diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6a0e3b4..75f0f66 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -142,6 +142,23 @@ contribcheck inspect owner/repository#123 --markdown --output report.md
 
 Markdown reports include the issue title and URL, verdict, check summaries, linked evidence, and next actions. `--markdown` and `--json` cannot be used together. Existing terminal output remains the default.
 
+Inspect several candidates from a text file while preserving input order:
+
+```text
+# candidates.txt
+sigma67/ytmusicapi#986
+https://github.com/plotly/plotly.js/issues/7750
+```
+
+```bash
+contribcheck batch candidates.txt --actor your-username
+contribcheck batch candidates.txt --json --fail-on caution
+```
+
+Batch JSON uses a stable top-level object with `schema_version`, ordered `results`, and a `summary` containing total, success, failure, and verdict counts. Each failed item is reported independently instead of discarding successful inspections. Batch concurrency defaults to four and can be changed with `--concurrency`.
+
+Batch exit codes are `0` when processing completes without reaching the configured threshold, `1` when input or processing fails for at least one item, and `2` when a successful report reaches the configured `--fail-on` threshold.
+
 ### GitHub Enterprise Server
 
 Set the API endpoint with `GITHUB_API_URL`, or override it for one command with `--base-url`:
diff --git a/src/contribcheck/cli.py b/src/contribcheck/cli.py
index ca46059..bc31550 100644
--- a/src/contribcheck/cli.py
+++ b/src/contribcheck/cli.py
@@ -17,7 +17,14 @@
 from contribcheck.analyzer import IssueAnalyzer
 from contribcheck.exceptions import ContribCheckError
 from contribcheck.github import GitHubClient
-from contribcheck.models import InspectionReport, OverallStatus, SignalStatus
+from contribcheck.models import (
+    BatchItem,
+    BatchReport,
+    BatchSummary,
+    InspectionReport,
+    OverallStatus,
+    SignalStatus,
+)
 
 app = typer.Typer(
     name="contribcheck",
@@ -107,6 +114,67 @@ def inspect(
         raise typer.Exit(code=2)
 
 
+@app.command()
+def batch(
+    input_file: Annotated[
+        Path,
+        typer.Argument(help="Text file with one issue URL or owner/repository#number per line."),
+    ],
+    actor: Annotated[
+        str | None,
+        typer.Option(help="Treat assignments and claims by this GitHub user as your own."),
+    ] = None,
+    token: Annotated[
+        str | None,
+        typer.Option(envvar="GITHUB_TOKEN", hidden=True),
+    ] = None,
+    json_output: Annotated[
+        bool,
+        typer.Option("--json", help="Print the stable batch report as JSON."),
+    ] = False,
+    concurrency: Annotated[
+        int,
+        typer.Option(min=1, max=32, help="Maximum number of inspections running at once."),
+    ] = 4,
+    base_url: Annotated[
+        str | None,
+        typer.Option(help="GitHub API endpoint; overrides GITHUB_API_URL."),
+    ] = None,
+    fail_on: Annotated[
+        FailOn,
+        typer.Option(help="Return non-zero when any result reaches this readiness threshold."),
+    ] = FailOn.NEVER,
+) -> None:
+    """Inspect issue references from a file while preserving input order."""
+
+    try:
+        references = _read_batch_references(input_file)
+        report = asyncio.run(
+            _batch(
+                references,
+                actor=actor,
+                token=token,
+                base_url=base_url,
+                concurrency=concurrency,
+            )
+        )
+    except (ContribCheckError, httpx.HTTPError, OSError, ValueError) as error:
+        console.print(f"[bold red]Batch inspection failed:[/bold red] {error}", highlight=False)
+        raise typer.Exit(code=1) from error
+
+    if json_output:
+        typer.echo(report.model_dump_json(indent=2))
+    else:
+        _render_batch_report(report)
+
+    if report.summary.failed:
+        raise typer.Exit(code=1)
+    if fail_on == FailOn.BLOCKED and report.summary.blocked:
+        raise typer.Exit(code=2)
+    if fail_on == FailOn.CAUTION and (report.summary.caution or report.summary.blocked):
+        raise typer.Exit(code=2)
+
+
 @app.command()
 def serve(
     host: Annotated[str, typer.Option(help="Interface to bind.")] = "127.0.0.1",
@@ -156,6 +224,53 @@ async def _inspect(
         return await IssueAnalyzer(client).inspect(reference, actor=resolved_actor)
 
