---
source_keys:
  - gitea-mcp-repo
  - gitea-mcp-slim-go
---

# Reading files, directories and trees

All three read calls select what to read with `ref` — a branch name, tag, or commit SHA. On
`get_repository_tree` the same value goes in `tree_sha` despite the name.

## Single file

`get_file_contents(owner, repo, ref, path)`.

The response carries the file's `sha` at the **top level**, not nested under `content`. That field
is the write-ready SHA, so capture it whenever a write may follow.

Content comes back base64-encoded — decode it — **unless `withLines: true` was passed**, in which
case `content` is already plain text: a JSON array of `{"line": N, "content": "..."}` objects.
The response reports `"encoding": "base64"` either way, so that field is wrong under `withLines`
and decoding on its word yields garbage. Pass `withLines: true` only when you need numbered lines
to quote specific lines back to the user; omit it for a normal content fetch.

## One directory level

`get_dir_contents(owner, repo, ref, path)` returns the immediate entries only — name, path, type,
size. No recursion, no content, no `sha`.

## Whole repository tree

`get_repository_tree(owner, repo, tree_sha, recursive)`. Set `recursive: true` to walk
subdirectories in one call.

The response sets `truncated: true` when one page doesn't hold every entry — page with
`page`/`per_page` (defaults `1`/`30`) until a page returns fewer than `per_page`.

## Neither listing is a SHA source for a write

`get_dir_contents` entries carry no `sha` at all. `get_repository_tree` entries do carry a blob or
tree hash, but reaching it costs an extra round trip and returns no content. `get_file_contents` is
the canonical path for a write's SHA: one call returns the decoded content and the write-ready
`sha` together.

## A 404 that is really a 403

These reads gate on `write:repository`; an under-scoped token gets 404 instead of 403 so the
endpoint doesn't leak whether the resource exists. On a path you're confident about, check token
scope before concluding it doesn't exist.