github / github/copilot-cli

view tool rejects a normal 8.6 KB file as too large to read at once

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Description

Describe the bug

The built-in view tool (shown as Read in the VS Code UI) reports File too large to read at once (8.6 KB) when asked to read a small, ordinary multiline Markdown file. This appears to be a false-positive size warning and makes normal full-file inspection unnecessarily cumbersome.

This is not the large single-line JSON or custom-tool-output case. The file is a regular Markdown document and is approximately 8.6 KB.

Affected version

Unknown - encountered in the Copilot CLI runtime integrated with VS Code.

Steps to reproduce the behavior
  1. Use the Copilot CLI runtime in VS Code on Windows.
  2. Ask the agent to read a normal multiline Markdown file of approximately 8.6 KB.
  3. Allow the built-in view/Read tool to read the file without specifying a range.
  4. Observe the File too large to read at once (8.6 KB) warning instead of the file contents.
Expected behavior

A normal file of this size should be read successfully in full. If a size threshold is required, the threshold should be consistent, documented, and should not report ordinary small files as too large without a clear reason.

Additional context
  • OS: Windows 11
  • Host: Visual Studio Code
  • Tool: built-in view/Read
  • File type: regular Markdown, approximately 8.6 KB
  • The warning recommends using view_range, even though the file is small enough that a full read would normally be expected.
  • This report is about the view tool's full-file size handling, not Azure DevOps or the repository being inspected.
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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Locate the built-in view/Read implementation and the full-file size check, then reproduce it with an approximately 8.6 KB multiline Markdown file in the Windows and VS Code setup described. Trace why this normal file is rejected; done means the file reads in full without the false-positive warning while genuinely oversized or single-line inputs retain appropriate handling.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
shell, vscode
Domain
cli, tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
52/100

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