What are policy checks commands?
Last published July 28, 2025
The liquibase checks command is a command group that allows you to customize and execute Policy Checks. It allows you to improve the quality of your database changes.
These commands require specific parameters noted in the table. Customizations to checks configuration are stored in the checks settings file. Note: If you have a checks settings file customized for a specific environment or project, you need to pass that using the --checks-settings-file parameter. If you do not include this parameter, Liquibase uses the default settings file: liquibase.checks-settings.conf. See Use the Checks Settings Configuration File.
Checks command
The liquibase checks command is a command group that lets you show, customize, and run policy checks. This command group contains several commands listed in the table on this page. You can optionally use the --verbose parameter while using the checks run command to expand the output to display a deeper level of detail about tables or other database objects checked. Outputs are listed below to show the difference between a --verbose output and a non --verbose output.
Usage syntax
liquibase checks <command> --check-name=<checkShortname>
It is important to note that command arguments must be placed after the specified policy check.
Tip: For best results, specify all commands and parameters in the --kebab-case format in the CLI. If your preference is camelCase, it also works in the CLI.
To validate that multiple types of objects in your database adhere to your naming conventions, use the Verify naming conventions in your database. You can also format the output of your policy checks as JSON: see Policy Checks JSON Object. For a list of checks to run with commands, see Library of Policy Checks.
Troubleshooting
If you try to run a checks command without having the Liquibase Checks Extension installed, Liquibase may display this message:ERROR: No checks command performed because Liquibase Checks Extension is required with this version of Liquibase. In Liquibase 4.31.0 and later, the Checks Extension is included when you download Liquibase. If you accidentally removed the checks JAR from your /internal/lib folder, you can download a replacement Checks Extension JAR from Maven Central.