add --recursive to fast validation

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -16,6 +16,16 @@ The format is (loosely) based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/)
 
 ### Updated
 
+## [v4.4.0] - 2026-05-11
+
+### Added
+
+- support for --recursive option for `fast` command to validate static STAC catalogs. [#294](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-validator/pull/294)
+- support for --api option for `fast` command to validate STAC API endpoints. [#294](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-validator/pull/294)
+- support for --limit option for `fast` command to cap the number of STAC objects validated. [#294](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-validator/pull/294)
+- Added `run_dict` method to `FastValidator` for direct in-memory dictionary validation without file/network loading. [#294](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-validator/pull/294)
+
+
 ## [v4.3.0] - 2026-05-08
 
 ### Added

README.md

@@ -311,6 +311,12 @@ Options:
   -q, --quiet    Suppress individual item logs.
   -v, --verbose  Show full validation logs for all items. By default, only
                  invalid items are shown.
+    -r, --recursive  Recursively validate all child catalogs, collections,
+                                     and items.
+    -a, --api        Validate a STAC API catalog recursively (follows data,
+                                     child, item, and items links).
+    --limit INTEGER RANGE  Limit number of STAC objects to validate.
+                                                 [x>=1]
   --help         Show this message and exit.
 ```
 
@@ -513,6 +519,8 @@ The `fast` command provides ultra-high-speed validation using `fastjsonschema` w
 - **Multi-tier caching:** RAM → Disk → Network with automatic fallback
 - **Local schema storage:** Schemas cached locally under `local_schemas/.schemas` directory for instant reuse
 - **Automatic detection:** Detects STAC type (Item, Collection, Catalog, FeatureCollection) automatically
+- **Recursive traversal:** Supports `--recursive` for local catalog/collection graphs
+- **STAC API traversal:** Supports `--api` to follow STAC API data, child, item, and items links
 - **Detailed metrics:** Shows setup time, execution time, and cache hit status for each item
 - **Error grouping:** Groups validation errors by type and shows affected items
 
@@ -541,8 +549,17 @@ $ stac-validator fast item.json --quiet
 # Show detailed output for all items (default shows first 5)
 $ stac-validator fast collection.json --verbose
 
+# Validate only first 25 objects in a large FeatureCollection
+$ stac-validator fast collection.json --limit 25
+
+# Recursively validate a local catalog graph
+$ stac-validator fast catalog.json --recursive
+
+# Recursively validate a STAC API root endpoint
+$ stac-validator fast https://api.example.com --api
+
 # Combine options
-$ stac-validator fast collection.json --verbose --quiet  # Quiet takes precedence
+$ stac-validator fast collection.json --verbose --limit 50
 ```
 
 **Example Output**
@@ -868,6 +885,10 @@ import json
 fv = FastValidator("large_collection.json", quiet=True)
 fv.run()
 
+# Optionally cap validation to the first N objects
+fv_limited = FastValidator("large_collection.json", quiet=True, limit=100)
+fv_limited.run()
+
 # Access validation results via the message attribute
 print(json.dumps(fv.message, indent=2))
 

pyproject.toml

@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "stac_valid"
-version = "4.3.0"
+version = "4.4.0"
 description = "A package to validate STAC files"
 authors = [
-    {name = "James Banting"},
-    {name = "Jonathan Healy", email = "jon@healy-hyperspatial.dev"}
+    {name = "Jonathan Healy", email = "jon@healy-hyperspatial.dev"},
+    {name = "James Banting"}
 ]
 maintainers = [
     {name = "Jonathan Healy", email = "jon@healy-hyperspatial.dev"},