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Run curl checkip.me to see the public IP address that CheckIP.me observes for your request. Add /json to get structured details, including network, approximate location, VPN/proxy/Tor indicators, and a risk score. These indicators are clues, not proof of identity or a secure connection.

Check the public IP address visible to CheckIP.me

Open a terminal and run:

curl checkip.me

The response is the IP address CheckIP.me observes for that request. It is the public-facing address seen by this service, which may differ from an address shown in your device’s network settings. If you are connected through a VPN or proxy, the service may see the VPN or proxy’s exit address instead of your device’s usual public address.

CheckIP.me documents Linux, macOS, and Windows 10/11 as supported environments. In Windows PowerShell, use curl.exe: curl can resolve to PowerShell’s Invoke-WebRequest alias rather than the curl executable. The service’s documentation also says its command-line endpoints can be called over HTTP or HTTPS. See CheckIP.me’s API documentation.

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Choose plain text, JSON, or one field

CheckIP.me offers endpoints for the observed address, a supplied IP address, or a specific response field. Choose the smallest response that provides what your script needs.

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Just the address CheckIP.me observes curl checkip.me Plain-text IP address
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One value, such as the VPN indicator curl checkip.me/vpn That field as plain text
Details for an IP address you provide curl checkip.me/203.0.113.10/json JSON lookup for the supplied address

The final example uses the documentation’s arbitrary-IP endpoint pattern; replace 203.0.113.10 with the address you want to look up. The service documents GET endpoints for plain text, JSON, arbitrary IPs, and individual fields.

Request IPv4 or IPv6 explicitly

Without an address-family option, curl uses the network path and address selection available to it. To ask for a particular family, add -4 for IPv4 or -6 for IPv6:

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curl -4 checkip.me
curl -6 checkip.me

These options select the address family used for the request; they do not create IPv4 or IPv6 connectivity if your network does not provide it. The result shows the address CheckIP.me sees for the request that succeeds.

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Read the JSON response without over-interpreting it

The JSON endpoint can include the IP, ASN, ISP, organization, network type and range, approximate location and coordinates, timezone, currency, VPN/proxy/Tor indicators, hosting and other indicators, a risk score, and a possible operator value. CheckIP.me notes that unknown values may be null. The set of useful fields depends on what the service can identify for the address.

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Location is an estimate

IP geolocation is not a precise device location. A VPN lookup generally reflects the VPN server’s location, while a mobile connection using carrier-grade NAT may show a carrier gateway’s location. Treat city, coordinates, and similar fields as approximate network-location information, not evidence of where a person is physically located. CheckIP.me’s homepage presents the lookup as a way to check an IP address.

VPN, proxy, and Tor flags are signals

A flag can help you notice that an address is associated with a VPN, proxy, or Tor, but it does not establish the complete route a person’s traffic took. The service’s operator, David Williams, cautions that these flags should not be relied on for security-critical decisions. The available documentation does not provide an independently validated accuracy rate for the detection signals or risk score.

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The risk score is not a verdict

CheckIP.me documents risk as a score from 0 to 100, with higher values described as riskier. That range and description explain the scale; they do not establish a probability of fraud or a validated measure of maliciousness. Do not use the number by itself to block users, approve transactions, or make other consequential security decisions.

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Know the lookup limits and possible errors

As documented by CheckIP.me’s official API documentation, accessed October 7, 2026, lookups of other IP addresses are limited to 120 per hour per visitor. The documentation says recently looked-up addresses may be served from cache and that cached results can be up to 30 days old. A result for a supplied address therefore may not reflect a live network change.

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There is a discrepancy in the published limit: David Williams’s DEV Community how-to says 60 third-party lookups per hour, while CheckIP.me’s official API documentation says 120. The official documentation is the operating figure cited here; check it again if the exact limit matters, since service limits can change. Read the author’s how-to.

CheckIP.me documents these relevant HTTP responses:

  • 429: Too many requests. The response includes a Retry-After header; respect it before retrying.
  • 422: The supplied IP is private or reserved.
  • 502: The data source did not respond.

Use the response appropriately in a script

For a simple script variable, the plain-text endpoint avoids parsing a larger response. Use JSON when the script needs several fields, or a single-field endpoint when it needs just one value. Handle missing JSON values, HTTP errors, rate limiting, and potentially cached results rather than assuming every response is complete and current.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

For access control, fraud review, or other security-sensitive decisions, treat CheckIP.me’s indicators as one input at most. The published material does not establish detection accuracy or validate the risk score for those uses.

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