WHOIS Lookup API

The WHOIS Lookup API retrieves domain registration information using modern RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) with automatic fallback to traditional WHOIS. It provides normalized, structured data across both protocols.

Endpoint

GET https://api.requestguard.com/v1/domain/whois

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
domain	string	Yes	The domain name to query (e.g., example.com)
raw	boolean	No	Include raw RDAP/WHOIS response (default: false)

Response

The API returns a JSON object with normalized domain registration data:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "domain": "example.com",
    "registrar": {
      "name": "Example Registrar, Inc.",
      "ianaId": "1234",
      "url": "https://example-registrar.com",
      "whoisServer": "whois.example-registrar.com",
      "abuse": {
        "email": "abuse@example-registrar.com",
        "phone": "+1.5551234567"
      }
    },
    "registrant": {
      "name": "Domain Administrator",
      "organization": "Example Organization",
      "address": {
        "city": "Los Angeles",
        "state": "CA",
        "country": "United States",
        "countryCode": "US"
      }
    },
    "status": [
      "client transfer prohibited",
      "client update prohibited",
      "client delete prohibited"
    ],
    "nameservers": [
      "ns1.example.com",
      "ns2.example.com"
    ],
    "dates": {
      "created": "1995-08-14T04:00:00Z",
      "updated": "2024-08-14T07:01:34Z",
      "expires": "2025-08-13T04:00:00Z"
    },
    "dnssec": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "privacy": {
      "redacted": false
    },
    "_meta": {
      "source": "rdap",
      "queriedAt": "2024-11-30T12:00:00.000Z",
      "responseTime": 342
    }
  }
}

Response Fields

Root Object

Field	Type	Description
success	boolean	Whether the request was successful
data	object	The domain registration data

Data Object

Field	Type	Description
domain	string	The queried domain name (normalized)
registrar	object	Registrar information
registrant	object	Domain registrant/owner information
status	array	Domain status codes (EPP status)
nameservers	array	Authoritative nameservers
dates	object	Registration date information
dnssec	object	DNSSEC configuration status
privacy	object	Privacy/redaction information
_meta	object	Query metadata
_raw	object	Raw response (only if raw=true)

Registrar Object

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Registrar company name
ianaId	string	IANA registrar ID
url	string	Registrar website URL
whoisServer	string	Registrar’s WHOIS server
abuse	object	Abuse contact information

Abuse Object

Field	Type	Description
email	string	Abuse contact email
phone	string	Abuse contact phone

Registrant Object

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Registrant name
organization	string	Organization name
address	object	Address information
email	string	Contact email (if not redacted)
phone	string	Contact phone (if not redacted)

Dates Object

Field	Type	Description
created	string	Domain creation date (ISO 8601)
updated	string	Last update date (ISO 8601)
expires	string	Expiration date (ISO 8601)

DNSSEC Object

Field	Type	Description
enabled	boolean	Whether DNSSEC is enabled
dsData	array	DS record data (if available)

Privacy Object

Field	Type	Description
redacted	boolean	Whether contact info is redacted
reason	string	Reason for redaction
availableContacts	array	Available contact types

Meta Object

Field	Type	Description
source	string	Data source (rdap or whois)
queriedAt	string	Query timestamp (ISO 8601)
responseTime	number	Response time in milliseconds

Domain Status Codes

Common EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) status codes:

Status	Description
ok	Standard status for a domain
client transfer prohibited	Transfer is locked by registrar
client update prohibited	Updates are locked by registrar
client delete prohibited	Deletion is locked by registrar
server transfer prohibited	Transfer is locked by registry
pending delete	Domain is scheduled for deletion
pending transfer	Transfer is in progress
redemption period	Domain is in redemption period

Example Request

curl "https://api.requestguard.com/v1/domain/whois?domain=google.com"

Example Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "domain": "google.com",
    "registrar": {
      "name": "MarkMonitor Inc.",
      "ianaId": "292",
      "url": "http://www.markmonitor.com",
      "abuse": {
        "email": "abusecomplaints@markmonitor.com",
        "phone": "+1.2086851750"
      }
    },
    "registrant": {
      "organization": "Google LLC",
      "address": {
        "state": "CA",
        "country": "United States",
        "countryCode": "US"
      }
    },
    "status": [
      "client delete prohibited",
      "client transfer prohibited",
      "client update prohibited",
      "server delete prohibited",
      "server transfer prohibited",
      "server update prohibited"
    ],
    "nameservers": [
      "ns1.google.com",
      "ns2.google.com",
      "ns3.google.com",
      "ns4.google.com"
    ],
    "dates": {
      "created": "1997-09-15T04:00:00Z",
      "updated": "2019-09-09T15:39:04Z",
      "expires": "2028-09-14T04:00:00Z"
    },
    "dnssec": {
      "enabled": false
    },
    "privacy": {
      "redacted": false
    },
    "_meta": {
      "source": "rdap",
      "queriedAt": "2024-11-30T12:00:00.000Z",
      "responseTime": 245
    }
  }
}

Error Responses

Invalid Domain

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_DOMAIN",
    "message": "Invalid domain format"
  }
}

Domain Not Found

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "No WHOIS data found for this domain"
  }
}

Lookup Failed

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "LOOKUP_FAILED",
    "message": "Failed to retrieve WHOIS data"
  }
}

Rate Limits

Plan	Requests per minute
Free	10
Pro	100
Enterprise	Unlimited

Data Sources

RDAP (Preferred)

RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is the modern replacement for WHOIS:

• Structured JSON responses - No parsing required
• Standardized format - Consistent across registries
• Better privacy - Proper handling of redacted data
• Bootstrap discovery - Automatic server lookup via IANA

WHOIS (Fallback)

Traditional WHOIS is used when RDAP is unavailable:

• TCP port 43 - Direct socket connection
• Text-based - Requires parsing
• Registry-specific - Format varies by TLD

Supported TLDs

The API supports most gTLDs and ccTLDs including:

• Generic TLDs: .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz
• New gTLDs: .io, .dev, .app, .cloud, .tech
• Country codes: .uk, .de, .fr, .nl, .au, .ca
• And many more via IANA bootstrap data

Privacy & GDPR

Many domain registrations now have contact information redacted due to GDPR and privacy regulations. The privacy field indicates whether data has been redacted:

{
  "privacy": {
    "redacted": true,
    "reason": "GDPR redaction",
    "availableContacts": ["registrar"]
  }
}

Try It Out

Use our interactive WHOIS Lookup Tool to query domain registration data directly in your browser.