DNS By Eye

DNS Server: System Default

Trace Delegation

DNS Health Report Card

Verbose output Debug mode Check glue records Display from root servers down 🔗 Share URL

API Documentation

DNS By Eye provides several REST API endpoints for programmatic access:

Available Endpoints:

1. Full Delegation Analysis

POST /api/delegation
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "domain": "example.com",
  "verbose": false,
  "dns_server": "system"
}

Returns: Full analysis with graphs and cross-reference data

2. Simple Trace (No Visualizations)

GET /api/trace/example.com?verbose=true&dns_server=8.8.8.8

Returns: DNS delegation trace without generating graphs

3. Get Nameservers

GET /api/nameservers/example.com?dns_server=1.1.1.1

Returns: List of nameservers for a domain

4. Available DNS Servers

GET /api/dns-servers

Returns: List of available public DNS servers

5. Health Check

GET /api/health

Returns: Service health status

DNS Server Options:

• system - Use system default DNS resolver
• 8.8.8.8 - Google DNS
• 1.1.1.1 - Cloudflare DNS
• 9.9.9.9 - Quad9 DNS
• 208.67.222.222 - OpenDNS

Example Usage:

cURL Examples:

# Get delegation trace using Cloudflare DNS (local)
curl -X GET "http://localhost:5000/api/trace/google.com?dns_server=1.1.1.1&verbose=true"

# Get delegation trace using live demo instance
curl -X GET "https://tools.apathy.ca/api/trace/google.com?dns_server=1.1.1.1&verbose=true"

# Full analysis with visualizations (local)
curl -X POST "http://localhost:5000/api/delegation" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"domain": "github.com", "verbose": true, "dns_server": "8.8.8.8"}'

# Full analysis with visualizations (live demo)
curl -X POST "https://tools.apathy.ca/api/delegation" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"domain": "github.com", "verbose": true, "dns_server": "8.8.8.8"}'

Python Example:

import requests
import json

# Base URL for the API (use live demo or local instance)
BASE_URL = "https://tools.apathy.ca"  # Live demo
# BASE_URL = "http://localhost:5000"      # Local instance

def trace_domain(domain, dns_server="system", verbose=False):
    """Get DNS delegation trace for a domain."""
    url = f"{BASE_URL}/api/trace/{domain}"
    params = {
        "dns_server": dns_server,
        "verbose": str(verbose).lower()
    }
    
    response = requests.get(url, params=params)
    if response.status_code == 200:
        return response.json()
    else:
        print(f"Error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")
        return None

def full_analysis(domain, dns_server="system", verbose=False):
    """Get full delegation analysis with visualizations."""
    url = f"{BASE_URL}/api/delegation"
    data = {
        "domain": domain,
        "dns_server": dns_server,
        "verbose": verbose
    }
    
    response = requests.post(url, json=data)
    if response.status_code == 200:
        return response.json()
    else:
        print(f"Error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")
        return None

# Example usage
if __name__ == "__main__":
    domain = "example.com"
    
    # Simple trace
    print("=== DNS Trace ===")
    trace_data = trace_domain(domain, dns_server="8.8.8.8", verbose=True)
    if trace_data:
        for step in trace_data["trace"]:
            print(f"{step['zone']}: {', '.join(step['nameservers'])}")
    
    # Full analysis
    print("\n=== Full Analysis ===")
    analysis = full_analysis(domain, dns_server="1.1.1.1", verbose=True)
    if analysis:
        print(f"Chain: {analysis['chain']}")
        print(f"Cross-reference results: {len(analysis.get('cross_ref_results', {}))}")
        print(f"Graph URLs: {len(analysis.get('graph_urls', []))}")

Rate Limiting:

All endpoints are rate-limited. Default limit is 100 requests per day.

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📖 API Documentation