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readResource

Reads a resource from the MCP server.

Will throw an error if:

  • The server did not declare 'resources' in the capabilities section.
  • The server did not list this resource URI in the resources list.
  • The resource read fails.

Syntax​

app.readResource(uri: string): Promise<ReadResourceResult>

Parameters​

  • uri: The URI of the resource to read

Returns​

A Promise that resolves to a ReadResourceResult instance containing the resource contents.

The result provides helper methods for accessing content:

  • .getTextContent(): Get text from the first text resource
  • .getBlobContent(): Get blob from the first blob resource
  • .findByUri(uri): Find a resource by its URI
  • .contents: Access the raw contents array

Example​

import { mcpShell } from 'expect-mcp';
import { test, expect } from 'vitest';

test('read a resource from the server', async () => {
  const app = mcpShell('node resource-server.js');
  await app.initialize();

  // Read a text resource
  const result = await app.readResource('file:///example.txt');

  // result is a ReadResourceResult instance
  expect(result.contents).toBeDefined();

  // Use helper methods
  const text = result.getTextContent();
  expect(text).toBeDefined();

  // Or use matchers
  await expect(result).toHaveResourceContent('file:///example.txt');
  await expect(result).toHaveTextResource('expected content');

  await app.close();
});

Error Handling​

If the resource read fails, an error will be thrown:

try {
  await app.readResource('file:///nonexistent.txt');
} catch (error) {
  expect(error.name).toBe('ResourceCallError');
}

Timeout Configuration​

You can configure the timeout for resource reads using the requestTimeout option:

const app = mcpShell('node slow-resource-server.js', {
  requestTimeout: 30000, // 30 seconds
});

const result = await app.readResource('file:///large-file.txt');

See Also​