Read source files

Search returns matching documents and snippets. Use the read commands when you want the underlying file content.

List files in a collection

kbolt ls my_docs
kbolt ls my_docs guides/

Use a prefix to narrow the listing to one part of the collection.

Read one file

Use a collection-relative path:

kbolt get my_docs/path/to/file.md

Or use a document id from search output:

kbolt get '#abc123'

Read a line range with --offset and --limit:

kbolt get my_docs/path/to/file.md --offset 40 --limit 80

Read several files

Use multi-get when an agent or script needs several documents in one call:

kbolt multi-get my_docs/a.md,my_docs/b.md

Set limits when you need bounded output:

kbolt multi-get my_docs/a.md,my_docs/b.md --max-files 10 --max-bytes 30000

When to use each command

Need	Command
See what is indexed	kbolt ls
Read one document	kbolt get
Read several documents with output limits	kbolt multi-get
Let an agent call read tools directly	kbolt mcp

Next steps

• Use these commands from agents with Use with Claude Desktop.
• See exact arguments in Read and integration.
• Check indexed content with Health and status.