 
+async def _batch(
+    references: list[str],
+    *,
+    actor: str | None,
+    token: str | None,
+    base_url: str | None,
+    concurrency: int,
+) -> BatchReport:
+    resolved_actor = actor or os.getenv("GITHUB_ACTOR")
+    semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(concurrency)
+
+    async with GitHubClient(token=token, base_url=base_url) as client:
+        analyzer = IssueAnalyzer(client)
+
+        async def inspect_one(reference: str) -> BatchItem:
+            async with semaphore:
+                try:
+                    report = await analyzer.inspect(reference, actor=resolved_actor)
+                except (ContribCheckError, httpx.HTTPError, ValueError) as error:
+                    return BatchItem(reference=reference, error=str(error))
+                return BatchItem(reference=reference, report=report)
+
+        results = await asyncio.gather(*(inspect_one(reference) for reference in references))
+
+    reports = [item.report for item in results if item.report is not None]
+    summary = BatchSummary(
+        total=len(results),
+        succeeded=len(reports),
+        failed=len(results) - len(reports),
+        ready=sum(report.status == OverallStatus.READY for report in reports),
+        caution=sum(report.status == OverallStatus.CAUTION for report in reports),
+        blocked=sum(report.status == OverallStatus.BLOCKED for report in reports),
+    )
+    return BatchReport(results=results, summary=summary)
+
+
+def _read_batch_references(input_file: Path) -> list[str]:
+    references = [
+        line.strip()
+        for line in input_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines()
+        if line.strip() and not line.lstrip().startswith("#")
+    ]
+    if not references:
+        raise ValueError("The batch input file does not contain any issue references.")
+    return references
+
+
 def _render_report(report: InspectionReport) -> None:
     colors = {
         OverallStatus.READY: "green",
@@ -228,6 +343,35 @@ def _render_markdown(report: InspectionReport) -> str:
     return "\n".join(lines)
 
 
+def _render_batch_report(report: BatchReport) -> None:
+    table = Table(show_header=True, header_style="bold", box=None, pad_edge=False)
+    table.add_column("Reference")
+    table.add_column("Verdict")
+    table.add_column("Title")
+    table.add_column("Notes")
+    for item in report.results:
+        if item.report:
+            report_status = item.report.status.value.upper()
+            notes = (
+                "; ".join(
+                    check.summary
+                    for check in item.report.checks
+                    if check.status
+                    in {SignalStatus.WARNING, SignalStatus.FAILURE, SignalStatus.UNKNOWN}
+                )
+                or "No warnings or blockers."
+            )
+            table.add_row(item.reference, report_status, item.report.title, notes)
+        else:
+            table.add_row(item.reference, "ERROR", "", item.error or "Inspection failed.")
+    console.print(table)
+    console.print(
+        f"\n{report.summary.succeeded}/{report.summary.total} succeeded; "
+        f"{report.summary.ready} ready, {report.summary.caution} caution, "
+        f"{report.summary.blocked} blocked, {report.summary.failed} failed."
+    )
+
+
 def _markdown_cell(value: str) -> str:
     """Escape text that is inserted into a Markdown table cell."""
 
diff --git a/src/contribcheck/models.py b/src/contribcheck/models.py
index 408cb32..b884524 100644
--- a/src/contribcheck/models.py
+++ b/src/contribcheck/models.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from datetime import UTC, datetime
 from enum import StrEnum
-from typing import Any
+from typing import Any, Literal
 
 from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field, HttpUrl
 
@@ -90,6 +90,33 @@ def check(self, key: str) -> CheckResult:
         raise KeyError(key)
 
 
+class BatchItem(StrictModel):
+    """One ordered result from a batch inspection."""
+
+    reference: str
+    report: InspectionReport | None = None
+    error: str | None = None
+
+
+class BatchSummary(StrictModel):
+    """Stable aggregate counts for a batch inspection."""
+
+    total: int
+    succeeded: int
+    failed: int
+    ready: int
+    caution: int
+    blocked: int
+
+
+class BatchReport(StrictModel):
+    """Machine-readable batch output with a versioned top-level shape."""
+
+    schema_version: Literal[1] = 1
+    results: list[BatchItem]
+    summary: BatchSummary
+
+
 class InspectionRequest(StrictModel):
     """HTTP API request body."""
 
