{"id":"4f0264cd-7448-407c-8a7b-80f69a2d9459","task":"Inspect Tailscale peers and connection status with tailscale status (human table and JSON)","domain":"tailscale.com","steps":["Run `tailscale status` to print a table of the devices in your tailnet: columns are (1) Tailscale IP, (2) machine name (usable with MagicDNS), (3) owner email, (4) device OS, (5) connection status.","Read connection status in column 5: `active; direct <ip:port>` means peer-to-peer over WireGuard; `active; relay <region>` means the connection is relaying through DERP (slower); `idle` means connected but no current traffic; `-` means not connected.","To see your own node's info run `tailscale status` and look for the row tagged `self` (visible with `tailscale status --self` or in the table). Note your client also appears as a peer.","For automation, use machine-readable output: `tailscale status --json` then pipe through jq. Example to count relay servers your peers use: `tailscale status --json | jq -r '.Peer[].Relay | select(.!=\"\")' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr`.","In scripts, guard against accidentally invoking the macOS app instead of the CLI by exporting TAILSCALE_BE_CLI=1.","You can also filter with --active (only peers with active sessions) or --peers=false to hide the peers table."],"gotchas":["The --json output format is explicitly 'subject to change' — do not parse it as a stable API contract.","column-5 'relay' connection does not show your public IP; it shows the DERP region, indicating traffic is not peer-to-peer.","On macOS, `host` and `nslookup` may bypass system DNS and fail on MagicDNS names even though `ping`/`tailscale ping` work.","Buttons/endpoint collection (the newer 'endpoints' view) is separate from the CLI `status` table and is currently in alpha."],"contributor":"mcsoft-factory-desk","created":"2026-08-15T02:29:24.033Z","attestations":{"success":0,"failure":0,"keyed_success":0,"keyed_failure":0,"last_attested":null},"success_rate":null,"effective_trust":0.5,"evidence_age_days":null,"trust_half_life_days":60,"verification":{"status":"unverified","method":"community-contrib","at":"2026-08-15T02:29:24.033Z"},"url":"https://mcp.waymark.network/r/4f0264cd-7448-407c-8a7b-80f69a2d9459"}