test-eutils

name	test-eutils
description	Use when probing NCBI E-utilities reachability or endpoint health with the bundled `-alive`, `-all`, or per-endpoint diagnostic checks.
disable-model-invocation	true
user-invocable	true

test-eutils

POSIX shell diagnostic for E-utilities availability. It checks one or more remote endpoints and reports progress with dots for apparent success and x markers for failures, optionally with verbose details and repeats.

Quick Start

• Command: test-eutils [ -all | -alive | -esearch | -elink | -efetch | -esummary ]
• Local executable: /home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/test-eutils
• Useful flags: -verbose, -repeats <n>

When To Use This Tool

• Checking whether E-utilities endpoints are reachable from the current machine
• Narrowing a connectivity problem to one endpoint such as esearch, elink, efetch, or esummary
• Repeating health checks to catch intermittent failures
• Performing a smaller network diagnostic than test-edirect

Common Patterns

# Quick reachability probe
test-eutils -alive

# Run the broader endpoint suite
test-eutils -all

# Repeat one check and show detailed failure output
test-eutils -esummary -verbose -repeats 3

Recommended Workflow

1. Start with -alive for a lightweight reachability probe.
2. Escalate to -all or a specific endpoint flag if you need to localize the failure.
3. Add -verbose when you want the underlying failing command and payload details.
4. Use -repeats for intermittent problems instead of rerunning manually.

Guardrails

• -h, -help, and --help print real usage text, but --version is unrecognized.
• The source accepts a few additional modes such as -preview and -einfo that are broader than the abbreviated usage banner.
• This tool is network-dependent and can take time. In a local bounded run, test-eutils -alive printed EDirect 24.0, the mode name alive, then progress dots (....) before the external timeout ended the run.
• Progress-dot output is concise by design; use -verbose if you need actionable failure details rather than just success/failure markers.