diff --git a/packages/repo-tools/cli-report.md b/packages/repo-tools/cli-report.md
index 9d37ce7aff..7c7dd445bc 100644
--- a/packages/repo-tools/cli-report.md
+++ b/packages/repo-tools/cli-report.md
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ Options:
   -h, --help
 
 Commands:
-  verify [paths...]
+  verify [options] [paths...]
   lint [options] [paths...]
   test [options] [paths...]
   fuzz [options]
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ Options:
 Usage: backstage-repo-tools repo schema openapi verify [options] [paths...]
 
 Options:
+  --from <ref>
   -h, --help
 ```
 
diff --git a/packages/repo-tools/src/commands/index.ts b/packages/repo-tools/src/commands/index.ts
index d2fe507941..9f0461e7ea 100644
--- a/packages/repo-tools/src/commands/index.ts
+++ b/packages/repo-tools/src/commands/index.ts
@@ -96,7 +96,11 @@ function registerRepoCommand(program: Command) {
   openApiCommand
     .command('verify [paths...]')
     .description(
-      'Verify that all OpenAPI schemas are valid and have a matching `schemas/openapi.generated.ts` file.',
+      'Verify that all OpenAPI schemas are valid and set up correctly. This also verifies that your API has not changed in a breaking way.',
+    )
+    .option(
+      '--from <ref>',
+      'The base ref to compare against. Defaults to the fork point of the current branch.',
     )
     .action(
       lazy(() =>
diff --git a/packages/repo-tools/src/commands/repo/schema/openapi/verify.ts b/packages/repo-tools/src/commands/repo/schema/openapi/verify.ts
index 442494610c..78b5a966c3 100644
--- a/packages/repo-tools/src/commands/repo/schema/openapi/verify.ts
+++ b/packages/repo-tools/src/commands/repo/schema/openapi/verify.ts
@@ -29,8 +29,10 @@ import {
   YAML_SCHEMA_PATH,
 } from '../../../../lib/openapi/constants';
 import { getPathToOpenApiSpec } from '../../../../lib/openapi/helpers';
+import { exec } from '../../../../lib/exec';
+import { OptionValues } from 'commander';
 
-async function verify(directoryPath: string) {
+async function verify(directoryPath: string, options: OptionValues) {
   let openapiPath = '';
   try {
     openapiPath = await getPathToOpenApiSpec(directoryPath);
@@ -58,10 +60,39 @@ async function verify(directoryPath: string) {
       `\`${YAML_SCHEMA_PATH}\` and \`${TS_SCHEMA_PATH}\` do not match. Please run \`yarn backstage-repo-tools package schema openapi generate\` from '${path}' to regenerate \`${TS_SCHEMA_PATH}\`.`,
     );
   }
+
+  let baseRef = options.from ?? process.env.GITHUB_BASE_REF;
+  if (!baseRef) {
+    const { stdout: branch } = await exec('git merge-base --fork-point HEAD');
+    baseRef = branch.toString().trim();
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const { stdout } = await exec('optic diff', [
+      openapiPath,
+      '--check',
+      '--base',
+      baseRef,
+    ]);
+    // Log out the results as this still shows API changes that aren't breakages.
+    console.log(
+      stdout
+        .toString()
+        .split('\n')
+        .filter(e => !e.startsWith('Rerun') && e.trim())
+        .join('\n'),
+    );
+  } catch (err) {
+    err.message = err.stdout;
+    throw err;
+  }
 }
 
-export async function bulkCommand(paths: string[] = []): Promise<void> {
-  const resultsList = await runner(paths, dir => verify(dir));
+export async function bulkCommand(
+  paths: string[] = [],
+  options: OptionValues,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const resultsList = await runner(paths, dir => verify(dir, options));
 
   let failed = false;
   for (const { relativeDir, resultText } of resultsList) {