RDAP and WHOIS search

Learn how to search within parsed WHOIS and RDAP fields, and compare records from both sources.

Search Within Parsed Fields

Filter by a specific component within a parsed_whois or parsed_domain_rdap field. For example, filter by Create Date in Parsed WHOIS:

https://api.domaintools.com/v1/iris-investigate/?domain=github.com&parsed_whois:create_date=2007-10-09

Compare WHOIS and Domain RDAP Records

By default, queries return standard registration data as part of the response root fields. Registration data is from either Domain RDAP or WHOIS:

Registration data is populated from a single source — WHOIS or RDAP — selected per domain in this order:

If only one source is present, that record is used.
If both are present and were collected more than three days apart, the newer record is used (field count is not considered).
If both were collected within three days of each other, the record with more populated fields is used.
On a tie — including when neither record has populated fields — RDAP is used.

To work with source-specific data, use the parsed_whois and parsed_domain_rdap records.

Add a standalone set of parsed fields from the Domain RDAP and/or the WHOIS record to the response with the parameters parsed_domain_rdap=true and &parsed_whois=true.

Example: Request Parsed Domain RDAP

Extend a query for domaintools.com by requesting Parsed Domain RDAP records in addition to the default response:

Query URL

https://api.domaintools.com/v1/iris-investigate/?domain=domaintools.com&parsed_domain_rdap=true

cURL Example

curl -X GET \
  'https://api.domaintools.com/v1/iris-investigate/?domain=domaintools.com&parsed_domain_rdap=true&' \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $DOMAINTOOLS_API_KEY"

Response Structure

The API response contains a results array. Each item in the array is a domain object, and within the object for domaintools.com, the parsed Domain RDAP record is returned as a nested object under the key parsed_domain_rdap.

{
  "response": {
    "message": "Enjoy your data.",
    "results_count": 1,
    "total_count": 1,
    "results": [
      {
        "domain": "domaintools.com",
        "popularity_rank": 2622,
        "active": true,
        "create_date": {
          "value": "1998-08-02",
          "count": 871
        },

        "parsed_whois": {
          "registrar": {
            "value": "eNom, LLC",
            "count": 593475
          },
          "registrant_org": {
            "value": "DomainTools, LLC",
            "count": 3
          }
        },
        "parsed_domain_rdap": {
          "registrar": {
            "value": "ENOM, INC.",
            "count": 3448760
          },
          "registrant_contact": {
            "name": {
              "value": "REDACTED REGISTRANT",
              "count": 9948449
            }
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Use Cases

Compare Registration Data Sources

Request both parsed_whois=true and parsed_domain_rdap=true to compare data from both sources:

https://api.domaintools.com/v1/iris-investigate/?domain=example.com&parsed_whois=true&parsed_domain_rdap=true

Search Historical WHOIS

Use historical_free_text to search historical WHOIS records:

https://api.domaintools.com/v1/iris-investigate/?historical_free_text=example+corp

Compare this to whois which searches only the most recent WHOIS record:

https://api.domaintools.com/v1/iris-investigate/?whois=example+corp