This paper discusses how much information on a Friedrichs model operator can be detected from ‘measurements on the boundary’. We use the framework of boundary triples to introduce the generalised Titchmarsh–Weyl M-function and the detectable subspaces which are associated with the part of the operator which is ‘accessible from boundary measurements’. The Friedrichs model, a finite rank perturbation of the operator of multiplication by the independent variable, is a toy model that is used frequently in the study of perturbation problems. We view the Friedrichs model as a key example for the development of the theory of detectable subspaces, because it is sufficiently simple to allow a precise description of the structure of the detectable subspace in many cases, while still exhibiting a variety of behaviours. The results also demonstrate an interesting interplay between modern complex analysis, such as the theory of Hankel operators, and operator theory.