---
title: The verify CLI
description: Score any URL against the AEO Spec.
---

```bash
bunx @dualmark/cli verify https://example.com/blog/your-post
```

## Usage

```
dualmark verify <url> [options]

Options:
  --json                Output a machine-readable JSON report (AEO Spec v1.0)
  --quiet               Suppress success output (failures still print)
  --color               Force color output (text mode only)
  --no-color            Disable color output
  --skip-negotiation    Skip negotiation checks (use for static-only sites)
  --timeout <ms>        Per-request timeout (default: 10000)
  --help, -h            Show help
```

`--json` cannot be combined with `--quiet` or `--color`; doing so exits with code `2`.

## Exit codes

| Code | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `0` | All required checks passed |
| `1` | One or more required checks failed |
| `2` | CLI error (network, invalid URL, etc.) |

## Programmatic API

```ts
import { verifyUrl, formatTextReport } from "@dualmark/cli";

const report = await verifyUrl("https://example.com/blog/post");
console.log(formatTextReport(report));
console.log("score:", report.score, "/", report.maxScore);
```

See [@dualmark/cli](/docs/packages/cli) for the full `VerifyReport` shape.

## Sample output

```
Dualmark Conformance Report
URL:         http://example.com/blog/edge-aeo
Markdown:    http://example.com/blog/edge-aeo.md
Score:       125/125
Duration:    107ms

Passed:
  [+20] md.fetch         -- Markdown twin URL is reachable and returns 2xx
  [+10] md.contentType   -- Content-Type is text/markdown; charset=utf-8
  [+10] md.tokensHeader  -- X-Markdown-Tokens header is present and a positive integer
  [+10] md.noindex       -- X-Robots-Tag includes noindex
  [+10] md.vary          -- Vary header includes Accept
  [+10] md.body          -- Body is non-empty markdown
  [+ 5] md.aeoVersion    -- X-AEO-Version header advertises spec version
  [+ 5] md.nosniff       -- X-Content-Type-Options is nosniff
  [+ 5] html.reachable   -- HTML URL is reachable
  [+10] html.linkAlternate -- HTML response advertises markdown twin via Link rel=alternate
  [+ 5] html.vary        -- HTML response Vary header includes Accept
  [+10] negotiation.botUa -- GPTBot UA receives text/markdown response
  [+10] negotiation.acceptHeader -- Accept: text/markdown receives text/markdown response
  [+ 5] negotiation.notAcceptable -- Accept that excludes html+markdown returns 406
```

## JSON output

With `--json`, the CLI emits the AEO Spec v1.0 contract instead of the text report:

```json
{
  "url": "https://example.com/blog/hello",
  "markdownUrl": "https://example.com/blog/hello.md",
  "score": 95,
  "max": 100,
  "level": "advanced",
  "skippedNegotiation": false,
  "durationMs": 123,
  "checks": [
    {
      "id": "md.fetch",
      "points": 20,
      "max": 20,
      "passed": true,
      "message": "OK"
    }
  ]
}
```

- `level` is one of `none`, `basic`, `standard`, `advanced`.
- `checks[].points` is `0` when a check fails, otherwise equal to `checks[].max`.
- `checks` preserve the canonical evaluation order from the conformance runner.