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index c995c04..5e6bc1a 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import asyncio
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
@@ -7,8 +8,11 @@
 from pydantic import HttpUrl
 from typer.testing import CliRunner
 
-from contribcheck.cli import app
+from contribcheck.cli import _batch, _read_batch_references, app
 from contribcheck.models import (
+    BatchItem,
+    BatchReport,
+    BatchSummary,
     CheckResult,
     Evidence,
     InspectionReport,
@@ -143,6 +147,107 @@ def test_inspect_output_requires_structured_format() -> None:
     assert "requires --json or --markdown" in normalized_output
 
 
+def test_batch_json_preserves_input_order(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    input_file = tmp_path / "candidates.txt"
+    input_file.write_text("# comment\nowner/first#1\n\nowner/second#2\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    batch_report = BatchReport(
+        results=[
+            BatchItem(reference="owner/first#1", report=_report()),
+            BatchItem(reference="owner/second#2", error="Not found"),
+        ],
+        summary=BatchSummary(total=2, succeeded=1, failed=1, ready=1, caution=0, blocked=0),
+    )
+
+    async def fake_batch(*args: object, **kwargs: object) -> BatchReport:
+        return batch_report
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("contribcheck.cli._batch", fake_batch)
+    result = runner.invoke(app, ["batch", str(input_file), "--json"])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 1
+    assert result.stdout.index("owner/first#1") < result.stdout.index("owner/second#2")
+    assert '"failed": 1' in result.stdout
+
+
+def test_batch_bounds_concurrency_and_keeps_partial_failures(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    active = 0
+    maximum = 0
+
+    class FakeClient:
+        def __init__(self, **kwargs: object) -> None:
+            del kwargs
+
+        async def __aenter__(self) -> FakeClient:
+            return self
+
+        async def __aexit__(self, *_: object) -> None:
+            return None
+
+    class FakeAnalyzer:
+        def __init__(self, client: FakeClient) -> None:
+            del client
+
+        async def inspect(self, reference: str, *, actor: str | None) -> InspectionReport:
+            nonlocal active, maximum
+            del actor
+            active += 1
+            maximum = max(maximum, active)
+            await asyncio.sleep(0)
+            active -= 1
+            if reference.endswith("bad#3"):
+                raise ValueError("invalid issue")
+            return _report()
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("contribcheck.cli.GitHubClient", FakeClient)
+    monkeypatch.setattr("contribcheck.cli.IssueAnalyzer", FakeAnalyzer)
+    report = asyncio.run(
+        _batch(
+            ["owner/first#1", "owner/bad#3", "owner/last#2"],
+            actor=None,
+            token=None,
+            base_url=None,
+            concurrency=1,
+        )
+    )
+
+    assert maximum == 1
+    assert [item.reference for item in report.results] == [
+        "owner/first#1",
+        "owner/bad#3",
+        "owner/last#2",
+    ]
+    assert report.summary.failed == 1
+    assert report.results[1].error == "invalid issue"
+
+
+def test_batch_input_ignores_comments_and_blank_lines(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    input_file = tmp_path / "candidates.txt"
+    input_file.write_text("\n# heading\nowner/repo#1\n  # note\nowner/repo#2\n", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    assert _read_batch_references(input_file) == ["owner/repo#1", "owner/repo#2"]
+
+
+def test_batch_fail_on_caution_returns_exit_code_two(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, tmp_path: Path
+) -> None:
+    input_file = tmp_path / "candidates.txt"
+    input_file.write_text("owner/repo#1\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    report = BatchReport(
+        results=[BatchItem(reference="owner/repo#1", report=_report(OverallStatus.CAUTION))],
+        summary=BatchSummary(total=1, succeeded=1, failed=0, ready=0, caution=1, blocked=0),
+    )
+
+    async def fake_batch(*args: object, **kwargs: object) -> BatchReport:
+        return report
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("contribcheck.cli._batch", fake_batch)
+    result = runner.invoke(app, ["batch", str(input_file), "--json", "--fail-on", "caution"])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 2
+
+
 def test_fail_on_blocked_returns_exit_code_two(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
     async def fake_inspect(
         reference: str,