RDAP support in Iris Investigate

The suite of Iris products now supports the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP). In locations where an Iris UI or API previously served only WHOIS data, Iris now serves registration data.

RDAP overview

RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is a modern protocol for accessing domain registration information. It provides structured, machine-readable data and replaces the legacy WHOIS protocol.

How RDAP works in Iris Investigate

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.

The UI and API can also serve either WHOIS or RDAP data in response to user specification.

RDAP in Iris Investigate

RDAP support appears in multiple areas:

Search

When searching by registration data fields (email, registrant, WHOIS record), you can specify whether to search RDAP, WHOIS, or auto-select.

For details, see RDAP in Search.

Pivots

When pivoting on registration data points, the Operations Menu shows counts for both RDAP and WHOIS data, with visual indicators showing which protocol registration data uses.

For details, see RDAP in Pivots.

Domain Profile

The Domain Profile panel includes a parsed RDAP record viewer at the bottom, allowing you to toggle between RDAP and WHOIS views and copy raw JSON data.

For details, see Domain Profile - RDAP Content.

Benefits of RDAP

RDAP provides several advantages over WHOIS:

Structured data: Machine-readable JSON format.
Standardized: Consistent format across registries.
Internationalization: Better support for non-ASCII characters.
Access control: More granular privacy controls.
Extensibility: Support for additional data types.

Transition from WHOIS

The transition from WHOIS to RDAP is gradual:

The system supports both protocols simultaneously.
Registration data automatically selects the best available record.
You can manually specify RDAP or WHOIS when needed.
Historical WHOIS records remain available.

Learn more

For comprehensive information about RDAP in DomainTools products:

RDAP FAQ: Frequently asked questions.
Letter to Iris customers: Detailed explanation of RDAP implementation.