Read
A Claude Code tool, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.138, including the newest one read.
Files covered by a Read deny rule can no longer be written, not just edited.
Not Anthropic's. This is the line from the earliest changelog entry here that named it, v2.1.228.
In the changelogs
32Releases whose published page names Read.
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v2.1.302
A built-in permission list now allows reading saved session files
A built-in list of allowed tool actions now includes Read(~/.claude/projects/**), the folder where sessions are saved
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.300
Claude is told plainly when it has not seen a PDF and must read it by pages
For PDFs that must be read page by page, Claude is now told it has not seen the file and must read a page range before writing anything
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.288
Models that cannot read whole PDFs are told to read specific pages
When a model rejects a whole PDF, Claude is now told to read specific pages with the Read tool's pages option instead
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.287
Cloud sessions explain why a cd-then-read Bash command needs approval
In cloud sessions, the approval prompt for a Bash command that changes folder then reads a file now explains the key and sign-in file risk
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.285
Handling of the --tools flag reorganized, with the same warnings
The code that reads
--toolsand warns about unknown tool names was moved into one place; the warning text is unchangedfound in this entry's text
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v2.1.281
File tools add a new early validation step
Read, Edit, Write and NotebookEdit now run a shared check on the file path before any of their other input checks
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v2.1.277
TaskOutput's output-length config knob is deprecated (tool removed)
TaskOutput tool removed; background task output is now read via the Read tool
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v2.1.277
Per-tool 'backgrounding' classification rolled out across nearly all built-in tools
Nearly every built-in tool now carries a 'backgrounding' classification of never, self, or detach
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v2.1.273
Read tool's HTTP handler helper gains body_file support
Read tool's HTTP handler settings now accept a body_file option alongside method, body, mode, and script
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v2.1.271
New system reminder against using
caton files near the Bash output limitNew guidance tells Claude to use the Read tool instead of cat for large files
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v2.1.269
Auto-denial telemetry event now excludes path-scoped deny-rule refusals of file tools
Auto-denial telemetry no longer counts Read/Edit/Write calls blocked by a path-scoped deny rule
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.269
Managed-settings deny/ask rules starting with '!' are now rejected with a warning
Managed-settings deny/ask rules starting with '!' are now dropped with a warning instead of applied
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.269
Denied/ask permission rules starting with a negated Read/Edit pattern are now dropped with a warning
Deny/ask permission rules that start with a negated Read/Edit pattern are now dropped with a warning
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.265
File-modified-since-read errors now name the host when multi-host sessions are involved
The 'file changed since you read it' error now names which host to re-read the file on, in multi-host sessions
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.265
Artifact result text can be returned inline instead of requiring a Read, when multi-file mode is on
Small text files saved by Artifact tools can now return their contents inline, skipping a separate Read
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.265
New read-baseline lookup for remote-synced project files
Read and Edit tools now check a stored baseline for files synced from a remote host
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.265
Bash path-validation helpers gained an extra passthrough parameter affecting relative-path-after-cd checks
Bash safety checks gained a parameter that can skip the 'ask' prompt for reading a relative path after cd
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v2.1.260
cd-then-read deny-rule circuit breaker removed
Bash no longer warns before cd-ing into a directory covered by a Read deny rule.
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v2.1.260
Argument-scoped permission rules for built-in tool controls
Permission rules can now target specific arguments like Bash(curl *) instead of whole tools.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.260
Sandbox read-deny setting now surfaced in file-denial reasons
File read denial reasons now also note sandbox read-deny settings as a cause.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.259
New deny-checked commands: grep/rg/diff/git/cp/mv and generic argument-path extraction
Path deny rules now extract file arguments from more flag shapes and apply to grep, rg, diff, git, cp and mv.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.259
claude-api built-in agent tool access tightened
The built-in claude-api agent lost Read, Grep and Glob and now only has WebFetch scoped to one docs domain.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.257
Init frame schema gains 'host' and 'serving' fields for local tool serving to cloud sessions
The init frame can announce the local machine and whether it serves Bash, Read, Write and Edit calls to a cloud session.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.257
Tool dispatch can emit a 'tool.output' telemetry event with file contents/diffs/commands
A tool.output telemetry event can carry file contents, diffs and bash commands after a successful tool call, behind a gate.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.228
Write tool now refuses files covered by a Read deny rule
Files covered by a Read deny rule can no longer be written, not just edited.
found in this entry's text
- v2.1.140
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v2.1.128
Better Large Input and Media Result Messages
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.124
File edit history snippet budgeting
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v2.1.124
Read tool description simplified
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.69
ToolSearch Multi-Select and Search Hints
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.64
ToolSearch Multi-Select
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v2.1.51
LLM-Based Memory Retrieval
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First cited
0No release's published evidence quotes this name. The ledger indexes the Evidence lines of every changelog on this site, so this says nobody here has ever quoted it; it says nothing about how old the name is.
Presence across releases
2Build by build
265One row per release since the first build this name was read out of. Absent means the build was read and the name was not in it, never mined means no bundle for that release was ever archived, and a declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the tool does. All tools.