refactor(search): change default limit from None to 1

Change the default limit parameter for search_objects from None to 1
to optimize for single object searches. This makes the API more
intuitive for common use cases where users want to find a specific
object without specifying pagination parameters.

Changes:
- Update limit parameter type from `int | None = None` to `int = 1`
- Remove conditional logic handling None values
- Update documentation to reflect new default
- Update all tests to expect new default behavior

This improves usability for exploratory searches while maintaining
full pagination functionality when larger limits are specified.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/cordra_mcp/server.py

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Examples:
 
 Pagination:
 - Results are paginated with 0-based page numbering
-- Use 'limit' to control page size (default: 20)
+- Use 'limit' to control page size (default: 1)
 - Use 'page_num' to specify which page to retrieve (default: 0)
 
 Returns a JSON list of matching objects with their full metadata."""
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Returns a JSON list of matching objects with their full metadata."""
 async def search_objects(
     query: str,
     type: str | None = None,
-    limit: int | None = None,
+    limit: int = 1,
     page_num: int = 0,
 ) -> str:
     """Search for digital objects in the Cordra repository with pagination support.
@@ -56,16 +56,14 @@ async def search_objects(
                - "/author:smith" - Find objects by author Smith
                - "/name:John AND type:Person" - Complex queries
         type: Optional filter by object type (e.g., "Person", "Document", "Project")
-        limit: Optional page size - number of results per page (default: 20)
+        limit: Page size - number of results per page (default: 1)
         page_num: Page number to retrieve, 0-based (default: 0 for first page)
 
     Returns:
         JSON string containing list of matching objects with their full metadata
     """
     try:
-        # Use provided limit or default page size of 20
-        page_size = limit if limit is not None else 20
-        search_result = await cordra_client.find(query, object_type=type, page_size=page_size, page_num=page_num)
+        search_result = await cordra_client.find(query, object_type=type, page_size=limit, page_num=page_num)
         results = search_result["results"]
         return json.dumps(results, indent=2)
 

tests/test_server.py

@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ class TestSearchObjects:
         assert parsed_result[1]["id"] == "people/jane-smith"
 
         # Verify the client was called with correct parameters
-        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("name:John", object_type=None, page_size=20, page_num=0)
+        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("name:John", object_type=None, page_size=1, page_num=0)
 
     @patch('cordra_mcp.server.cordra_client')
     async def test_search_objects_with_type_filter(self, mock_client):
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ class TestSearchObjects:
         assert parsed_result[0]["type"] == "Person"
 
         # Verify the client was called with type filter
-        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("name:John", object_type="Person", page_size=20, page_num=0)
+        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("name:John", object_type="Person", page_size=1, page_num=0)
 
     @patch('cordra_mcp.server.cordra_client')
     async def test_search_objects_with_limit(self, mock_client):
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ class TestSearchObjects:
         parsed_result = json.loads(result)
         assert parsed_result == []
 
-        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("nonexistent:data", object_type=None, page_size=20, page_num=0)
+        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("nonexistent:data", object_type=None, page_size=1, page_num=0)
 
     @patch('cordra_mcp.server.cordra_client')
     async def test_search_objects_client_error(self, mock_client):
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ class TestSearchObjects:
             await search_objects("test:query")
 
         assert "Search failed:" in str(exc_info.value)
-        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("test:query", object_type=None, page_size=20, page_num=0)
+        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("test:query", object_type=None, page_size=1, page_num=0)
 
     @patch('cordra_mcp.server.cordra_client')
     async def test_search_objects_value_error(self, mock_client):
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ class TestSearchObjects:
             await search_objects("invalid:query")
 
         assert "Invalid search parameters:" in str(exc_info.value)
-        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("invalid:query", object_type=None, page_size=20, page_num=0)
+        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("invalid:query", object_type=None, page_size=1, page_num=0)
 
     @patch('cordra_mcp.server.cordra_client')
     async def test_search_objects_json_formatting(self, mock_client):
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ class TestSearchObjects:
         await search_objects("type:Document", page_num=1)
 
         # Verify the client was called with correct page number
-        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("type:Document", object_type=None, page_size=20, page_num=1)
+        mock_client.find.assert_called_once_with("type:Document", object_type=None, page_size=1, page_num=1)
 
     @patch('cordra_mcp.server.cordra_client')
     async def test_search_objects_with_all_pagination_params(self, mock_client):