Inspect Claim Dependencies

Use provedown inspect when you want to understand the static relationships between code blocks, code uses, and result assertions without executing the document.

Inspection is useful before verification when you want to answer questions such as:

• Which named code blocks are referenced by prose claims?
• Which code blocks execute inline, and which are deferred to a use site or result assertion?
• Does a result point at a missing named expression?
• Are any named blocks never referenced?

Inspect A Document

Run:

provedown inspect examples/data-file-report.md

Text output starts with a summary and then lists document events in document order:

examples/data-file-report.md: ok
  events=10, errors=0, warnings=0
  [1] code examples/data-file-report.md:9:6 execution='inline'
  [2] result examples/data-file-report.md:28:19 compare='exact' authored='6' execution='eval'

The exact line and column numbers may change as the document changes.

Use JSON Output

Use JSON when an editor, CI job, or script needs structured inspection data:

provedown inspect --format json examples/data-file-report.md

Each event includes its kind, source location, language, and any relevant reference information. Result assertions include the authored value and comparison policy.

Interpret Issues

Inspection can report errors and warnings.

Errors mean the document has a broken static relationship, such as a code use or result assertion pointing at a missing named block. The command exits with status 1 when any inspection error is present.

Warnings identify suspicious but technically executable structure. For example, a named code block that is never referenced is reported as unused-named-code.

Inspection does not execute Python, read data files, or check authored values. Use provedown verify for that.