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File Reader Toolbox

file_reader

Read and summarize text-based file types only. Prefer read_file for text formats; use execute_shell_command for type detection when needed. PDF/Office/images/archives are handled by other skills.

SKILL.md

Full skill instructions

File Reader Toolbox

Use this skill when the user asks to read or summarize local text-based files. PDFs, Office documents, images, audio, and video are out of scope for this skill and should be handled by their dedicated skills/​tools.

Quick Type Check

Use a type probe before reading:

file -b --mime-type "/​path/​to/​file"

If the file is large, avoid dumping the whole content; extract a small, relevant portion and summarize.

Text-Based Files (use read_file)

Preferred for: .txt, .md, .json, .yaml/​.yml, .csv/​.tsv, .log, .sql, ini, toml, py, js, html, xml source code.

Steps:

  1. Use read_file to fetch content.
  2. Summarize key sections or show the relevant slice requested by the user.
  3. For JSON/​YAML, list top-level keys and important fields.
  4. For CSV/​TSV, show header + first few rows, then summarize columns.

Large Logs

If the file is huge, use a tail window:

tail -n 200 "/​path/​to/​file.log"

Summarize the last errors/​warnings and notable patterns.

Out of Scope

Do not handle the following in this skill (they are covered by other skills):

  • PDF
  • Office (docx/​xlsx/​pptx)
  • Images
  • Audio/​Video

Safety and Behavior

  • Never execute untrusted files.
  • Prefer reading the smallest portion necessary.
  • If a tool is missing, explain the limitation and ask the user for an alternate format.

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