> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/volcengine/OpenViking/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# read

> Read full file content (L2)

Read the complete content of a file. This is the L2 (full content) layer in OpenViking's context hierarchy.

## Python SDK

```python theme={null}
from openviking import OpenViking

client = OpenViking()

# Read entire file
content = client.read("viking://resources/docs/api.md")
print(content)

# Read with offset and limit
partial = client.read("viking://resources/docs/api.md", offset=100, limit=500)
print(partial)
```

## HTTP API

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash Full Read theme={null}
  curl -X GET "http://localhost:1933/api/v1/content/read?uri=viking://resources/docs/api.md" \
    -H "X-API-Key: your-key"
  ```

  ```bash Partial Read theme={null}
  curl -X GET "http://localhost:1933/api/v1/content/read?uri=viking://resources/docs/api.md&offset=100&limit=500" \
    -H "X-API-Key: your-key"
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<RequestExample>
  ```http theme={null}
  GET /api/v1/content/read?uri=viking://resources/docs/api.md
  ```
</RequestExample>

## Parameters

<ParamField path="uri" type="string" required>
  Viking URI of the file to read
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="offset" type="integer" default="0">
  Byte offset to start reading from
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="limit" type="integer" default="-1">
  Maximum number of bytes to read (`-1` for entire file)
</ParamField>

## Response

<ResponseField name="status" type="string">
  Operation status (`ok` on success)
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="result" type="string">
  The file content as a string
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="time" type="number">
  Execution time in seconds
</ResponseField>

<ResponseExample>
  ```json theme={null}
  {
    "status": "ok",
    "result": "# API Documentation\n\nThis document describes the API...\n\n## Authentication\n\n...",
    "time": 0.1
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>

## CLI

```bash theme={null}
openviking read viking://resources/docs/api.md
```

## Context Layers

OpenViking provides three levels of content access:

* **L0 (Abstract)**: \~100 token summary via [`abstract()`](/api/filesystem/abstract)
* **L1 (Overview)**: Structured overview via [`overview()`](/api/filesystem/overview)
* **L2 (Full)**: Complete content via `read()` (this method)

## Error Cases

* Returns error if the URI points to a directory (use [`overview()`](/api/filesystem/overview) for directories)
* Returns error if the file doesn't exist
* For binary files, content may not be readable as text