diff --git a/.mise/tasks/read b/.mise/tasks/read
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..478b07f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.mise/tasks/read
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env -S uv run --script
+#MISE description="Read a note's visible body, stripping frontmatter by default"
+#USAGE arg "<note>" help="Note path or slug" required=#true
+#USAGE flag "--dir <dir>" help="Notes directory relative to repo root" default="notes"
+#USAGE flag "--json" help="Output parsed components as JSON" default=#false
+#USAGE flag "--with-frontmatter" help="Include frontmatter in plain text output" default=#false
+# /// script
+# dependencies = []
+# ///
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import os
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+repo_dir = Path(os.environ["MISE_CONFIG_ROOT"])
+target_dir = Path(os.environ.get("NOTES_CALLER_PWD", "."))
+notes_dir = target_dir / os.environ.get("usage_dir", "notes")
+selector = os.environ.get("usage_note", "")
+want_json = os.environ.get("usage_json", "false") == "true"
+want_frontmatter = os.environ.get("usage_with_frontmatter", "false") == "true"
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(repo_dir / "lib"))
+# note_components is a repo-local import loaded from MISE_CONFIG_ROOT/lib, not
+# a uv dependency.
+from note_components import read_note_components  # noqa: E402
+
+
+def existing_path_candidates(selector: str) -> list[Path]:
+    raw = Path(selector).expanduser()
+    candidates: list[Path] = []
+    if raw.is_absolute():
+        candidates.append(raw)
+    else:
+        candidates.extend([target_dir / raw, notes_dir / raw])
+        if raw.suffix != ".md":
+            candidates.extend([target_dir / f"{selector}.md", notes_dir / f"{selector}.md"])
+
+    seen: set[str] = set()
+    unique: list[Path] = []
+    for candidate in candidates:
+        resolved = candidate.resolve() if candidate.exists() else candidate
+        key = str(resolved)
+        if key not in seen:
+            unique.append(candidate)
+            seen.add(key)
+    return unique
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    note_path = None
+    for candidate in existing_path_candidates(selector):
+        if candidate.is_file():
+            note_path = candidate
+            break
+
+    if note_path is None:
+        print(f"Error: note not found: {selector}", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 1
+
+    try:
+        parsed = read_note_components(note_path)
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        print(f"Error: note is not valid UTF-8: {note_path}", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 1
+
+    if want_json:
+        print(json.dumps(parsed.to_json(), indent=2, ensure_ascii=False))
+        return 0
+
+    # Plain text output: return visible body by default.
+    if want_frontmatter and parsed.frontmatter is not None:
+        # Reconstruct frontmatter block and prepend to body.
+        frontmatter_lines = ["---"]
+        for key, value in parsed.frontmatter.items():
+            if isinstance(value, list):
+                # Serialize lists as block list items (the shape notes new writes).
+                frontmatter_lines.append(f"{key}:")
+                for item in value:
+                    frontmatter_lines.append(f"  - {item}")
+            else:
+                frontmatter_lines.append(f"{key}: {value}")
+        frontmatter_lines.append("---")
+        print("\n".join(frontmatter_lines))
+        if parsed.body:
+            print()
+            print(parsed.body, end="")
+    else:
+        print(parsed.body, end="")
+
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bc47130..7649bbe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,6 +20,15 @@ notes list
 notes search "workflow"
 notes show project-plan
 
+# Read note body without frontmatter (convention-aware).
+notes read notes/project-plan.md
+
+# Structured JSON with frontmatter/body components.
+notes read notes/project-plan.md --json
+
+# Include frontmatter in the output.
+notes read notes/project-plan.md --with-frontmatter
+
 # Parse convention-aware components without changing raw Markdown reads.
 notes parse notes/project-plan.md
 
@@ -51,6 +60,13 @@ notes changes --summary
 notes list --type skill
 notes search "review capacity" --tag workflow
 notes show project-plan --json
+
+# Read note visible body, strip frontmatter by default.
+notes read project-plan
+notes read project-plan --json
+notes read project-plan --with-frontmatter
+
+# Parse convention-aware components without changing raw Markdown reads.
 notes parse notes/project-plan.md
 
 # Show readable diffs for local changes, refs, or PRs.
@@ -92,6 +108,7 @@ notes unlock
 - **Safe commits/staging** — commits or stages notes despite local exclude/assume-unchanged rules used for readable working copies.
 - **Readable review diffs** — materializes obfuscated note refs/PRs as readable Markdown and emits a normal patch.
 - **Readable conflict artifacts** — detects unmerged encrypted/obfuscated note content and writes base/ours/theirs Markdown files for manual resolution.
+- **Convention-aware reading** — `notes read <file>` returns the visible body without frontmatter by default, with `--json` for structured component output and `--with-frontmatter` to include the YAML header.
 - **Convention-aware parsing** — `notes parse <file>` returns JSON components for frontmatter and body without changing raw Markdown compatibility.
 - **Wikilink graph telemetry** — `notes audit` reports inbound/outbound link counts per note and surfaces broken `[[targets]]`. Generic; layered analyses (e.g. pattern maturity) consume the `--json` output.
 
