read.md

description	Fetch the source bytes for a symbol — defined-range plus configurable surrounding context.
argument-hint	<file:line | qualified-name> [--context-lines N]
allowed-tools	mcp__oxagen__code_read_symbol

/oxagen:read — read symbol source

Wraps code.read_symbol (M9, SPEC §7.1). Returns the symbol's summary, exact defined line range, and source bytes plus N lines of surrounding context (PR #608, merged 2026-05-06, commit 5dedb28b).

Steps

1 — Parse arguments

• <argument> — <file>:<line> or qualified name.
• --context-lines N — extra lines before / after the symbol. Default 5, range 0–200. Larger values pull more bytes; set to 0 for an exact-range fetch.

2 — Call code.read_symbol

mcp__oxagen__code_read_symbol({
  name: "<argument>",
  context_lines: <n>
})

SPEC §7.9 envelope. Top-level fields:

• qualified_name, kind
• defined_at (file, line_start, line_end)
• summary
• source — file bytes for the requested range, including the context_lines padding. Available on servers running PR #608 (merged 2026-05-06, commit 5dedb28b); absent on older servers, in which case fall back to /oxagen:describe + /oxagen:explain.

3 — Format

<qualified_name>  (<kind>)
Defined: <file>:<line_start>-<line_end>  (+/- <context_lines>)

<summary>

```<lang from extension>
<source>

If `source` is absent, render `summary` + `defined_at` and tell
the user to upgrade their MCP server to read source bytes.

### 4 — Suggest follow-ups

- "Run `/oxagen:explain <symbol>` for behavioural breakdown."
- "Run `/oxagen:impact <symbol>` for blast radius."

## Failure modes

| Symptom | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| `source` field missing | Server pre-dates PR #608 — fetch via `/oxagen:describe` and IDE read |
| `defined_at` missing | Symbol not ingested — run `/oxagen:find-symbol` |
| `context_lines` rejected | Server < the OXA-PENDING upgrade — drop the flag |