file · Command reference

`qzx readFile`

What it does

Reads and displays the content of a file

Command maturity: Alpha

Available for real use and feedback while its interface and behavior can still evolve. This is the current development-checkout assessment. Every future immutable release tag preserves the exact assessment shipped by that version. Available in PyPI 0.2.2.0.15. This page documents the 0.2.2.0.15 alpha development checkout.

Behavior and built-in protections

Inspects without changing state

Direct execution for this operation

Works without invoking native programs

Works without network access

No elevation required by design

This safety classification was reviewed by Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic) against implementation digest sha256:b747b8875f49807a91ee577a8604addb5c6fcdd6720c4f89271eddc9fae5fdff on 2026-10-08.

Exact syntax

qzx readFile <file_path> [max_lines] [max_bytes] [offset] [encoding] [expected_fingerprint] --json

Parameters

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Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
file_path	str	Yes	Not declared	Path to the text file to read
max_lines	int	No	Not declared	Maximum lines per page; omitted means no line limit within max_bytes. Zero reads no content.
max_bytes	int	No	65536	Source bytes per page (1 to 16777216; default 65536), plus a four-byte encoding probe. Split characters remain for the next page.
offset	int	No	0	Zero-based source byte offset. Use the exact next_read values to continue without repeating or losing text.
encoding	str	No	"auto"	auto detects a Unicode BOM, otherwise requires UTF-8. Explicit UTF-8/16/32, ASCII, Latin-1, CP1252, CP437 and CP850 are supported; decoding is strict.
expected_fingerprint	str	No	Not declared	Optional stat fingerprint token from next_read. Rejects ordinary file changes between pages; this is not a content hash or immutable snapshot.

Input examples

qzx readFile myfile.txt

Read up to 64 KiB of text, preserving Unicode and original line endings

qzx readFile myfile.txt 10 --json

Read the first ten lines within the byte budget and inspect next_read

qzx readFile "path with spaces/myfile.txt"

Read a file with spaces in the path

qzx readFile application.log --max-bytes 4096 --offset 0 --json

Start a bounded log-reading workflow; continue with the returned next_read values

qzx readFile legacy.txt --encoding cp1252 --json

Read a known Windows-1252 file without replacing accented characters

For the complete structured payload, add --json: qzx readFile <file_path> [max_lines] [max_bytes] [offset] [encoding] [expected_fingerprint] --json

Representative output example

This illustrative JSON is derived from the current implementation-backed result contract. It shows what the command can return without claiming a recorded execution; values vary with inputs, host, permissions, and optional tools.

Example command: qzx readFile myfile.txt --json

{
    "success": true,
    "message": "Reads and displays the content of a file. In this illustrative example, the command completed successfully.",
    "meta": {
        "command": "readFile",
        "command_maturity": {
            "stage": "alpha",
            "label": "Alpha",
            "sequence": 2,
            "public_executable": true,
            "stability": "interface_may_change",
            "summary": "Available for real use and feedback while its interface and behavior can still evolve.",
            "promotion_review_required": false,
            "assessment_scope": "development_checkout"
        },
        "duration_ms": 0,
        "schema_version": 1
    },
    "content": "Example file contents.\nSecond line.",
    "details": {
        "summary": "Additional structured context is included here."
    }
}

View the JSON result contract

{
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
        "success": {
            "type": "boolean"
        },
        "message": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "content": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "details": {
            "type": "object"
        },
        "error_code": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "error": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "meta": {
            "type": "object",
            "required": [
                "command",
                "command_maturity",
                "duration_ms",
                "schema_version"
            ],
            "properties": {
                "command": {
                    "type": "string"
                },
                "command_maturity": {
                    "type": "object",
                    "required": [
                        "stage",
                        "label",
                        "sequence",
                        "public_executable",
                        "stability",
                        "summary",
                        "promotion_review_required",
                        "assessment_scope"
                    ],
                    "properties": {
                        "stage": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "label": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "sequence": {
                            "type": "integer"
                        },
                        "public_executable": {
                            "type": "boolean"
                        },
                        "stability": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "summary": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "promotion_review_required": {
                            "type": "boolean"
                        },
                        "assessment_scope": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "note": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "review": {
                            "type": "object",
                            "required": [
                                "reviewed_on",
                                "rationale",
                                "evidence"
                            ],
                            "properties": {
                                "reviewed_on": {
                                    "type": "string",
                                    "format": "date"
                                },
                                "rationale": {
                                    "type": "string"
                                },
                                "evidence": {
                                    "type": "array",
                                    "minItems": 1,
                                    "items": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                },
                                "replacement": {
                                    "type": "string"
                                }
                            },
                            "additionalProperties": false
                        }
                    },
                    "additionalProperties": true
                },
                "duration_ms": {
                    "type": "number"
                },
                "schema_version": {
                    "type": "integer"
                }
            },
            "additionalProperties": true
        }
    },
    "required": [
        "message",
        "meta",
        "success"
    ],
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "additionalProperties": true
}

Errors and limits

The public contract requires success=false and a descriptive message on failure. This catalog does not yet declare a command-specific error taxonomy; inspect the result and do not invent error codes.

QZX is alpha software. Optional dependencies, permissions, and host capabilities can change the result.

Evidence workflow: ready for deterministic automated capture.

Evidence and provenance

Implementation: src/qzx/commands/file/read_file.py
Tests: No command-specific test file with the same module name was found; this does not prove that all coverage is absent.
Documentation channel: Development documentation 0.2.2.0.15 · main · sha256:b91acee86268edb7cb018a94e089ff8e95835eda3f2cf08b39796c0ab9654693
Availability: 0.2.2.0.15 or earlier

Keep exploring

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