--- title: influxdb3 debug verify-references description: The influxdb3 debug verify-references command checks that every object the newest compactor checkpoint references exists in object storage for your InfluxDB 3 Enterprise deployment. url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/cli/influxdb3/debug/verify-references/ estimated_tokens: 1981 product: InfluxDB 3 Enterprise version: enterprise publisher: InfluxData canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/cli/influxdb3/debug/verify-references/ date: '2026-09-29T11:52:29-04:00' lastmod: '2026-09-29T11:52:29-04:00' --- The `influxdb3 debug verify-references` command checks that every object the cluster’s newest compactor checkpoint references still exists in object storage. It’s the inverse of[orphaned file cleanup](/influxdb3/enterprise/admin/orphaned-file-cleanup/): the cleanup process proves nothing extra is kept, and this command proves nothing referenced is gone. Use it for general store-integrity audits, for example after an incident, a migration, or suspected data loss. The command reads directly from object storage and doesn’t need a running InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server. ## Usage ```bash influxdb3 debug verify-references [OPTIONS] --cluster-id ``` ## Options | Option | Description | Required | |-------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------| | `--object-store ` | Object store type. Valid values: `s3`, `google`, `azure`, `file`, `memory`. Default: `file`. Environment variable: `INFLUXDB3_OBJECT_STORE` | No | | `--bucket ` | Object store bucket name. Required for `s3`, `google`, and `azure` object store types | Varies | | `--cluster-id ` | Cluster whose references to verify. Environment variable: `INFLUXDB3_CLUSTER_ID` | Yes | |`--engine-path-prefix `| Engine path prefix the cluster runs with, if any. Environment variable: `INFLUXDB3_ENGINE_PATH_PREFIX` | No | | `--concurrency ` | Number of concurrent run-set probes. Must be at least `1` |No, default `32`| | `--json` | Emit the result as JSON | No | | `--require-checkpoint` |Fail instead of verifying vacuously clean when no checkpoint is recorded for the cluster. Use this to catch a mistyped cluster ID or bucket, which otherwise looks the same as a fresh cluster| No | | `-h`, `--help` | Print help information | No | | `--help-all` | Print detailed help information | No | `influxdb3 debug verify-references` accepts the same object store connection options as `influxdb3 serve`. For example,`--aws-access-key-id` and `--aws-secret-access-key` for S3-compatible stores. For the complete object store flag reference, see[`influxdb3 debug object-store-check`](/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/cli/influxdb3/debug/object-store-check/#options). ## Exit codes Automation can gate on the exit code instead of parsing output: |Exit code| Meaning | |---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | `0` | Every referenced object exists. This includes a cluster with no checkpoint yet, unless `--require-checkpoint` is set | | `1` |The audit itself couldn’t run (object store errors, an invalid object store configuration, or no checkpoint with `--require-checkpoint` set). Command-line parse errors, such as an unknown flag or a missing `--cluster-id`, exit with `2` instead, so check the output before treating `2` as missing data| | `2` | One or more referenced objects are missing or unreadable | ## Examples ### Verify a cluster’s compacted-data references Replace the following: * `CLUSTER_ID`: your cluster identifier * `S3_BUCKET`: your object store bucket name ```bash influxdb3 debug verify-references \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket S3_BUCKET \ --cluster-id CLUSTER_ID ``` A clean run prints a line similar to: ``` OK: every compacted-data reference exists ``` ### Gate automation on a required checkpoint Use `--require-checkpoint` in a script so a mistyped cluster ID or bucket fails loudly instead of reporting a vacuously clean result: ```bash influxdb3 debug verify-references \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket S3_BUCKET \ --cluster-id CLUSTER_ID \ --require-checkpoint \ --json ``` | Option | Description | Required | | --- | --- | --- | | Option | Description | Required | | --object-store | Object store type. Valid values: s3 , google , azure , file , memory . Default: file . Environment variable: INFLUXDB3_OBJECT_STORE | No | | --bucket | Object store bucket name. Required for s3 , google , and azure object store types | Varies | | --cluster-id | Cluster whose references to verify. Environment variable: INFLUXDB3_CLUSTER_ID | Yes | | --engine-path-prefix | Engine path prefix the cluster runs with, if any. Environment variable: INFLUXDB3_ENGINE_PATH_PREFIX | No | | --concurrency | Number of concurrent run-set probes. Must be at least 1 | No, default 32 | | --json | Emit the result as JSON | No | | --require-checkpoint | Fail instead of verifying vacuously clean when no checkpoint is recorded for the cluster. Use this to catch a mistyped cluster ID or bucket, which otherwise looks the same as a fresh cluster | No | | -h , --help | Print help information | No | | --help-all | Print detailed help information | No | | Exit code | Meaning | | --- | --- | | Exit code | Meaning | | 0 | Every referenced object exists. This includes a cluster with no checkpoint yet, unless --require-checkpoint is set | | 1 | The audit itself couldn’t run (object store errors, an invalid object store configuration, or no checkpoint with --require-checkpoint set). Command-line parse errors, such as an unknown flag or a missing --cluster-id , exit with 2 instead, so check the output before treating 2 as missing data | | 2 | One or more referenced objects are missing or unreadable |