[factspark23-hash]

What

Add optional head and tail parameters to the read_multiple_files tool, allowing line-limited reads across multiple files at once.

Why

The single-file read_text_file already supports head and tail, but read_multiple_files does not. When working with multiple large files (logs, configs, data files), agents often only need the first/last N lines of each.

Currently the only option is to call read_text_file with head/tail N times, which is slower and more verbose.

How

read_multiple_files({
  paths: ["log1.txt", "log2.txt", "log3.txt"],
  tail: 20  // last 20 lines of each file
})

• head — returns only the first N lines of each file
• tail — returns only the last N lines of each file
• Cannot use both simultaneously (throws error, same as read_text_file)
• Omitting both reads full files (backward compatible)

Changes

• src/filesystem/index.ts:
  • Added head and tail to ReadMultipleFilesArgsSchema
  • Updated handler to use headFile/tailFile from lib.ts
  • Updated tool description
  • Added mutual exclusion check (same pattern as read_text_file)

[LuuOW]

Technical audit: Verified MCP server implementation for consistency with current SDK patterns.

[cliffhall]

Thank you for this pull request, and apologies for the long wait for a response.

These servers are reference implementations: they exist to show how each part of MCP is used, not to be general-purpose products, so new features are taken selectively, and this change isn't one the maintainers plan to take. This repository also now accepts issues, not pull requests, from anyone but its maintainers; the policy is in CONTRIBUTING.md.

This is not a judgment on the idea or on you. A server in the MCP Registry may well offer it, and anyone is welcome to build on these servers to do so. If you think we've misread it, please open an issue describing the problem and the expected behavior.

This is part of the backlog triage in #4875.