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GDAL-DATASET-IDENTIFY(1)	      GDAL		GDAL-DATASET-IDENTIFY(1)

NAME
     gdal-dataset-identify - Identify driver opening dataset(s)

     Added in version 3.12.

     gdal dataset identify reports the name of drivers that can open one or sev-
     eral dataset(s).

SYNOPSIS
	Usage: gdal dataset identify [OPTIONS] <FILENAME>

	Identify driver opening dataset(s).

	Positional arguments:
	  --input, --filename <FILENAME>		       File or directory name [may be repeated] [required]

	Common Options:
	  -h, --help					       Display help message and exit
	  --json-usage					       Display usage as JSON document and exit
	  --config <KEY>=<VALUE>			       Configuration option [may be repeated]
	  -q, --quiet					       Quiet mode (no progress bar or warning message) [not available in pipelines]

	Options:
	  -o, --output <OUTPUT> 			       Output vector dataset (created by algorithm)
	  -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>  Output format
	  --co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> 	       Creation option [may be repeated]
	  --lco, --layer-creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE>	       Layer creation option [may be repeated]
	  -l, --output-layer <OUTPUT-LAYER>		       Output layer name
	  --overwrite					       Whether overwriting existing output dataset is allowed
	  -r, --recursive				       Recursively scan files/folders for datasets
	  --force-recursive				       Recursively scan folders for datasets, forcing recursion in folders recognized as valid formats
	  --detailed					       Most detailed output. Reports the presence of georeferencing, if a GeoTIFF file is cloud optimized, etc.
	  --report-failures				       Report failures if file type is unidentified

OPTIONS
     --filename <FILENAME>
	    Any file name or directory name. Required. May be repeated

     -o, --output <OUTPUT>
	    Added in version 3.13.

	    Output  vector  dataset  that will have at a minimum fields filename
	    and driver, and if --detailed is specified, also layout (whose value
	    can be  for  example  COG),  file_list  (side-car  files),	has_crs,
	    has_geotransform and has_overview.

	    When this argument is not specified, the result report is emitted to
	    the  standard  output  stream,  either as JSON or text (depending on
	    --output-format),  for  command  line  execution,  or  in  the  out-
	    put-string argument when used from the API.

	    Note  that	this is not a positional argument, so the -o or --output
	    switch must be explicitly used before specifying the name.

     -f, --of, --format, --output-format json|text|<OTHER-VECTOR-FORMAT>
	    Which output format to use. Default is JSON, or  text  when  invoked
	    from command line.

	    Since  GDAL  3.13, other GDAL vector formats with creation capabili-
	    ties can be used, in which case --output must be specified.

     -r, --recursive
	    Recursively scan files/folders for datasets.

     --force-recursive
	    Recursively scan folders for datasets, forcing recursion in  folders
	    recognized as valid formats.

     --detailed
	    Added in version 3.13.

	    Increases  the level of details in the output.  Reports the presence
	    of georeferencing, if a GeoTIFF file is cloud optimized, etc.

     --report-failures
	    Report failures if file type is unidentified.

RETURN STATUS CODE
     The program returns status code 0 in case of success, and non-zero in  case
     of  error (non-blocking errors emitted as warnings are considered as a suc-
     cessful execution).

EXAMPLES
   Example 1: Identifying a single file
	$ gdal dataset identify NE1_50M_SR_W.tif

	NE1_50M_SR_W.tif: GTiff

   Example 2: Identifying a single file with JSON output
	$ gdal dataset identify --of=JSON NE1_50M_SR_W.tif

	[
	   {
	     "name": "NE1_50M_SR_W.tif",
	     "driver": "GTiff"
	   }
	]

   Example 3: Recursive mode will scan subfolders and report the data format
	    $ gdal dataset identify -r 50m_raster/

	    NE1_50M_SR_W/ne1_50m.jpg: JPEG
	    NE1_50M_SR_W/ne1_50m.png: PNG
	    NE1_50M_SR_W/ne1_50m_20pct.tif: GTiff
	    NE1_50M_SR_W/ne1_50m_band1.tif: GTiff
	    NE1_50M_SR_W/ne1_50m_print.png: PNG
	    NE1_50M_SR_W/NE1_50M_SR_W.aux: HFA
	    NE1_50M_SR_W/NE1_50M_SR_W.tif: GTiff
	    NE1_50M_SR_W/ne1_50m_sub.tif: GTiff
	    NE1_50M_SR_W/ne1_50m_sub2.tif: GTiff

   Example 4: Recursively scans subfolders and reports detailed information into
     a CSV file
	    $ gdal dataset identify --output out.csv --detailed -r 50m_raster/

   Example 5: Check if a GeoTIFF file is cloud optimized using --detailed
     The following returns driver, and image layout details: GTiff,  layout=COG,
     has CRS, has geotransform, has overview(s)

	    $ gdal dataset identify /vsicurl/https://sentinel-cogs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/sentinel-s2-l2a-cogs/36/Q/WD/2020/7/S2A_36QWD_20200701_0_L2A/TCI.tif --detailed

AUTHOR
     Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>

COPYRIGHT
     1998-2026

				  Jun 05, 2026		GDAL-DATASET-IDENTIFY(1)

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