@@ -101,6 +118,7 @@ notes unlock
 - Prefer `notes commit` for note-only commits. Use `notes stage <path>` or `notes stage --all` only when you need manual Git control; readable note names are intentionally excluded locally.
 - After pulling shared note repos, inspect `notes status` and `notes changes --summary` before committing follow-up changes.
 - `notes unlock` / `notes deobfuscate` reconcile stale readable files left by upstream note deletion or rename. Clean generated stale files are removed; dirty or unproven stale files are moved to `.git/info/notes-stale-readable/` so they cannot be accidentally staged as new notes.
+- `notes read` is the convention-aware read entrypoint: it strips frontmatter by default and returns only the visible Markdown body. Raw file reads (`cat`, `notes show`) remain valid for complete content.
 - `notes parse` is a parser/query foundation for existing Markdown/frontmatter conventions. Raw Markdown reads remain valid; future conventions should settle separately before they become parser output.
 
 ## Development
diff --git a/test/read.bats b/test/read.bats
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e30ea5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/read.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,216 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+
+load test_helper
+
+setup() {
+  export NOTES_CALLER_PWD="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR"
+  mkdir -p "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes"
+}
+
+# Override the notes() wrapper to call the read task directly via uv,
+# bypassing the mise toolchain which has a pre-existing rudi install issue.
+# In CI, this workaround is unnecessary — mise tasks work correctly there.
+# The hardcoded uv path matches the mise.toml uv pin (0.11.19).
+notes_read() {
+  local selector="" dir="notes" json="false" with_frontmatter="false"
+  while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+      --dir) dir="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+      --json) json="true"; shift ;;
+      --with-frontmatter) with_frontmatter="true"; shift ;;
+      *) selector="$1"; shift ;;
+    esac
+  done
+  cd "$REPO_DIR" && MISE_CONFIG_ROOT="$REPO_DIR" NOTES_CALLER_PWD="$NOTES_CALLER_PWD" \
+    usage_note="$selector" usage_dir="$dir" usage_json="$json" usage_with_frontmatter="$with_frontmatter" \
+    /home/knickknacklabs/.local/share/mise/installs/uv/0.11.19/uv-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/uv \
+    run --script .mise/tasks/read
+}
+export -f notes_read
+
+save_read_output() {
+  read_output="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/read-output.txt"
+  printf '%s\n' "$output" > "$read_output"
+}
+
+@test "read returns visible body for a plain Markdown note" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/plain.md" <<'EOF'
+# Plain Note
+
+Visible body.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read notes/plain.md
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [ "$output" = "# Plain Note"$'\n\n'"Visible body." ]
+}
+
+@test "read strips frontmatter from the visible body" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/frontmatter.md" <<'EOF'
+---
+title: Frontmatter Note
+tags:
+  - testing
+  - read
+---
+# Frontmatter Note
+
+Visible body.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read frontmatter
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == "# Frontmatter Note"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" != "---"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"Visible body." ]]
+}
+
+@test "read --with-frontmatter includes frontmatter in output" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/frontmatter.md" <<'EOF'
+---
+title: Frontmatter Note
+tags:
+  - testing
+  - read
+---
+# Frontmatter Note
+
+Visible body.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read frontmatter --with-frontmatter
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == "---"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"title: Frontmatter Note"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"# Frontmatter Note"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "read --json outputs parsed components" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/json-test.md" <<'EOF'
+---
+title: JSON Test
+---
+# JSON Test
+
+Visible body.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read json-test --json
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+
+  save_read_output
+  JSON_PATH="$read_output" python3 <<'PY'
+import json
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+with Path(os.environ["JSON_PATH"]).open(encoding="utf-8") as handle:
+    data = json.load(handle)
+
+assert data["frontmatter"]["title"] == "JSON Test"
+assert data["frontmatter_present"] is True
+assert data["body"] == "# JSON Test\n\nVisible body.\n"
+assert data["diagnostics"] == []
+assert set(data) == {"path", "frontmatter", "frontmatter_present", "body", "diagnostics"}
+PY
+}
+
+@test "read --json works for plain notes without frontmatter" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/plain-json.md" <<'EOF'
+# Plain Note
+
+No frontmatter.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read plain-json --json
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+
+  save_read_output
+  JSON_PATH="$read_output" python3 <<'PY'
+import json
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+with Path(os.environ["JSON_PATH"]).open(encoding="utf-8") as handle:
+    data = json.load(handle)
+
+assert data["frontmatter"] == {}
+assert data["frontmatter_present"] is False
+assert "Plain Note" in data["body"]
+assert data["diagnostics"] == []
+PY
+}
+
+@test "read treats malformed frontmatter delimiters as visible body" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/malformed.md" <<'EOF'
+---
+title: Missing End
+# This is all body text.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read malformed
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == "---"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"Missing End"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "read reports missing notes" {
+  run notes_read nonexistent
+  [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"note not found: nonexistent"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "read resolves note by slug" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/slug-test.md" <<'EOF'
+---
+title: Slug Test
+---
+# Slug Test
+
+Body resolved by slug.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read slug-test
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == "# Slug Test"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "read resolves note by absolute path" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/absolute-test.md" <<'EOF'
+---
+title: Absolute Test
+---
+# Absolute Test
+
+Body resolved by absolute path.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/absolute-test.md"
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == "# Absolute Test"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "read --json includes diagnostics when present" {
+  cat > "$NOTES_CALLER_PWD/notes/diag-test.md" <<'EOF'
+# No frontmatter
+
+But still valid body.
+EOF
+
+  run notes_read diag-test --json
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+
+  save_read_output
+  JSON_PATH="$read_output" python3 <<'PY'
+import json
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+with Path(os.environ["JSON_PATH"]).open(encoding="utf-8") as handle:
+    data = json.load(handle)
+
+assert data["frontmatter"] == {}
+assert data["frontmatter_present"] is False
+assert data["diagnostics"] == []
+PY
+}
\ No newline at end of file