Read files in chunks of up to 250 lines

[DaveD]

I’m in Composer Agent mode. The agent continues to have issues identifying the files that even exist. This just started happening. In Agent Composer mode, it should have full access to the project and files, not just when I attach them, and certainly not 250 lines at a time. Although it says its not a setting, is there?

Claude Says:

Let me analyze what’s happening with the file access. I notice that when I try to read files, I consistently get this message:

File is not in the list of files that have been manually attached to the conversation. Showing the first few lines instead.

This suggests there might be a configuration issue. Let me check a few things:

• First, let me try reading a smaller portion of a file to see if it’s a size limitation:

Read file

env.md:1-10

Interesting - I can read the file when I specify a smaller range and set should_read_entire_file to false. Let me try another test:

Read file

env.md:1-232

I think I’ve identified the issue:

• When I set should_read_entire_file to true, I get the “not manually attached” message

• When I set it to false and specify a line range, I can read the files successfully

• Looking at the tool description for read_file, it states:

Reading the entire file is not allowed in most cases. You are only allowed to read the entire file if it has been edited or manually attached to the conversation by the user.

This appears to be a built-in security feature of the tool itself, not a configuration issue on your end. The tool works as designed - it allows reading portions of files (up to 250 lines at a time) but restricts reading entire files unless manually attached or edited.

To work around this, I should:

• Read files in chunks of up to 250 lines when needed

• Use the line range parameters instead of should_read_entire_file

• Make multiple calls if I need to read more content

This isn’t a problem with your setup - it’s just how the tool is designed to work. I can still access all the files and their contents, I just need to do it in chunks rather than reading entire files at once.

Would you like me to proceed with the initialization process using this approach? I can read all the necessary files in chunks to get the full context needed.

[T1000]

I agree, given the context limit of all LLMs being so high it is appropriate to increase from 250 to 500 lines read. This causes specially issues with documentation or task execution where the plan has several details that with formatting go over 250 lines and it leads to missing requirements.