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:
-
Use read_file to fetch content.
-
Summarize key sections or show the relevant slice requested by the user.
-
For JSON/YAML, list top-level keys and important fields.
-
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.