POST AI agent ready /v1/whois

WHOIS Lookup API - Free Domain Registration Data

Queries WHOIS/RDAP data for a domain name. Returns registrar, status, creation date, expiry, and nameservers.

Endpoint

Code examples

curl -X POST https://api.botoi.com/v1/whois \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain":"example.com"}'

When to use this API

Monitor domain expiration for your portfolio

Schedule daily WHOIS lookups for all domains in your portfolio. Alert your team 30, 14, and 7 days before expiry so you never lose a domain because of a missed renewal. Track the expires field for each domain.

Assess domain age for lead qualification

When evaluating a potential business partner or supplier, check their domain creation date. Domains registered within the last few months can indicate a newly formed company, while decades-old domains suggest an established organization.

Detect suspicious domains in phishing analysis

When investigating a phishing email, look up the WHOIS data for the suspicious domain. Check the creation date, registrar, and nameservers. Phishing domains are often registered days before the attack with privacy-guarded registration.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between WHOIS and RDAP?

WHOIS is the legacy protocol for domain registration data. RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is its standardized replacement with structured JSON responses. This endpoint tries RDAP first and falls back to WHOIS.

Why are some WHOIS fields null?

Many registrars use privacy protection services that mask owner contact information. The registrar, dates, and nameservers are usually available, but owner details may be redacted.

Does this work for all TLDs?

Most common TLDs (.com, .net, .org, .io, .dev) are supported through RDAP. Some country-code TLDs may have limited RDAP coverage, in which case results may be partial.

What do the status codes mean?

Status codes like "clientDeleteProhibited" or "clientTransferProhibited" indicate registry-level locks on the domain. They prevent unauthorized deletion, transfer, or modification of the domain.

Can I look up IP address WHOIS data?

This endpoint handles domain WHOIS only. For IP address WHOIS data, use the IP lookup endpoint which returns ASN and network organization details.

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