# show_buffer

Source: https://libtmux.org/en/py/latest/mcp/tools/show_buffer/

> Read back the contents of an MCP-owned buffer.

MCP is in development

Server behavior and tool contracts may change. Tool availability depends on the server configuration.

Read back the contents of an MCP-owned buffer.

Output is tail-preserved: when the buffer exceeds `max_lines` the oldest lines are dropped and :attr:`~libtmux_mcp.models.BufferContent.content_truncated` is set so the caller can tell truncation happened and opt in to a full read via `max_lines=None`. This mirrors [`capture_pane`](https://libtmux.org/en/py/latest/mcp/tools/capture_pane/) — one consistent bounded-output contract across read-heavy tools so a pathological [`load_buffer`](https://libtmux.org/en/py/latest/mcp/tools/load_buffer/) staging cannot blow the agent’s context window on a single `show_buffer` call.

[All Python tools](../) · [JSON](../show_buffer.json) · [Source](https://github.com/tmux-python/libtmux-mcp/blob/4daddc0dfca96c43bf521d818bf91564e1434760/src/libtmux_mcp/tools/buffer_tools.py#L396)

## Arguments

* `buffer_name` required · string

  Must match the full MCP-namespaced form.

* `max_lines` optional

  Maximum number of lines to return. Defaults to :data:\`SHOW\_BUFFER\_DEFAULT\_MAX\_LINES\`. Pass \`\`None\`\` for no truncation.

  Default: `500`.

* `socket_name` optional

  tmux socket name.

  Default: `null`.

## Schemas

The schema defines required fields, nested values, defaults, and validation constraints.