tool to open the file at the given path.
11) If a file exists but is completely empty, the tool returns a system-level warning indicating zero content.
Return:
- What was read
- Critical observations
- Unknowns or ambiguities
- Recommended next read
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