---
last_modified: 2026-03-05
title: "deno check"
oldUrl: /runtime/manual/tools/check/
command: check
openGraphLayout: "/open_graph/cli-commands.jsx"
openGraphTitle: "deno check"
description: "Download and type-check code without execution"
---

`deno check` type-checks your TypeScript (or JavaScript) code without running
it. This is useful in CI pipelines or before deploying to catch type errors
early. For more on TypeScript in Deno, see the
[TypeScript](/runtime/fundamentals/typescript/) guide.

## Basic usage

```sh
deno check main.ts
```

Check multiple files:

```sh
deno check src/server.ts src/utils.ts
```

## Scoping and excluding files

You can pass directories or globs as positional arguments to type-check a whole
tree at once:

```sh
deno check src/
deno check "src/**/*.ts"
```

To skip files or directories, use the top-level `exclude` field in `deno.json`.
It applies to `deno check` along with other subcommands like `deno fmt` and
`deno lint`:

```jsonc title="deno.json"
{
  "exclude": ["dist/", "vendor/", "**/*.generated.ts"]
}
```

See
[include and exclude](/runtime/fundamentals/configuration/#include-and-exclude)
in the configuration reference for the full glob syntax, including how to
un-exclude a sub-path.

## Type-checking remote modules

By default, only local modules are type-checked. Use `--all` to also type-check
remote dependencies:

```sh
deno check --all main.ts
```

## Type-checking JavaScript files

If you have a JavaScript project and want to type-check it without adding
`// @ts-check` to every file, use the `--check-js` flag:

```sh
deno check --check-js main.js
```

## Using in CI

`deno check` exits with a non-zero status code if there are type errors, making
it suitable for CI pipelines:

```sh
deno check main.ts && echo "Types OK"
```

Note that [`deno test`](/runtime/reference/cli/test/) and
[`deno bench`](/runtime/reference/cli/bench/) already perform type-checking by
default, so you don't need a separate `deno check` step if you're already
running tests. Use `deno check` when you want to type-check without running
anything — for example, as a fast early step in CI:

```sh
deno check main.ts
deno lint
deno test
```