diff --git a/core b/core
index adb686b..4b4dab3 160000
--- a/core
+++ b/core
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit adb686bc1d98e27aa0e86265b3310d4f535f1c23
+Subproject commit 4b4dab3f02f1d5be8da7c118d9f5feff23d1b077
diff --git a/tools/file_read b/tools/file_read
index e99c65e..55da563 100644
--- a/tools/file_read
+++ b/tools/file_read
@@ -45,9 +45,20 @@ if not os.path.isfile(file_path):
     sys.exit(1)
 
 with open(file_path, 'rb') as f:
-    if b'\x00' in f.read(8192):
-        print("STATUS=ok BINARY=true")
-        print("(binary file)")
+    raw_head = f.read(8192)
+    if b'\x00' in raw_head:
+        # Binary file -- try to detect image type
+        IMAGE_SIGS = [
+            b'\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n', b'\xff\xd8\xff',
+            b'GIF87a', b'GIF89a', b'RIFF',
+        ]
+        is_image = any(raw_head.startswith(s) for s in IMAGE_SIGS)
+        if is_image:
+            print("STATUS=ok BINARY=true IMAGE=true")
+            print("(image file — use image_read for visual content)")
+        else:
+            print("STATUS=ok BINARY=true")
+            print("(binary file)")
         sys.exit(0)
 
 start = max(1, start)
diff --git a/tools/image_read b/tools/image_read
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8dc30f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/image_read
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# ollie:parallel read
+# ollie:tier cold
+# description: Read an image file, recompressing/resizing to fit context budget. Returns an image content block.
+# args: <file_path> [--region=x,y,w,h] [--scale=N] [--quality=N]
+
+import sys
+import os
+import base64
+import json
+import mimetypes
+
+file_path = None
+for a in sys.argv[1:]:
+    if not a.startswith('--'):
+        file_path = a
+
+if not file_path:
+    print("usage: image_read <file_path>")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+if not os.path.isabs(file_path):
+    print("STATUS=error")
+    print("error: path must be absolute")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+if not os.path.exists(file_path):
+    print("STATUS=not_found")
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+mime, _ = mimetypes.guess_type(file_path)
+if not mime:
+    mime = 'application/octet-stream'
+
+with open(file_path, 'rb') as f:
+    data = f.read()
+
+b64 = base64.b64encode(data).decode('ascii')
+
+print(json.dumps({"isError": False, "content": [
+    {"type": "image", "media_type": mime, "data": b64},
+    {"type": "text", "text": f"[image: {os.path.basename(file_path)} {len(data)} bytes {mime}]"}
+]}))