diff --git a/.changeset/wise-fireants-check.md b/.changeset/wise-fireants-check.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f8085bbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/wise-fireants-check.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@nocturne-xyz/deposit-screener": patch
+---
+
+Fix bug in screener inspect CLI where output dir/files were not being correctly created before command run
diff --git a/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/check.ts b/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/check.ts
index 53734778f..a6582963c 100644
--- a/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/check.ts
+++ b/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/check.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 import { makeLogger } from "@nocturne-xyz/offchain-utils";
 import { Command } from "commander";
 import fs from "fs";
-import { requireApiKeys } from "../../../utils";
 import { RULESET_V1 } from "../../../screening/checks/v1/RULESET_V1";
 import { isRejection } from "../../../screening/checks/RuleSet";
 import { Logger } from "winston";
 import {
   AddressDataSnapshot,
   dedupAddressesInOrder,
-  ensureDirectoriesExist,
+  ensureExists,
   formDepositInfo,
   getLocalRedis,
   populateRedisCache,
@@ -62,10 +61,11 @@ function showReasonCounts(
 }
 
 async function main(options: any): Promise<void> {
-  requireApiKeys();
-
   const { snapshotJsonPath, outputDir, logDir, stdoutLogLevel } = options;
-  ensureDirectoriesExist(snapshotJsonPath, outputDir);
+  ensureExists(snapshotJsonPath, {
+    path: outputDir,
+    type: "DIRECTORY",
+  });
 
   const logger = makeLogger(
     logDir,
diff --git a/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/snapshot.ts b/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/snapshot.ts
index fd0031466..64a8dd1e5 100644
--- a/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/snapshot.ts
+++ b/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/snapshot.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import * as JSON from "bigint-json-serialization";
 import {
   CachedAddressData,
   dedupAddressesInOrder,
-  ensureDirectoriesExist,
+  ensureExists,
   formDepositInfo,
   getLocalRedis,
 } from "./utils";
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ async function main(options: any): Promise<void> {
   requireApiKeys();
 
   const { inputCsv, outputData, logDir, stdoutLogLevel, delayMs } = options;
-  ensureDirectoriesExist(inputCsv, outputData);
+  ensureExists(inputCsv, { path: outputData, type: "FILE" });
 
   const logger = makeLogger(
     logDir,
diff --git a/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/utils.ts b/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/utils.ts
index ca60eb4ee..36dc60974 100644
--- a/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/utils.ts
+++ b/actors/deposit-screener/src/cli/commands/inspect/utils.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ import {
 import fs from "fs";
 import path from "path";
 
+export type OutputItem = {
+  path: string;
+  type: "FILE" | "DIRECTORY";
+};
+
 export type CachedAddressData = Partial<
   Record<ApiCallNames, ApiCallReturnData>
 >;
@@ -62,25 +67,41 @@ export function dedupAddressesInOrder(addresses: string[]): string[] {
   return dedupedAddresses;
 }
 
-export function ensureDirectoriesExist(
+export function ensureExists(
   inputPath: string,
-  outputPath: string
+  { path: outputPath, type }: OutputItem
 ): void {
   if (!fs.existsSync(inputPath)) {
     throw new Error(`Input file ${inputPath} does not exist`);
   }
 
-  // check that the dir where we are going to output to exists using the path library, if not, create it
-  const outputDir = path.dirname(outputPath);
-  if (!fs.existsSync(outputDir)) {
-    fs.mkdirSync(outputDir, { recursive: true });
-  }
+  if (type === "DIRECTORY") {
+    // check that the dir where we are going to output to exists using the path library, if not, create it
+    if (!fs.existsSync(outputPath)) {
+      fs.mkdirSync(outputPath, { recursive: true });
+    }
 
-  // check if we can write to the output directory
-  try {
-    fs.accessSync(outputDir, fs.constants.W_OK);
-  } catch (err) {
-    throw new Error(`Cannot write to output directory ${outputDir}`);
+    // check if we can write to the output directory
+    try {
+      fs.accessSync(outputPath, fs.constants.W_OK);
+    } catch (err) {
+      throw new Error(`Cannot write to output directory ${outputPath}`);
+    }
+  } else if (type === "FILE") {
+    // check that the directory where we are going to output to exists using the path library, if not, create it
+    const outputDir = path.dirname(outputPath);
+    if (!fs.existsSync(outputDir)) {
+      fs.mkdirSync(outputDir, { recursive: true });
+    }
+
+    // check if we can write to the output file
+    try {
+      fs.accessSync(outputDir, fs.constants.W_OK);
+    } catch (err) {
+      throw new Error(`Cannot write to output file ${outputPath}`);
+    }
+  } else {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid type parameter: ${type}`);
   }
 }