Command reference

bee-check <INPUT> [OPTIONS]

Positional

Argument	Description
`<INPUT>`	Swarm reference (64- or 128-hex) or feed handle `feed:OWNER:TOPIC` (40-hex owner, 64-hex topic). Feed inputs are resolved via `GET /feeds/{owner}/{topic}` on the first `--bee`.

Probing

Flag	Default	Description
`-b`, `--bee <URL>`	`$BEE_API_URL` or `http://localhost:1633`	Bee API URL. Repeat for multi-vantage.
`--gateway <URL>`	`https://api.gateway.ethswarm.org` (unless `--no-gateway`)	Public gateway to HEAD-probe via `{url}/bzz/{ref}/`. Repeat for multiple.
`--no-gateway`	—	Skip public-gateway probing entirely.
`--target-overlay <HEX>`	—	Sort vantages closest-first to this target overlay and tag each with `target_proximity`.
`--per-chunk`	off	Walk the manifest and probe every reachable chunk on every vantage. Capped at 1000 chunks.
`--cold`	off	End-to-end download probe. Streams `GET /bytes/{ref}` from each Bee URL and `GET /bzz/{ref}/` from each gateway, recording total bytes + elapsed_ms. Complements stewardship.
`--timeout <SECS>`	`60`	Per-call timeout.
`--concurrency <N>`	`8`	Max parallel chunk probes during `--per-chunk`.

Re-seed

Flag	Description
`--reseed`	After probing, re-upload the reference via `PUT /stewardship/{ref}`. Requires `--stamp`.
`--stamp <ID>`	Postage batch ID for re-seed (64-hex).

See The re-seed flow for the full sequence.

Output

Flag	Default	Description
`--output <FORMAT>`	`text`	One of `text`, `json`. See Output formats.
`-v`, `--verbose`	off	Repeat for more: `-v` info, `-vv` debug (incl. every HTTP call), `-vvv` trace. Default level is `warn`. `RUST_LOG` overrides if set.

Help and version

bee-check --help
bee-check --version

Worked examples

Single vantage against the default Bee:

bee-check c79394a6c311f816373ec9945365325e7fc0784cfa9a62deec1524d2c2bdc36a

Three vantages + a gateway, JSON output:

bee-check <ref> \
  --bee https://a.example \
  --bee https://b.example \
  --bee https://c.example \
  --gateway https://api.gateway.ethswarm.org \
  --output json

Resolve a feed first, then probe the current update:

bee-check feed:1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678:5678abcd...

Per-chunk drill-down across two vantages, machine-readable:

bee-check <ref> \
  --bee http://localhost:1633 \
  --bee https://b.example \
  --per-chunk \
  --output json | jq '.chunk_stats'

Pre-flight + re-seed in one command:

bee-check <ref> --reseed --stamp <batch-id> --bee https://my-bee.example

Stewardship + cold-download in one shot — useful when stewardship disagrees with /bzz and you want to confirm bytes actually flow:

bee-check <ref> --cold --bee http://localhost:1633 \
  --gateway https://api.gateway.ethswarm.org \
  --output json | jq '.cold_downloads'

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