diff --git a/bin/mtag/vidchk.py b/bin/mtag/vidchk.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..b8ec55aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/mtag/vidchk.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import sys
+import subprocess as sp
+
+from copyparty.util import fsenc
+from copyparty.mtag import ffprobe
+
+
+"""
+inspects video files for errors and such
+usage: -mtp vidchk=t600,ay,bin/mtag/vidchk.py
+"""
+
+
+FAST = True  # parse entire file at container level
+# FAST = False  # fully decode audio and video streams
+
+
+def main():
+    fp = sys.argv[1]
+    md, _ = ffprobe(fp)
+
+    try:
+        w = int(md[".resw"][1])
+        h = int(md[".resh"][1])
+        if not w + h:
+            raise Exception()
+    except:
+        return "could not determine resolution"
+
+    if min(w, h) < 720:
+        return "resolution too small"
+
+    zs = (
+        "ffmpeg -y -hide_banner -nostdin -v warning"
+        + " -err_detect +crccheck+bitstream+buffer+careful+compliant+aggressive+explode"
+        " -xerror -i"
+    )
+
+    cmd = zs.encode("ascii").split(b" ") + [fsenc(fp)]
+
+    if FAST:
+        zs = "-c copy -f null -"
+    else:
+        zs = "-vcodec rawvideo -acodec pcm_s16le -f null -"
+
+    cmd += zs.encode("ascii").split(b" ")
+
+    p = sp.Popen(cmd, stdout=sp.PIPE, stderr=sp.PIPE)
+    so, se = p.communicate()
+    rc = p.returncode
+    if rc:
+        err = (so + se).decode("utf-8", "replace").split("\n", 1)[0]
+        return f"ERROR {rc}: {err}"
+
+    if se:
+        err = se.decode("utf-8", "replace").split("\n", 1)[0]
+        return f"Warning: {err}"
+
+    return None
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    print(main() or "ok")