diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9a8fe08..95d5ede 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -108,6 +108,24 @@ and viewed in `cover_html/index.html`.
 
 The coverage tool used is [node-cover][], see its documentation for details.
 
+
+### Command line tool
+
+Once installed, you can validate a badge URL at the command line:
+
+```
+$ node bin/openbadges-validate
+usage: openbadges-validate assertion [spec_version] [verification_type]
+
+    assertion:         URL, JWS signature or JSON representation
+
+    spec_version:      The target specification, allowed values: "0.5.0", "1.0.0", "1.1.0"
+                       (Omit or use "auto" for auto-detect)
+
+    verification_type: The target verification type, allowed values: "hosted", "signed"
+                       (Omit or use "auto" for auto-detect)
+```
+
 [jake]: https://github.com/mde/jake
 [node-cover]: https://github.com/itay/node-cover
 
diff --git a/bin/openbadges-validate b/bin/openbadges-validate
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..016d88c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/openbadges-validate
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+var validator = require('../');
+var args = process.argv.slice(2);
+var assertion = args[0] || '';
+var specVersion = args[1] || '';
+var verificationType = args[2] || '';
+
+function usage() {
+  console.log("usage: openbadges-validate assertion [spec_version] [verification_type]");
+  console.log('');
+  console.log('    assertion:         URL, JWS signature or JSON representation');
+  console.log('');
+  console.log('    spec_version:      The target specification, allowed values: "0.5.0", "1.0.0", "1.1.0"');
+  console.log('                       (Omit or use "auto" for auto-detect)');
+  console.log('');
+  console.log('    verification_type: The target verification type, allowed values: "hosted", "signed"');
+  console.log('                       (Omit or use "auto" for auto-detect)');
+  console.log('');
+}
+
+(function main () {
+  if (assertion.length) {
+    if (specVersion.length == 0 || specVersion == 'auto') {
+      specVersion = undefined;
+    }
+    else {
+      if (['1.1.0', '1.0.0', '0.5.0'].indexOf(specVersion) === -1) {
+        usage();
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+    }
+    if (verificationType.length == 0  || verificationType == 'auto') {
+      verificationType = undefined;
+    }
+    else {
+      if (['hosted', 'signed'].indexOf(verificationType) === -1) {
+        usage();
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+    }
+    console.log('assertion:         ' + assertion);
+    console.log('spec_version:      ' + (specVersion || '<auto-detect>'));
+    console.log('verification_type: ' + (verificationType || '<auto-detect>'));
+    console.log('--------------------------------');
+    validator.validate(assertion, handleResponse, specVersion, verificationType);
+  }
+  else {
+    usage();
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+})();
+
+function handleResponse (err, data) {
+  if (err === null) {
+    console.log('Okay');
+    process.exit(0);
+  }
+  if (err instanceof Error) {
+    console.log('Error:');
+    if (err.name && err.message) {
+      console.log(err.name + ': ' + err.message);
+    }
+    if (err.reason) {
+      console.log('└── ' + err.reason);
+    }
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+  console.log('Error details:');
+  console.log(err);
+  console.log(data);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 69a8907..9b92527 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -362,6 +362,10 @@ function validate(input, callback) {
       return validate.validateSigned(input, callback);
     if (isUrl(input))
       return validate.validateHostedUrl(input, callback);
+    if (isJson(input))
+      var url = urlFromAssertion(JSON.parse(input));
+      if (url)
+        return validate.validateHostedUrl(url, callback, '');
     return callback(makeError('input', 'not a valid signed badge or url', { input: input }));
   }
   return callback(makeError('input', 'input must be a string or object', { input: input }));
@@ -541,6 +545,19 @@ function getInternalClass(thing) {
   return Object.prototype.toString.call(thing);
 }
 
+function isJson (str) {
+  try { JSON.parse(str); return true } catch(e) { return false }
+}
+
+function urlFromAssertion (json) {
+  try {
+    var url = json.verify.url;
+    if (isUrl(url))
+      return url;
+    return false;
+  } catch(e) { return false; }
+}
+
 const isUrl = regexToValidator(re.url, 'must be a URL');
 const isAbsoluteUrl = regexToValidator(re.absoluteUrl, 'must be an absolute URL');
 const isEmail = regexToValidator(re.email, 'must be an email address');
@@ -725,3 +742,4 @@ validate.doesHashedEmailMatch = doesHashedEmailMatch;
 validate.VALID_HASHES = VALID_HASHES;
 validate.validateOldInterdependentFields = validateOldInterdependentFields;
 validate.validateInterdependentFields = validateInterdependentFields;
+validate.validate = validate;
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